Tests that hurt our schools

There is an issue that is prevalent in our schools and we need to fix it. Every year in the spring semester, the students at our local schools in third grade and above take a standardized test called ISTEP. This is a test over the expected math and language arts knowledge for each grade up to tenth grade, but it is far from perfect.

Some of the issues with ISTEP and other standardized tests are that they are too much pressure, they slow education, and they are not environmentally friendly.

First, standardized tests are too much pressure. Too much depends on these tests. If the students don't score well on the test, then the state thinks that the education at the school is not going well and may cut some of the funding. This will make the school have even less money to fund sports teams and other activities so people may move away, and fewer people will move into town. If this happens, then local businesses would get less money. Therefore, if the students do badly on the standardized tests, they could potentially lower their family's income.

The standardized tests are also hurting our education. Seeing as so many things in local society are based on the scores of these tests, the teachers want students to get a maximum grade on the test. This leads them to teach us what to do on the test. Instead of teaching us more about math literature, and other life skills, we are taught how to show your work to get the best score, how to format an answer to a question to receive a maximum score, and how to physically take the test. While these are all good choices by the teachers, they would not be forced to do this if the test simply did not exist.

Finally, these tests are not environmentally friendly. Each test is made out of a thick packet of paper with sometimes up to three pages in a row each being nothing but a notice to not flip to the next page. This paper all adds up. With the world environmentally in the shape that it is in, we should keep as many trees as possible.

In conclusion, the standardized tests should cease to exist, but that leaves us with the issue of what will take their place and how. I think the solution would be to make a computer testing system that gives you a set number of questions that get harder or easier depending on how you perform (similar to the NWEA). At the end of each year, the students would take this test. After this, the state could review the scores expecting to see growth from most students.

If a school had issues, then the state could send someone to investigate and try to help the school out. If the teachers' teachings were to blame, then the school could get a lower grade, but this would not be nearly as much pressure on the students. This test would be electronic, so we would not have to worry about the destruction of forestland.

Finally, the teachers would teach the whole year with no huge testing gaps in order to pass as much information to the kids. In this way, the students would be consistently learning and reaching toward excellence.