1. Mikenzi Schulze
Look at it This Way
Sweaty palms, nausea, and even tears can easily define the way students
feel when the end of the school year rolls around. Standardized tests (STAAR,
TAKS,etc.) attempt to keep students across the state at a certain level. However,
the end of course tests are not an effective means of measuring student’s
scholastic progress because students view the tests as an “all or nothing” end
game scenario, which causes unnecessary fret and parity. The money that is
poured into these tests is unreal and teachers find themselves forced to teach
towards the test.
What many do not understand is that students get deeply worked up about
these tests. Some students that know the material simply do not test well, test
anxiety, and perform poorly on the tests. Stomachs are found in knots and
pounding hearts take over, leaving the student clueless. Making straight A’s
these days simply will not cut it. Standardized tests rob students of valuable
learning time. The fear of not being able to toss the black cap up in relief, or
being able to raise your hand a year later in a new grade, tears students down,
only making matters worse in many aspects. If you pass all your classes for the
year, working at your best then there should be no question about your moving
onward.
On the other hand, some people believe that if you do not pass then you
are not ready to proceed on. Why should students at this age have to stress so

2. much over something that no one agrees on. Knowing the next answer choice
will determine a part of their future, strikes the heart. These tests are basically
setting students up for failure.
In 1980 the first standardized tests were administered in the public
schools of America. This test was more of a progress report on the general
knowledge of the students and had no adverse effects on the student’s grades.
However, the new testing procedure can adversely affect student’s grades
because the end of course tests scores are calculated with the student’s normal
course average. For example, a straight A student that may suffer from test
anxiety could ruin their GPA by failing the end of course tests. This proves that
today students have it much more difficult, not to mention each year only gets
harder. Before you know it, percentages of students dropping out of school will
increase, and those attending college will decrease.
Providing a number No. 2 pencil for all the students barely tips the scale
when it comes to the costs associated with standardized tests. According to the
Center for Public Education website, 7.5 billion dollars is the never ending zero
number that is spent on tests in America, which is way too much. These costs
include extra study materials specific to the test, the costs of the actual test
materials, not to mention the mad hours used to administer the test. It is a lot of
green dished out on something that will end up failing today’s generations in the
future. Summer school appears at the top of the list when it comes to cost.
Students who fail the EOC’s are to come in for extra help in hopes of passing
their second chance.

3. Teachers pressed for higher student scores mostly teach towards the end
of course tests, which is a problem. One may argue that teachers must teach
towards the tests so students will be prepared and pass, but not all students are
wanting to pursue the same thing. So teaching general material that will benefit
all students late on is necessary. This is demonstrated by the fact that teachers
daily remind students to pay attention and understand the lesson. “This will be on
the test class!”
The standardized tests are not so much the problem; it is the ones behind
the scenes, which is the state board of education. By the end of the year GPA’s
will be chewed up due to the tests. It started with summer school being the only
effect if you failed, then graduation; good grades and a bright future has a slim
chance of surviving. Students do care about what tomorrow brings, so making it
to where students are not at such a high risk for failure would suffice.
Hearing the words, “You missed it by one,” is simply heartbreaking. These five
words from the teacher’s mouth along with the dark colored scale providing the
score quickly lead to failure in a matter of seconds. With teachers teaching
towards the tests, the intelligent students that have test anxiety and all the
additional money spent, is it really worth it? Instead of trying to ruin today’s
student life, working on the student’s life after high school and all the successful
things it could hold, is key.