Dylan H. Oklahoma

Letter to President

This is my opinion on school testing and why I do not think it is beneficial to the students of our schools.

I think school testing is insignificant and it doesn't show anything about a student's intelligence level. I think passing the class itself should be enough to move on to the next subject. The testing system is set up to where not only do you have to pass the class but you also have to stress out over the state tests at the end of the year.  In order to fix the problem I think you and Congress should  abolish  state testing and put more focus on passing the classes rather than state tests.

In "High School Testing" by Jon Kerr it states that "secondary education and credentials are important to economic mobility", but passing classes in school should mean a lot more than "secondary education", which is education that isn't primarily concerned with grades. The state tests take about two hours on average; a high school class takes nine months, so the fact that the tests mean more than passing the class makes no sense.

Another thing that's not fair about testing is when kids slack off in class the whole year, but at the end of the year they start studying the review and they end up passing the test, which in my state before this year means they just passed the class that they practically learned nothing in at all.

I could see how people would think school testing would be beneficial because it shows what students have learned over the span of the school year. It also can show the skill level of the teachers based on what percent of the kids in there class pass it, but in the long run it hurts the kids more than it helps.

School testing is insignificant and stressful for students.  In order to benefit our students, I think we should abolish school testing and put more focus on our classes.

East Central High School - Tulsa

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