Standardized Testing

Stephanie Davis, a fellow colleague, comments on standardized testing in schools and new changes that will come if Texas House Bill 742 comes to pass. She brings up how schools are only focused on students passing standardized test and how school has become “no longer fun or exciting.” She also mentions that schools need to be more accommodating to all types of students when it comes to the testing environment.

Davis claims that standardized tests in schools are ruining the way children view learning. She suggests that a new method of testing should be implemented in schools that will encourage and empower students to love learning. Although she believes House Bill 742 is a start, it is not enough and more should be done to combat this problem. 

I agree with Davis when she says, “[s]chool should be fun.” Texas has recently replaced the TAKS test (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) with the STAAR test (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness), increasing the amount of tests students must take at the end of each school year. High school students must take and end-of-course exam (EOC) for Algebra I, English I, English II, Biology, and US History. This places a large amount of stress on students and teachers alike. This type of testing drives competition between schools, taking away an important goal in the process—student success. Another disadvantage to these tests is that they only focus on certain subjects and dismisses the creative part of learning. I do believe that testing is necessary to give teachers guidance and track students’ progress, but I believe our current method of testing might be burning out our students.