Standardized testing has been implemented in school systems all across America, and many argue that it is too much. The SAT, ACT, NJSLA and many more standardized tests sacrifice a large chunk of the school year.
Student Opinions
The majority of the student body believes that there is an overwhelming amount of testing in school. Most agree that the testing process is exhausting. Most students believe that reducing the amount of tests taken would have a positive impact on their school experience.
Colonia High School (CHS) student Jibreel Abduelal agrees. He said, “Testing is tiring and stressful. Most students take almost six, and it takes a lot of time out of the school year.” Standardized testing takes up to ten whole days out of the school year, and they sacrifice important subjects like math, english, science and history. The idea of these tests give students high levels of not just stress but also unhealthy amounts of anxiety.
CHS Junior Emily Melendez said, “Practicing for tests like the SAT gives me really bad anxiety, which I feel makes me perform worse on testing day.” According to the American Test Anxieties Association, “About 16-20% of students have high test anxiety, making this the most prevalent scholastic impairment in our schools today.”
The Accuracy of Standardized Testing
The stress and anxiety that students experience when preparing for testing can have serious impacts on their scores. This introduces the argument that standardized tests scores do not accurately represent student’s knowledge.
Colonia High School student Sabrina Wilson said, “Standardized tests aren’t effective. I don’t perform to the best of my abilities during them because I’m under so much pressure.”
In the modern education system, there is so much riding on these standardized tests and students are reminded of this every day. They are told that a low SAT score means that they wont be able to get into the college of their dreams. This immense amount of pressure cases students to freeze on test day.
Most students agree that the modern school system has too much standardized testing. It is overall detrimental to their mental health and learning experience. A popular opinion among students is that the SAT is the only important test, and getting rid of the rest would improve their school life.
Teacher Opinions
Teachers main concern with standardized testing is the amount of time it takes away from their class.
Mrs. Allen is an English teacher at CHS, and she had this to say,”Each week, us teachers are asked to do test prep in our classes which we document in our lesson plans. Testing itself takes up a lot of time, and it takes away from other skills and elements we are supposed to teach due to less instructional time.”
“When testing happens, it’s spread out across the year and it takes around 5 days for the NJSLA, around 2 days for the Science test, and 2 weeks for all the AP tests to be given. Not to mention the SAT, PSAT and ACT test day we had in the fall and the Acuplacer test for some colleges and the military. That’s a lot of class time and curriculum students are missing. I am not a big advocate of standardized tests; it is one day, one opportunity, and I feel like it doesn’t show a students true growth. Instead of teaching students skills that they need for the real world, I have to prepare them for standardized tests.”
Conclusion
Most students and teachers agree that there is too much standardized testing in the school year. These tests cause stress and anxiety for students which can cause them to do poorly on them. These tests also take a lot of time away from classes and often do not accurately represent a students knowledge. Standardized tests are overwhelming and ineffective, and we must further limit how many we take in the school year.
