Did you know that it is important to 5th and 8th graders to pass the staar test because, if they don't pass the staar then the students have two more opportunities and if the student doesn’t pass it could determine to see if they can move on to the next school. This one test shouldn't determine if a student should not move onto the next level. If they are able to pass the class all year then they should be able to move on anyways without a doubt. Some students make passing grades year round , and still when it comes to the staar test they might have test anxiety and feel so pressured to pass the test and end up failing . When that happens sometimes some students get held back and that's not fair to them because over one test determines if …show more content…
If the students doesn’t pass it the the first time then they have two more opportunities and if they don’t pass it the third time then they are gonna have a conference with everyone. But I don’t think holding them back for one test is not fair because if they pass the class all year then they should be able to move on anyway. Students get way to much anxiety over this test.Some students get to worked up over this test. Some students have to take medicine to calm them down before taking this test. I don’t feel like a student needs to take pills before beginning a test. Also some students aren’t ready or prepared to take the test that day and when students tend to feel like that they don’t pass the test. I know some people may not agree with me about the passing or failing requirements of the staar but those are my opinions and that's how i feel. I think it is good we have a test at the end and see how much they learn over the year but it shouldn’t determine if they should move onto the next grade level. I’m just saying that the staar shouldn't determine if the students get to go onto the next grade level and also a student shouldn’t get so much anxiety over the staar
Students that have severe test anxiety do not have a fair advantage (ADAA,
In the 1990’s, I grew up taking the TAAS test or Texas Assessment of Academic Skills. I did not know why we had to take them but everyone had to and teachers tried to prepare us as much as they can. Then in the 2003, the state decided to change it to TAKS test or Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. I knew that I had passed, but as a student we do not question why we have to take these tests. We are only told that they are important to our education and graduating to the next grade or from high school. A few years afterwards they had switched to a new standardized test form called STAAR which stands for State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. It seems that a last few tests were not accurate in monitoring students’ progress and controversy surrounding incorrectly scored questions. The STAAR test which has been supported in legislative passage will now be the current standard method of assessing students and districts. The focus shifting mainly on standardized testing has left Dallas Independent School District with less than stellar performance compared to other districts.
One of the difficulties that arises with the TAKS test is the pass or fail system. Starting in third grade, a student must pass the TAKS to move on to the next grade level. This means that an incredible amount of stress is placed on each student starting at the young age of eight. Also, a senior must pass the test before he or she will receive a diploma or be allowed to walk the stage at the graduation ceremonies. It may seem like these are perfectly reasonable standards for students to achieve; however, for advanced students, the TAKS tests them over material that they have not studied in years. For some children, the test places high amounts of anxiety and stress on them. Katy McElhaney, a science teacher at Waco’s Brazos Middle School,...
Since this test has been devised, the number one question everybody is asking is, “ isn’t it unfair to base a student’s entire future on one test, when he or she simply could have had a bad day when taking the test”? The president Kirk T. Schroder of the Virginia Board of Education, answer this question by saying, “First of all, these tests are untimed, so no student is under arbitrary time pressure in taking the test.
The reason for high stakes testing in schools was to see where students stood academically. It was made to check on the progress and status of whether teachers and staff were doing their job as they are responsible for a child’s learning. In 2002, George W. Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act. Each state had to come up with their own testing systems for students to meet certain standards. This was influenced by Red Paige who was superintendent at Houston I.S.D. Accountability was their main goal with this kind of testing. Texas tests are created by Sandy Kress who teamed up with Pearson. The current test outraging the opposed side is the STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) test. Kress came up with this test because people felt that the previous TAKS test was not helping students with college readiness. The STAAR test counts towards 15% of a student’s grade (Blakeslee 126). It is a harder test and Texas is a state with the most exit level exams as it is. Even though people disagree with this test even more, Kress and his followers believe that the test is not failing students, but their teachers are. Defenders can be pretty harsh and blunt about why the STAAR should stay. Bill Hammond made a stat...
Students spend most of the year preparing to take one or two big tests at the end. The amount of pressure put on students to succeed on these tests is astronomical, making it impossible to focus on the actual goal of assessing their knowledge. A student in Florida spoke to her school board about the absurd expectations from these tests, “Every year I do well in school, but I get low test scores on the FCAP and it feels like a punch in the stomach. This is unfair and I don't want to lose my opportunity to take my advanced classes or get a better education because of this one test.” (Locker)
Standardized tests have historically been used as measures of how students are compared with one another or how much of a particular curriculum they have learned throughout the semester or year. Consequently, standardized tests are being used to make major decisions about students, such as grade promotion or high school graduation, and higher education evaluation. Various numbers of students across America have had to repeat classes because of the way standardized tests are used to pass or fail students. Although the tests require students to retain information until the end of the semester, I believe it is wrong to allow just a single test to decide whether an entire semester’s work will be rewarded with the credits that may have been well-earned. Some standardized testing such as the SAT, are not fair to students who may come from a poor educational background and do not retain information as their fellow peers. Students are at a disadvantage if they have test taking anxiety, which is a condition that many students suffer from “a feeling someone might have in a situation where performance really counts or when the pressure's on to do well” (Test Anxiety). Standardized tests give a false pretense of objectivity and consequently of equal opportunity. However, "the only goal of standardized tests is the scoring, which is done by machine" (Facts on Standardized Tests and Assessment Alternatives). It is made clear that the purpose of testing is to provide information to be used in conjunction with, not in pl...
