The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) is something every student dreads, the one - two hour test has been making students sigh since the beginning of 2014.
The torture that is the CAASPP testing is often taken in each grade from Elementary to Middle School, and during Junior year of highschool. These tests are not only to get children accustomed to the useless rigorous testing of highschool, but also used to measure how a student is performing in their education.
These tests set the benchmarks that are used to judge whether the child is above or below average. These test scores are given only to the school, state, and parents/students in order to help ensure a better education and teaching experience for the students.
A Student suffering through the horrible Math CAASPP Test
This spring at Middletown highschool, the junior and senior classes are having to suffer the English, Math, and Science CAASPP testing. The Senior class usually don't have to do any CAASPP but because of technical difficulties and the absence of a science teacher last year, they only have to do the science test this year.
I have put together a survey for the Junior and Senior classes to fill out in order to try and understand the confusing opinions of the upperclassmen about the CAASPP testing. It turns out most of the opinions are the same..
“...that it wastes time, the students hate it, the teachers hate it, and ultimately what information can this test really give, it just measures whether you are good at taking a test.” or that “It only really affects the school and how much money they can get if the students do well.”
3 out of 5 juniors and 5 out of 6 seniors agree that the CAASPP testing isn't as important as our school and state say it is. What these students say may be true. In our modern day, schools have found that these testing methods are outdated and can’t accurately measure how well a student is doing.
A one Senior who's taking the science CAASPP this year said “it’s to gain knowledge on what students know at our school, yet I don’t think it’s accurate because of how long and boring the tests are, so people end up not caring or trying therefore that results are not accurate.”
Though most of the students think that it's useless or ineffective, some students understand the use of the CAASPP, saying things like “it provides a baseline measurement for how an individual and their school are performing.” or “it helps the school receive funding and it keeps the state from taking the school over.” These statements are also very true, as it provides a baseline to see how a student is performing and it can help fund the school.
Rather these tests are useless or not, the state still mandates the test, and some of the teachers want to give rewards to the students to do well on the tests. Mr. McCall, the junior English teacher, has made a program that inspires students to try harder on the CAASPP.
The CAASPP Incentive Program gives Juniors rewards for their senior year, depending on their success on the CAASPP. If you meet the standard set by the CAASPP, you are rewarded with a Lunch Pass that lets you go to lunch 5 minutes early, and a bump to the next letter grade in your Junior English class (EX: C+ to B-). If you exceed on the test, you are rewarded the same as before but with an extra grade bump (EX: C+ to B) and a senior parking stop. These rewards can be taken away due to bad behavior.
CAASPP might be a nightmare to highschool students, rather it be its hour long tests or unfair grading, but sadly, the CAASPP is here to stay. Thanks to our state mandating the test in elementary and highschool, students will always have to fear the dreaded CAASPP test far into the future. At least our highschool can reward our juniors for their hard work on those tests during their senior year, and give some purpose for the students to try on the seemingly useless CAASPP. otherwise I hope that our students had a good testing week this spring and hope to see plenty of seniors arrive to lunch 5 minutes early next year.