Standardized testing.
By now, you have probably had several of these tests. And you probably know what it feels like to stand up after hours of staring at a computer screen.

You may have wondered why school and students need them. Well, standardized testing is used to assess the school district and the students. They cover multiple areas of knowledge and are designed to determine where students are in terms of education and their learning.

Students have one every few months. The NWEA is a test taken three times a year by sixth and seventh graders, and two times a year by eighth graders.

The PSATs, or Preliminary SAT, is a test taken by eighth graders in the winter. These test are necessary, to a degree, in order to asses the school and to get students familiar with a test that may help determine college placement at the end of high school.

“I think some [testing] is needed.” said Mrs. Colleen Banick on the subject. But do we really need all these tests? “Assessment, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. However, this is a lot of assessment.” said Ms. Banick.

The number of tests students have can seem overwhelming, so how do these tests affect students?
Many kids end up feeling drained afterward. These tests are often administered across several hours, resulting in students feeling exhausted and numb by the end.

In addition, it often consumes the entire day, meaning that students have nothing to look forward to except hours of testing. “It’s annoying and stressful,” said eighth grader Josh Gordon. Any student already knows what it feels like to stand up after hours staring at a screen. The tests are detrimental to the the student body because they can exhaust and stress them.

But students aren’t the only ones who are affected by these tests. As they are given during classes and can span several days, teachers lose valuable class time. This means they have to postpone lessons.

While standardized testing is important to assess the school’s students and teachers alike, too many can be detrimental to teachers and students by eating up class time and leaving students tired and irritated.