For most students, standardized testing is an expected part of the school year. But this year, students, especially sophomores, are dealing with more than usual. From EOC, to Write Score, to Benchmark, to MAP, it seems like every month brings a new district required exam. As the assessments stack up, students and teachers are left with a looming question: is all this testing actually worth it?
For Sophomores, the back-to-back testing schedule is starting to take a real toll. When tests never seem to stop and don’t directly affect their grade or class placement, students find themselves struggling to want to perform their best. Sophomore Grace Peterson feels the constant stream of tests has made it difficult to take a single one seriously. “I don’t mind spending a class or two really trying on a test that can make my teacher or the school look good,” she said. “But at some point there’s just so many tests I find it hard to do my best.”
For students with test-taking anxiety, walking into yet another standardized test isn’t just frustrating, it’s exhaustin. For many this turns a normal school day into a class period they dread. Every period spent on a mandated test is a period not spent actually learning from the teacher on a specific unit. As exams stack up month after month, the lost instructional time adds up fast. For sophomore Addie Patton, taking standardized tests has really added up, especially in higher level classes. “We’ve had a lot of testing in AP Lang,” she said. “AP Lang is a hard class by itself, but having to spend an entire week testing makes it a lot harder to get through the material.”
As the end of the school year nears, most students aren’t asking for tests to disappear entirely, they just want balance. A test here and there to track progress makes sense, but the current pace of testing leaves students with little room to breathe and catch up in their classes. Fewer, more purposeful tests could go a long way, giving students the chance to actually focus on learning instead of just preparing for the next thing on the calender. For freshman Marianne James, she hopes some changes will be made in the upcoming year. “I actually don’t mind standardized tests if they don’t happen that often,” she said. “I just hope we don’t have to take them as often as it seems like sophomores are taking them now.”
At the end of the day, most students aren’t against a standardized test every once in a while. Students understand that schools need to understand where students are at and where improvements can be made but finding the sweet spot between testing and learning is what many Dubs yearn for. Nonetheless, many are hopeful it’s on the way.
