In recent years, anxiety among students has become an increasingly visible trend in schools. Conversations about mental health, mindfulness practices, and even designated mental health days are now common parts of educational discourse. Yet many educators continue to ask an important question: are we simply more aware of student anxiety, or are students truly experiencing higher levels of stress that interfere with their ability to learn?
Across classrooms in urban, suburban, and rural districts alike, teachers are noticing that anxiety is shaping how students participate in school, engage with learning, and respond to academic expectations (Håland and Bertelsen 2025). While the context of each school may differ, educators across grade levels report similar concerns: students who feel overwhelmed by academic pressure, struggle with emotional regulation, or avoid school altogether when stress becomes too great.
I began noticing this shift in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic. While some anxiety was expected as students readjusted to in-person learning and rebuilt social skills that had been interrupted during lockdown, what many educators observed seemed to go beyond a temporary adjustment period (Lal and Gupta 2025; Nandhini et al., 2023). For some students, anxiety appeared more intense and disruptive to their ability to function in school. Instead of simply feeling nervous before a test, some students began avoiding school entirely. Increased absenteeism and other avoidance behaviors suggested that anxiety was not merely a behavioral issue but something deeper - an emotional and neurological response that can interfere with attention, memory, and learning (Hamilton 2024; Schwabe and Wolf 2009). These patterns have been observed across different types of schools and grade levels, raising important questions for educators about how best to support students.
I became so intrigued by this phenomenon that I made it the focus of my dissertation research (Sweet 2025). I sought to better understand how anxiety might influence a student’s capacity to learn. While my research centered on high school students, conversations with educators across K-12 settings suggest that anxiety is affecting learners at many developmental stages. Elementary teachers often report increased difficulty with emotional regulation and school avoidance (Yates et al., 2025), while middle and high school educators frequently see academic disengagement and performance-related anxiety (Reshu et al., 2025; Winthrop 2025). Though these manifestations may differ by age and context, the underlying concern appears consistent: anxiety can interfere with students’ ability to fully engage in the learning process.
Research supports what many educators are observing in their classrooms. Numerous studies demonstrate that anxiety and stress negatively impact the brain’s ability to process new information. Anxiety reduces activity in the prefrontal cortex - the region responsible for executive functioning - while also impairing working memory (Yeung, Lee, and Chan 2021). These neurological changes make it more difficult for students to regulate their fight-or-flight responses and maintain focus on academic tasks. Working memory, which allows individuals to process information in real time, becomes particularly vulnerable under stress. When I conducted a correlational analysis examining anxiety and academic motivation among high school students, I found a significant negative relationship between the two variables (Sweet 2025).
In short, anxiety affects both the brain’s learning systems and students’ motivation to engage with academic work. In the classroom, this might look like a student freezing during a test despite having studied the material, forgetting concepts they had previously mastered, or avoiding participation altogether because the fear of failure feels overwhelming. These behaviors are not simply signs of disengagement; they are often indicators that anxiety is interfering with the cognitive processes students need to learn.
Given these impacts, an important question emerges for educators: what can we do to support students who are experiencing heightened anxiety?
If anxiety can be understood as a cyclical stress response, then interrupting that cycle may help mitigate its effects. The goal is not simply to tell students to “calm down” - a strategy that is rarely effective - but rather to provide them with tools and classroom environments that promote emotional regulation and resilience. Research suggests that certain practices can help students manage stress in the moment while also strengthening their long-term capacity to cope with challenges.
The following research-informed approaches have shown promise in helping students regulate anxiety and engage more fully in learning. Importantly, these strategies can be adapted across grade levels and educational contexts, making them useful for educators working in elementary, middle, and high school settings.
Barbara Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson 2024) suggests that positive emotions can help individuals counteract negative emotional states while expanding their thinking and problem-solving abilities. Experiences of joy, curiosity, pride, and gratitude help individuals “broaden” their perspectives and build enduring psychological resources over time.
By intentionally fostering positive emotions within the classroom, educators can help students develop emotional resources that counteract stress. Encouraging curiosity, celebrating accomplishments, and creating opportunities for meaningful connection can strengthen students’ resilience and support their ability to navigate academic challenges.
In recent years, mindfulness has gained increasing attention within educational settings. Research indicates that mindfulness practices - such as focused breathing, gratitude journaling, brief reflection, or short walks outside - can positively influence students’ emotional regulation and stress responses (“Making Time for Mindfulness” 2019). These practices have been shown to increase dopamine and serotonin levels while lowering cortisol, the hormone associated with stress.
