With the end of the third nine weeks and start of the fourth, comes yearly state testing. Freshman, sophomores, and some juniors must pass the English I & II, U.S History, Biology, and Algebra I STAAR tests in order to move on to the next grade, putting pressure on students to perform well.
“I felt mostly prepared because I felt like I was ready for all the parts in the test even though I’m not good at test taking,” Daniella Ebede (9) said. “The hardest part for me during the English I test was the essay prompt because it was very vague and hard to come up with ideas for it.”
One main external factor that makes test taking a struggle for some students is the fact that the test is very early in the morning, making it hard for some to stay awake.
“I was scared I was going to fall asleep during the test,” Viktoria Anderson (10) said. “I brought tea, gum, and water to help myself stay awake, which worked as I didn’t fall asleep at all during the test.”
Students taking the English II STAAR had time in class to prepare for the test as their teachers gave them curated and special activities to help refresh the material and skills needed to pass.
“We did the STAAR Olympics in my English class, it was fun, but English has always been easy for me,” Sarah Coon (10) said. “I think it helped with the test taking skills not necessarily the material itself, but it still helped us prepare.”
Arguably, what comes after the test is the worst part of testing itself according to some students.
“I read my book for three hours after I finished my test,” Chloe Embry (9) said. “Waiting to be released from the room was worse than actually taking the test because when I’m testing, I have something to focus on but afterwards, there is nothing to focus on, so I get very bored.”
In order to keep students, awake during the test itself, the school turns up the AC so that the testing rooms are colder than normal and not warm enough to sleep easily.
“I couldn’t even do anything or relax after I was done with my test, because it was too cold,” Elizabeth McConathy (9) said. “I didn’t know it was going to be that cold when I was testing so it caught me off guard.”
Students are allowed to be released from the rooms once all students are finished testing and all materials have been put up. Then they must continue on their normal schedule and go back to class like normal.
“We didn’t have any work in the classes after the test,” Addie Detenback (9) said. “It was a nice mental break especially because I fell asleep from exhaustion after I finished my test.”
Though some students feel dissatisfied with the overall experience with having to take the tests at all, overall, STAAR testing went without a hitch or struggle.
“I felt underwhelmed by all my STAAR tests, I trained for all these years to take the tests and after I take it, it’s just disappointing,” Coon said. “I think standardized testing is flawed and kind of pointless. Everyone learns and retains information differently which defeats the purpose of comparing students to one standard when everyone is different.”