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Opting out

This year, a wide variety of students opted out of state testing. The process to opt out of testing was fairly simple and was quickly approved by the administration without pushback. Although they strongly encouraged students to take the test for the overall benefit of the school, they were understanding of students who chose not to take the test. 

Got done faster because of the longer block

Some students were able to complete their test in the span of one testing period because the block was so long. This is good because then they did not have to be worried about it for the rest of the week, and were able to get it over with. Others that didn’t finish in one period were still  able to complete more each period without disruption. That was only true in some senior classes.  Most senior classes needed two days and junior classes needed 3-4.

Because they didn’t only in English classes, students were not pulled for testing

This year, the class you were assigned to for testing was determined by a student’s second period class, and for mixed classes the majority of whichever grade the teachers had in their class during the second period. For example, if your second-period class was mainly juniors and you are a senior, you would have to go to a different class for testing. This worked well, because the second period is the most attended period, and you were still assigned a class to go to if you were not enrolled in a certain class, like they have done previously, where they tested in English classes and some students did not have English.. 

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Number of Opt-outs

This year, over 10% of testers opted out of testing, making the scores for those who did test ineligible to count for our schools placement. In order for testing scores to count for our school, over 90% of testers have to take it. Being able to opt-out was nice, but it’s unfair to those who pushed through the testing blocks.

Too much wasted time

Because the blocks for testing were so long, students had lots of extra time, and the only thing they were allowed to do was read a book. This is not helpful and a waste of time if kids do not have to read for an assignment. If even just one person in the class is not done testing, or they get there late, then the whole class has to remain silent and cannot work on anything they may need to. To create a solution for this issue, if the majority of the class is done on one day, then the next day, the few who still need to test could combine in a classroom to finish testing. This would eliminate distractions for test-takers and not slow down the students who need to work on homework or do something productive.

Some teachers were teachers unprepared

This new testing schedule left many teachers unprepared and unclear of the instructions they were to follow. The instructions for the practice testing period were delivered late, so many teachers were not sure how to instruct their testing students. This made the testing period more difficult and may have influenced the number of students opting out to rise. 

Gym presentations

Once testing was over, the administration had students watch presentations in the gym based on our grade. Holding presentations and guest speakers as presenters in the gym is a problem in itself. The gym is hot, sweaty, uncomfortable, and distracting with the number of students in the crowd. Holding presentations in classrooms where students can watch a video and sit comfortably in their seats is a much better way to get participation and attention.