Standardized testing is controversial for many different reasons, but in the Lake Stevens School District, it is the timing of these tests that is controversial.
These tests begin in late April, with the English Smarter Balanced Assessment beginning April 23. This testing begins only two weeks before Advanced Placement testing begins, and causes some students to be torn between two important tests. In addition, this test is slotted for only a week of a student’s English class period.
However, many students run over this allotted time, which causes them to miss more instructional time, and causes stress among students. Other school districts in our area have already taken the initiative, and made changes to their testing schedules that benefit their students. For example, Jackson High School has different days allotted for testing. On these selected days, the testing students arrive to school at normal time, and students who are not testing have a 3-hour late start. In addition, all of these selected testing dates occur after AP testing, meaning students don’t have to split their time between reviewing for two equally important tests.
A similar testing schedule has been adopted in Mukilteo, at schools such as Kamiak High School, where non-testing students have a late-start while other students test. At both of the mentioned schools, the amount of testing dates is much less than the number of days us students at Lake Stevens High School spend testing. If there were to be a change in the scheduling of testing in the Lake Stevens School District, the students in our area would be happier, less pessimistic towards testing, and less stressed towards school.
Mackenzie Delgado
Lake Stevens
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