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Jessica Zavala
ENGL 1302
Professor Slawson
25 November 2016
Test, Test, Go Away!
Being a student taking the standardize STARR test is not an easy process. Students
undergo so much pressure trying to pass the test that has so many requirements based on the
state. Always having to take a standardize test makes it impossible for students to actually learn
something that is useful in the future. However, now that many parents have figured that out they
are proposing to the school board to change standardize testing into something easier or to
modify it for different kids. These tests do not help students succeed, the test puts way to much
stress on the children. That is why it is critical for the school board to change it, that way
students can actually learn something that will help their future and help students understand
what they are learning.
At the beginning of 1838 officials started to talk about standardized testing, that was a long
time ago (Alcocer). Ever since then students in the United States have been under pressure trying
to pass the test. Depending on the state standardized testing vary from age, but they all begin in
elementary school. In 2001 they passed a law called No Child Left Behind Act this law was for
kids who have disadvantages (Klein). This law did not only help kids with disadvantages, but it
came with a lot of rules that every school has to follow and with the more rules it came with the
more stress it would be for all students in school. The rule that would put the most stress on the
student though would be the rule that all states has to ensure a proficient level of results from the

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students at their school (Klein). If students from all other the United States found this out their
stress levels would increase by a lot. Even so, this rule is unfair for those children who have just
turned into a students. They just started school and already they have to worry about the grade
they will get at the end of their first school year. The reason for that is because they did not get
the chance to explore school life to either hate it or enjoy it. The age they have to start at is
ridiculous they are just kids, Not long ago, elementary school were places where students could
discover what they were good at, explore the subjects that appealed to them, or maybe just be
content with enjoying school (Walker).These test take away a childs right to have fun and be
creative. They do not get that chance to find what they love because teachers are required to
teach them that way those kids can be prepared for the test. John F. Kennedy once said that,
Children are the worlds most valuable resources and its best hope for the future (Kennedy).
However, how can kids be the worlds future if they are under stress from taking the state test
and trying to pass it? Taking the proposal from the parents into consideration there are many
ways for students of all ages to learn and pass a standardized test and maybe not even take a test.
For instance, every student is different in their own special, unique, wonderful way and
because of that not everyone learns the same way. Many articles give alternative methods for
students that way they are not under pressure to take the test. Instead of taking the standardize
test, one of the methods is a game-based test from the AAA lab in Stanford. Saga Briggs says
that, These games are designed to test things like system thinking or the ability to take
feedback-measures that traditional tests do not get (Briggs). By using a method that involves
video games many kids would enjoy it. This test would appeal to kids because it is something
that they have a connection to. Another article has a method that involves teachers doing
standardize testing throughout the whole year without kids realizing it. Anya Kamenetz writes,

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Schools around the country are incorporating direct demonstrations of students learning into
their assessments programs. These include projects, individual and group presentations, reports
and papers and portfolios of work collected over time (Kamenetz). Using this method no kids
would realize that they are being tested by the state which means they would not have to stress
out about it. Another method that was written was the stealth assessment, Stealth assessment
does not just show which skills a student has mastered at a given moment. The pattern of
answers potentially offers insights into how quickly students learn, how diligent they are and
other big factors (Kamentz). There are many other methods that teachers, parents, even students
themselves give just so that do not have to sit in a room for the whole day being bored. All year
round students have to prepare for the next grade level and in every school year teachers prepare
students for the standardize test, they never once prepare them for the world outside of school
because they cannot teach their students a lesson that will not help them pass the test.
In the same way, teachers prepare students for the test why can they not prepare them for
the future. Students in all grades are not being taught things that will help them in the path they
have chosen for their future. Yes, subjects such as math and English are important to learn for
their future and maybe that is why they test students to see how much they have absorbed over
the year. However, board directors do not realize that math, science and English are not all that
the world contain. Standardize testing is a waste of time for students because that is time away
they can be learning something else instead of wasting their time waiting for the test to end. Most
of these kids will grow up graduate high school and possibly go to college. Yet, more than eightfive percent of those kids that will graduate will come back home because the teachers and
school life they had before entering college did not prepare them for what actual college is
(Dickler). In school they baby students because they know that the standardize test will be hard

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for them and they do not want to cause more stress so teachers help the students as much as they
are allowed to, but that does not work in college. In college professors expect previous high
school students to know the material already because those students have been taken the state
tests. If students did not have to take the state test then there would be more time for teachers to
actually teach their students what the real world is like instead of always having to lecture about
chemicals and math problems they will not need if their future job does not require it. Time is
wasted for students year after year. The states want kids to become smarter, but the more stress
the standardize test puts on the students the more they will become less interested in the subject
they will have to learn.
In addition, by giving every single student a chance to learn and grow as a person in their
own way with help from their teachers knowledge, they can become intelligent. This cannot be
accomplished by drilling and pushing information into their brains that some students may not
even need later on. These students need to focus on their lives not a standardize test that happens
only once a year that will not take them places. Even though taking the standardize STARR test
is not an easy process. There is no point in a test that wastes students and teachers time,
especially since the test is graded on such a low scale that varies from state to state. Less stress
for students means more room to grow in knowledge, but even if the standardize test were to be
taken out of school for the future years to come does not mean that there will not be any more
test. School are still evaluated by the teachers result of their students, so there will still be test
just to make sure that students are listening to them. The teachers test may not be as hard as the
standardize test, but it would still be hard.
In brief, every single test that a student takes is going to be hard and most of the time some
test are harder than others. Yet, having a test that fits a students learning habit, their needs and

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the knowledge that they have can take some pressure off their shoulders. Instead of taking a test
that they think they might fail. A famous person once said that, Our greatest weakness lies in
giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time (Edison).
Hopefully things in school will change and with new changes maybe students can become
smarter and make the world a better place, but that is up to the school board to decide.

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Works Cited
Alcocer, Paulina. History of Standardized Testing in the United States. NEA. N.p., n.p. Web. 29
Nov. 2016.
Briggs, Saga. 8 Alternatives to High-Stakes Standardised Tests- InformED. InformED. N.p., 20
Nov. 2015. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
Dickler, Jessica. Boomerang Kids: 85% of College Graduates Must Move Back Home.
CNNMONEY. Cable News Network, 15 May 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.
Famous Quotes About Children. Famous Quotes About Children. N.p., n.p. Web. 29 Nov.
2016.
Kamenetz, Anya. What Schools Could Use Instead Of Standardized Tests. NPR. NPR, 6 Jan.
2015. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.
Kelin, Alyson. No Child Left Behind Overview: Definitions, Requirements, Criticisms, and
More. Education Week. N.p., 21 Oct. 2016. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.
Top 20 Thomas Edison Quotes. Lifehack. N.p., n.p. Web. 26 Nov. 2016.
Walker, Tim. The Testing Obsession and the Disappearing Curriculum- NEA Today. NEA
Today. N.p., 26 Oct. 2015. Web. 25 Nov. 2016.