Every year, sophomores and juniors have to complete state testing in one period over days while everyone else gets two hours of their favorite (or least favorite) class. People try hard to not fail but many don’t understand why the test came to be or why they even do it.

“It was created to have standards across the nation, so that all students in all states in all districts are getting equitable services and education which is guaranteed under the constitution,” said Assistant Principal Ms Eichler.

Ensuring equal education is a hard task and has to be checked up on somehow. They can’t send people all the time checking the education at schools, its most efficient to have students take tests to test their knowledge. And in cases of the test not working, they change it. The SBAC has even been changed many times before.

“It was the WASL, then it was the HSPE, and then now it’s the SBAC  so yeah it’s changed. I don’t know if the test has changed…but the name of it has changed, several times.”  Mr Anderson, a math teacher said.

With so many different types of tests it’s wondered what the state even does with the information from them.  “It pushes the state and the district to continuously look at ‘are the standards… realistic?’ what do we need to be doing from the ground up to get students to standards so they can be used for trend data and looking at where our holes in our education are,” Eichler said.

The information goes to good use, and while some students may not like it, the tests and schedules affects students differently.  “I found it pretty easy, I think I was really stressed leading up to it just because I wasn’t sure what was going to be on it exactly, and not knowing things scare me, but I was fine when I started and I was fine when it ended” Isabelle Kovarik (25’) said after taking the WCAS, a science test that all juniors take.

But for those who dislike how long it went on, they may be wondering why the tests were done in three weeks and not just one or two, why stretch out the time? For those who ask, the answer is simple: over-complication.

“I’m pulling students out of classes, putting them in another classroom either in testing or for sitting while their not testing if their teacher is proctoring a test…if there is overflow of students who haven’t finished we funnel them to the library, so when the librarian or whoever is in their trying to get kids into a testing session to finish their tests it’s a little difficult to monitor when we have students taking multiple tests…it’s just logistically difficult” Eichler said. 

Possible story names, [DO NOT PUT THIS PART IN STORY]

Why do we need to take the sbac’s? Whats it for?

Why they make us take state testing every year, what goes around it?

SBAC testing? What does it have to do with us?