Stress, Sleep, and Performance on Standardized Tests: Understudied Pathways to the Achievement Gap

Abstract

Stress exposure, and subsequent biological responses to stress exposure, can negatively affect cognitive functioning and test performance. Stress exposure affects multiple biological systems, including sleep and the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and its primary hormonal product, cortisol. Sleep and cortisol interact with each other, and both affect cognitive performance. Stress, sleep, and cortisol also vary by race-ethnicity and socioeconomic status, and as a result, they may serve as potential pathways contributing to racial-ethnic and socioeconomic achievement gaps. Effects of stress on academic performance could occur either during the learning process or in response to the acute stress of testing. Interventions to limit stress exposure, reduce perceived stress, and promote optimal stress hormone levels and sleep may help students arrive in the classroom prepared to learn and to perform well on tests. These measures may particularly benefit low-income and minority students and may play a role in reducing achievement gaps.