Dear Mr./Mme..President,

Imagine what it would be if you are in third grade and you are taking a big STAAR test. Imagine what it would be like when the STAAR test is in front of your eyes and you are a third grader full of fear. Mr./Mme. President, stop these standardized tests by putting laws in place to protect students! Standardized tests cause emotional stress and anxiety that can affect health. Standardized tests don’t show everything a student knows.

Standardized testing must be stopped because they are causing students emotional stress and that can affect health. Research studies have shown that anxiety cause headaches, some kids feels shaky while taking these tests, and some children can pass out or throw up because of test anxiety. This is not a way that a third grader should feel.

Students know much more than standardized tests can show. Joan Harris, an expert in early childhood education has said,

“Contrary to popular assumptions about standardized testing, the tests do a poor job of measuring student achievement. They fail to measure such important attributes as creativity and critical thinking skills. Studies indicate that standardized tests reward superficial thinking and may discourage more analytical thinking. Additionally, because of the small sample of that is tested, standardized tests provide a very incomplete picture of student achievement.”

Shouldn’t we listen to someone who is an expert like Joan Harris? These types of tests don’t show a student’s artistic or creative abilities. They don’t test whether the student is a good athlete or if they are good leaders. Those are important, too.

In conclusion, I am asking that you pass legislation to stop requiring standardized testing in our schools. Imagine how much more happy those little third graders will be when all they have to think about is learning.

Thank you for your time. Congratulations on winning!

Sincerely,

Varada G., 8th grade, Cedar Valley Middle School

Works Cited

"Test Anxiety." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's Health. The Nemours Foundation. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Harris, Phillip, et al. "Standardized Tests Do Not Effectively Measure Student Achievement." Standardized Testing, edited by Dedria Bryfonski, Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. libraries.state.ma.us/login?gwurl=http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?query=&prodId=OVIC&contentModules=&dviSelectedPage=&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&limiter=&disableHighlighting=&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&zid=&p=OVIC&action=2&catId=&activityType=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010478218&source=Bookmark&u=mlin_m_highrock&jsid=49ea537c93a441192572947cf3e64898. Accessed 4 Nov. 2016. Originally published as "Chapter 3: The Tests Don't Measure Achievement Adequately," The Myths of Standardized Tests: Why They Don't Tell You What You Think They Do, 2011, pp. 33-45.