One of the critical debates in the education system is whether or not should take high-stakes testing like the PSSA’s, the Keystone Exam, SAT, etc. These tests are used to determine the level of students’ level of knowledge. Prior to these tests teachers are required to teach material related to the test. However, there are many important reasons why high-stakes testing should be prohibited in schools. These issues include: it takes time away from learning, students can show perform well in class, but not on exams, and can place unwanted stress on students and teachers. As a future educator, I believe that high-stakes testing does not determine the level of knowledge that students’ have.
In grades 4, 9, and 12 high-stakes tests like the Keystones, PSSA’s and SAT/ACT are passed out to students all across the nation. Teachers are assigned a curriculum to teach that focuses on the specific material related to the corresponding tests. This takes time away from learning other concepts related to that subject. What is the point of teaching the test material if students are going to forget it over the course of a few months? Educators work so hard to teach these concepts only to burn themselves out. High-stakes testing takes away time from learning what the students’ actually need to learn. Students can perform well in the class, but not be a great test taker, which leads into my next point.
Personally, I am a great student. I always do my homework, prepare for tests, participate in class and much more. When I took my SAT exam to start applying to colleges, I did not perform as well as I’d hoped. This resulted in my low score and not being able to get into certain colleges because of the lower score. I am lucky enough to have found a school that accepts my score for my GPA rather than SAT scores. Students who have high GPAs are great students in the classroom. However, if they do not pass a test, why should they have to suffer and stress over a test that determines whether or not they get into a good college? These tests do not show how a student performs. Stressing over a test is a way that students and teachers develop anxiety and some other unnecessary stressors in their life, which leads to my last point.
Unnecessary stressors can be given to students, which can lead to burnout. Teachers spend months teaching this curriculum to students only to see the progress they have made as a teacher. Students develop test anxiety and it can cause them to not perform well as well. I have heard from teachers that I know personally, and they said they taught straight from the testing curriculum and their students did worse, than when they did not teach the test material. Not stressing over the test can provide a feeling of relief, but also worry in if the students will pass. Focusing on the actual class behavior can increase the students’ chances of high scores rather than low ones. All in all, high-stakes testing is not worth it to stress if the material actually taught in the class is enough for students to pass.