I'm Not Going To Apologize

I get so tired of hearing about so-called test anxiety.  Who the heck doesn't get anxious when they have to take a test?  Yes, I'm required to make accommodations for certain students who have a doctor's diagnosis of "test anxiety", but other than that, I don't want to hear it.  You know why people get anxious about tests?  Because they aren't confident they know the material.  If I gave them a test on the alphabet, they wouldn't be anxious--they know that material!  Rather than having me accommodate your lack of preparation, what say you do a better job of learning the material?  Then you wouldn't need to be anxious.

They'll probably be coming for me soon enough:

A UConn engineering professor has apologized for questioning whether he should have to accommodate a student suffering from exam-related anxiety.

Jeffrey McCutcheon, an associate professor of chemical engineering, tweeted Sunday that he believed physical disabilities should be accommodated but not "test anxiety." He complained about students who were given accommodations, such as more time than others to take tests, and questioned whether that would serve them well in the real world.

When another Twitter user pointed out that anxiety was a legitimate disability, he replied that it could be, but that "test anxiety" is not...

After receiving numerous responses questioning his expertise and explaining the disability, McCutcheon tweeted an apology.

It doesn't seem like it's been over a year since I wrote this, but it's as true today as it was then.  And this one is 4 years old.