April Showers Bring May Testing
Jessica Abraham (’17) writing tips for a sophomore preparing for the SBAC.
The beginning of May consists of nice weather and end of the year jitters. Unfortunately it also brings about annual SBAC testing, which every sophomore must pass to graduate or otherwise retake their junior year.
Mixed feelings about standardized testing are among teachers and students but the one that comes up the most is that it serves absolutely no purpose.
At this point it is no longer students just complaining about testing, it’s more of the stress factor. Students are expected to keep up with extracurricular activities, homework, SBAC testing, regular testing, finals etc.etc.
“I hate the SBAC and I think it is really dumb and pointless. No I don’t think it’s necessary because it serves no purpose. When I took it my sophomore year it didn’t do me any good nor did it help with anything at all. In my opinion it was a waste of time. We already take enough tests and already have enough stress and adding the SBAC doesn’t help at all. It was also a bunch of stuff I hadn’t even learned yet.” Lexi Booker (‘17)
When asking students about the SBAC I discovered many different reasons why kids despise state testing and it’s not just because it’s a test and they are being lazy teenagers.
Students feel that they don’t have an opinion about the decisions made by administration in regards to testing. State testing is believed to be non affective and doesn’t truly show the students knowledge.
The Brookings Institution conducted a study in 2001 and discovered that 50-80% of year-over-year test score improvements were temporary and “caused by fluctuations that had nothing to do with long-term changes in learning.”
“I think it’s a big waste of the students time. I had to write about random topics that didn’t prove anything and it wasn’t beneficial to me at all. Most people don’t even take it seriously. In my opinion, it shouldn’t be a thing.” Troy Roach (‘19)
State testing has been an ongoing controversy for many years and it doesn’t seem as though students will ever receive an opportunity to voice their opinion on the SBAC and have an actual effect.
