Letter To The Editor: My Hometown's Take on Standardized Testing

In response to the criticism of the STAR testing incentives, as a former Agoura High School student, I will attempt to reveal a student’s perspective on the issue.  First of all, it is important to understand that standardized test results do have an effect on students to an extent.  Most students plan to go to college after they graduate, and if they want to get into a competitive program, the reputation of their high school has an effect on their admission.  Better standardized test scores means a higher API score for their school, meaning that higher reputation.  

As a former student, I am well aware that a big reason why schools do not perform well on these tests is a result of students just not trying.  How else would these incentive programs have caused such dramatic results in such a short time? 

In regards to students with learning disabilities, students are in fact given different levels of the STAR test based on their course levels.  It may not be an accomodation that satisfies all parents, but standardized testing is necessary to evaluate the education that students are receiving in relation to other schools.  Whether we like it or not, we live in a competitive world, and trying to delay that effect on young adults until after they graduate from high school will not likely do them much good. 

I admit the administration may be getting a bit carried away with their incentive efforts, but their motives should not be misunderstood or misrepresented.  Higher standardized testing scores have positive effects on faculty and students alike. 

I chose to write a letter to my local newspaper partly because I thought it would have a better chance of being published.  Not only do I offer a new perspective on the issue, but I am a former student of the high school in question.  The previous people that were featured in The Acorn, which included a parent and the editor of the newspaper, complained about how unfair standardized testing is and how the school is punishing kids who do not do well.  Since I took the California standardized test for many years and witnessed the type of tendencies that go on with other students taking the test, I thought I could offer some information from an insider’s perspective.  I conceded toward the end that my high school may be getting a bit carried away with their incentive programs, but I still think it is important that parents and writers consider the entire scope of a situation and that they do not get so fueled up on a single part of the issue, ignoring the other perspectives and the inevitable decisions that schools must make.