Why Are Students Being Tested So Often?

WHS Lions Pride Original Story:

by Maria Ruiz

Why do we have PARCC testing? Most students don’t agree with having to take it. Kids find it stressful and overwhelming to have to take it to determine if you pass or not.

Freshman Megan Doster says, “I don’t like Parcc testing and I think the purpose of it is to test to see what we know so far in the year.” Doster added, “You can’t really study for it because our teachers don’t tell us what’s on it. I would definitely rather take the test on paper not computer; I’d rather be doing anything but Parcc though.”

Freshman Madelyn Fogle says, “No, I don’t like Parcc testing, I find it dumb and I don’t see the point of taking it.” Fogle added, “It’s better on computer, but either way I’d rather not take it and be eating.”

Assistant Principal Jason Lininger says, “I think it is important for us to know how our students are doing with the curriculum.” Lininger added, “The whole test is based on the curriculum that the students are taught.What they learn everyday in English and Math is how they get prepared for the test, because it’s based on the curriculum.”

Some of the teachers think that it does help, but students do not like Parcc testing at all. Students take unit tests and CRES so why do we need Parcc? Lots of students are very upset that they have to take the test and find it very stressful. However, in middle school there was Global Scholar, something like Parcc testing, except it didn’t determine if you graduated or not, just told the teachers where you were within the curriculum.

Lininger says, “We don’t know if Parcc is more effective than Global Scholar or not; it has yet to be seen but parcc is a work in progress.”

Senior Denae says, “I don’t like Parcc — I prefer paper, [because] the computer version hurts my eyes and after a while it is very stressful, I just want to make sure that I get a good score. I don’t study and I would rather be listening to music or sleeping.”

Principal Tracey Franklin says, “Everyone is different so it’s hard to say which is more effective: computer or paper.” Franklin added, “I think it’s too early to determine if PARCC is more effective than Global Scholar, but I’ve found that Global Scholar isn’t as consistent.” Franklin lastly said, “I think that it can be stressful for the students, but we make the teachers prepare them and expose them to the material, though the administration preps the Chrome Books and makes sure the students have everything they need.”

Personally I don’t find that PARCC is necessary. It is very stressful for students all together and it adds on to the many things students already have to do.