Standardized Testing Fails Us All

     SBA testing is useless. How on earth are we supposed to remember everything from the beginning of the year to now, and with no notes, forget about it! SBA tests thankfully only affect your grade if you pass them, giving you a little credit, but if you don't, they are nothing but a waste of time. Generally, the English test is not too bad, just answering some questions and writing an essay, but the math is annoying.  SBA is outdated and is not an accurate way to test what a student has learned. The test has not changed since its launch; the effect on students is stressful and is a major pain in the butt for all parties involved.

      While the idea of standardized tests has been around since the 1800s, here in Washington, students have been taking the SBA test since 2015, and to be blunt, the test sources that are provided for the English test feel like they are from 2015 B.C.E Some of the essay topics feel odd and out of place. Many students have said they felt their essay topics were not from this decade. Most high schoolers have been taking the SBA since 3rd grade, and the only thing that has changed is our grade level. At that age, the testing environment is stale and can be intimidating to a young child, and it makes the test feel like some big, important thing that will make or break your grades, but it really has no effect on them. 

      Some kids just don't test well (me included), but that doesn't mean we didn't learn anything over the year. We are all taught the same material and get the same assignments, but the test does not take into account the busy lives students lead. Like many things, the public school system is set up to fail us with complicated questions and hours of sitting in one place. The test sees students and schools only as numbers in a system, which puts unnecessary pressure on students to do well on the test because, if they don't, it could mean less money will be spent on their school. In an ideal world, the test could help the schools that need it, but in practice, it does not. SBA  has always been about money 

     The SBA is a waste of your time and adds a truckload of unnecessary stress to students. In my experience, the test has only led to burnout and falling behind on schoolwork. The test itself is outdated, and the data is used only to determine how the district moves its money.