STAAR Restricts Students’ Learning
College demands facts and information and not the confusing packet that results in a non-crediting score, the STAAR.
Many of the lesson plans in place in core classes have been shortened to accommodate for the tests sponsored by the state.
Students prepare all year round, but what they learn shouldn’t be measured only on the test.
— A.D. Bigot, 11
The teachers tell us what ‘might’ be on the tests, and often it turns out they’ve been misinformed. This results in consumed time that could have been used to teach us what we need to know for the future. U.S. History, in particular, has been scraped of useful information in favor of the ‘might’ agenda.
The STAAR doesn’t count toward higher education, it instead results in a list of forgotten information. The information taught to prepare for the STAAR is usually the only thing the students learn because the teachers are restricted by the tests that the state emphasizes on.
The TEA claims the tests help students prepare for college and careers. However, the way the curriculum is strucured, students are only prepared for the tests.
Matthew Tegtmeyer, 10
— The problem with test based curriculum is you have to skim over everything instead of going in-depth.
The testing companies claim the tests to be educational, but they want you to think how the makers think and they reject your logic that might lead to a similarly right answer.
The tests hurt our free thinking and restrict the curriculum. We take the ‘educational’ tests, despite the fact they haven’t improved our education. In fact, the average reading SAT score has dropped since 1986, when standardized testing first began.
The test should be revised to fit into the educational system and allow teachers freedom in how and what they want to teach. It shouldn’t be a waste of irreplaceable time and resources.
