How do students react to being told that they have failed a test required for high school
graduation? This study is based on an unfortunate event in 2000 when 7,989 students were
wrongly informed that they had failed the Minnesota Basic Standards Test in Mathematics. We
conducted a survey of 911 of these students to assess the psychosocial impact of this event.
More than 80% of students reported that they increased studying, and nearly half made
reductions in their extracurricular activities. Students reported a wide range of adverse emotional
reactions, with over 80% reporting that they felt depressed, worried, or embarrassed. About half
of the students said that they felt “stupid” and “less proud” of themselves. Fewer students
reported troubling reactions by their parents or their peers. Adverse reactions were reported more
frequently by girls than by boys and by students in higher grade levels. These findings point to
the largely unaddressed need to study student reactions to failing high-stakes tests.