Test anxiety or stress can impair students’ academic performance on standardized tests and thereby hide their true abilities and strengths. Anthony Pasquale quotes, “… Intensive standardized testing not only causes stress in students but may undermine learning," wrote Daniel Edelstein in an article for Brain Connection. “Stress is the body's general response to any intense physical, emotional or mental demand placed on it." Stress undermines learning because it affects the way one thinks. Tests stress some people out in a harmful way, and what happens when stressed out students take tests? Normally not good results…” The education system is putting too much emphasis on testing and not seeing the consequences on student’s mental health. I am personally affected by standardized tests because these tests potentially determine my future. I experienced anxiety, severe panic attacks, and headaches because I was stressed thinking about the tests or simply not concentrating while taking the tests. I know my education has a power to determine my future through the years coming, but I am exhausted at the fact that a grade on the tests determines my
Students and teachers both can have anxiety about testing. Teachers can be worried about the students’ performance on a test – a test that does not measure a student’s intelligence unless the student is good at taking tests. A student might be a gifted musician, artist, or athlete, but if they do not pass a standardized test, they are considered unfit for most colleges. Moreover, since the test is so important and they do not want to fail, students might be nervous while taking this test and because of this, they might not perform as well as they could. Also, a student’s self-esteem and self-worth can be lowered if they do not do well on a standardized test. This can be for two different reasons. One, a student might have thought they had done better on the test and the results could not be what they expected and they could feel like a failure. This can cause a student’s self-esteem to be lowered. Two, they might become worried about their future if they don’t receive a high score. There are many students who have the pressure of their family to do well and if they do not, they might become depressed. Even President Obama thought that standardized testing was not a good way to do things. Taken from an article written by Jonathan Glover (2016) of The
There is added pressure to schools to get better scores which adds pressure to the educators and the students. The added pressure can cause health problems with the students or the educators. If health problem come from the stress of the tests it could negatively affect the student’s ability to learn (Pros and Cons, 2013). The test itself is a problem as well. The test is supposed to be unbiased based on the grade level but in most cases the test is not. As much as they try...
Well first, kids should not have to spend all their time on testing. If kids spend to much time on testing soon enough, they will get tired of it and not do there best. Also if kids stay up all the time trying to study for these tests they won’t get any sleep. Without sleep how will they be able to focus. Thats why kids should not have to spend all their time on testing.
Sure, for some students, the testing may seem like a good idea, for their scores may be high, but for other students, why should they have a low score on the test when they score high on all other assignments? There are many people who get nervous during testing, and will begin to lose confidence. Therefore, they are most of the time unable to score a decent
Many say students should be able to retake tests because, “everyone has a bad day every now and then”, or maybe the student did not quite get it, and offering a retake gives the student time to prepare and improve on the next assessment. Many people often think that when a teacher allows a student to retake a test that it can ultimately defeat the purpose of having a test. According to http://teaching.monster.com/training/articles/956-test-retakes-may-help-students-succeed, retakes should be offered to people who made a C or lower on the test that they wish to retake. On the other hand, some compare retaking tests to showing up late on a date, having poor quality work, or crossing the road without looking. For
Many parents are outraged to hear that their son/daughter may not graduate high school because they didn't pass one test. Especially because it may not be because they don't know the material, but because they are not a good test taker. But something that parents, teachers, and students all have in common is that they all think that high stakes testing is puts too much unnecessary stress on everyone.“In signing the resolution, county school board members said they've received many complaints from parents, students, and teachers who say the emphasis on testing puts too much stress on students and interferes with class time and instruction.” (Ross). That isn’t even half of the problems that students face due to the increased stress. Some students are losing sleep anticipating the big test, teachers are trying their hardest to make sure they're ready, parents can see their children struggling with the material but knowing they can't help them. That is stressful enough to break anyone.Tests can be stressful, especially when they're made such a big deal. As a high schooler I would know this. People lose sleep, appetite, and focus because of these tests, which is a terrible
If we take away the stigma that repeating the grade is a bad thing, then the students can get quality education and keep their