Incorporating simple mindfulness strategies into classroom routines can help slow the body’s stress response and support students in returning to a more regulated emotional state. Over time, consistent mindfulness practice can strengthen students’ ability to manage their emotions and respond to challenges with greater resilience.
Anxiety is often closely linked to a perceived lack of control. When students feel powerless over their learning experiences, stress can increase significantly. Providing opportunities for autonomy can help restore a sense of agency (“The Impact of Providing Students With Greater Autonomy on Stress, Anxiety, and Project Management” 2024).
Educators can foster autonomy by offering multiple pathways for students to demonstrate their learning. For example, students might choose between creating a one-pager, producing a video, or participating in a discussion-based assessment. When the emphasis is placed on what students have learned rather than the specific format of the assessment, students may feel less pressure and greater ownership over their learning.
4. Progress Over Perfection
Educators frequently emphasize mastery of learning objectives, which is essential for academic growth. However, for students experiencing anxiety, an overwhelming focus on perfection can increase stress and discourage persistence (Xiong et al. 2024).
One effective strategy is to break larger objectives into smaller, manageable steps (Santacroce 2025). Celebrating incremental progress helps students recognize growth rather than focusing solely on final outcomes. Encouraging students to reflect on what they can do now that they could not do a week, a month, or a year ago reinforces a growth mindset and supports continued motivation.
Conclusion
Addressing student anxiety does not require educators to completely redesign their curriculum or abandon established classroom routines. Rather, small intentional practices - such as fostering positive emotions, incorporating mindfulness, offering autonomy, and emphasizing progress - can create meaningful shifts in how students experience learning.
While anxiety may manifest differently across grade levels and school contexts, the need for supportive learning environments is universal. By helping students develop emotional regulation and resilience, educators are not only improving academic engagement but also equipping students with lifelong skills for navigating stress and adversity.
In doing so, educators support both student well-being and academic success - creating classrooms where students feel capable of facing challenges rather than overwhelmed by them.
References
Fredrickson, Barbara L. 2004. “The Broaden–and–build Theory of Positive Emotions.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 359 (1449): 1367–77. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1512.
Lal, Purushottam, and Surendra Gupta. 2025. “Psychological Impact of COVID-19 on Children and Adolescents: A Narrative Review of Mental Health Challenges, Interventions, and Long-Term Trajectories.” Cureus 17 (4): e81840. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.81840.
Håland, Åshild Tellefsen, and Thomas B. Bertelsen. 2025. “School Anxiety Accommodation in Youth: Prevalence and Patterns Among Teachers.” Child Psychiatry & Human Development 57 (1): 279–87. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-025-01853-z.
Hamilton, Lorna G. 2024. “Emotionally Based School Avoidance in the Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Neurodiversity, Agency and Belonging in School.” Education Sciences 14 (2): 156. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14020156.
Nandhini, Nataraj, Rajagopal Velu Aswini, and Sridevi A. Naaraayan. 2023. “The Prevalence of Stress, Anxiety and Depression Among School Going Adolescents Following Covid Pandemic.” Journal of Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health 19 (4): 355–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/09731342231208822.
Yates, Julia, Cole Young, and Tara Mantler. 2025. “Elementary Students’ Social, Emotional, and Cognitive Development During the COVID- 19 Pandemic in North America: A Scoping Review.” PLOS Global Public Health 5 (9): e0005148. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0005148.
Xiong, Zhiheng, Chunying Liu, Meila Song, and Xiangzhen Ma. 2024. “The Relationship Between Maladaptive Perfectionism and Anxiety in First-Year Undergraduate Students: A Moderated Mediation Model.” Behavioral Sciences 14 (8): 628. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14080628.
Yeung, Michael K., Tsz L. Lee, and Agnes S. Chan. 2021. “Negative Mood Is Associated With Decreased Prefrontal Cortex Functioning During Working Memory in Young Adults.” Psychophysiology 58 (6): e13802. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13802.
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Dr. Kayla Sweet is a professor and university support provider at the Sanford College of Education at National University. She also has been a teacher at Helix Charter High School for thirteen years. In addition to her master of education: digital teaching and learning, and her master of science in psychology, she earned her PhD in education with an emphasis in social-emotional learning. |