Test Scores. Test Scores and More Test Scores. How do students feel about them?
Dear Readers:
Parents talk about them. School administrators talk about them. Teachers talk about them. But where do students stand on taking tests for the state on a yearly basis where their intelligence, memory and aptitude are used to measure their worth and value in our school systems. I have asked several students to write how they feel about testing.
Periodically, their pieces will appear on theunderdogforkids blog so we can hear what they truly feel. Here is a piece by student Maryam Yazdi, 13.
Testing through our
Eyes
By Maryam Yazdi, 13
 |
| Maryam Yadzi |
The blood pounded in my ears as I
entered the cold, bland classroom. I
felt nervous and also relieved. I had
made it to class on time. Yesterday, my
teacher had warned the class that we’d have to arrive at school on time. If you didn’t, you’d get locked out and fail
the CST’s. If you were caught talking,
you’d get your test taken away. If you
got caught standing without permission, you’d get a strike.
My usually calm teacher, Ms.
Smith’s, voice quavered as she read off a piece of paper, her eyes darting
nervously around the small room. “Please
sit in your assigned seats.” She
read. “When you sit down, put up the
separators laying on your desks, then await further instruction.”
We all sleepily shuffled over to our
assigned seats, and there was a scraping of chair legs and rustling of papers
as we all sat down and set up the separators.
“On your desks, you will each find a no.2 pencil, a test booklet, an
answer sheet, and a blank piece of paper.”
Ms. Smith continued, “If you don’t have one or more of these items,
please raise your hand.” As she glanced
around, only two people raised their hands.
Ms. Smith scurried over to help them, while the rest of us took the
extra time to take a few relaxing breaths.
When she was finished helping the
two students, Ms. Smith announced, “You may now open your test booklets and
begin!” There was more shuffling of
paper, and a sound of pencils scratching on paper as everyone started. As the hours ticked by, I worried more and
more. Was that the right answer? Had I skipped one? Would I finish the test on time?
Pretty soon, I was counting down the
questions. Eight more. Five more.
Three more. Two. One. Then, I stopped. I couldn’t remember the answer to the
question. I only had a minute left of
school, a minute to think of the answer.
I finally thought of the answer, and the bell rang the second after. There was a resounding exhale all over the
school.
Before I knew it, I was outside
and on my way home. I wasn’t relieved to
be finished. I wouldn’t be relieved
until I got my test scores. And… They
better be good. I am still waiting for
them in the mail… I shouldn’t be
worried. We learned all the
material. I am a good student. But, during the test, I felt so freaked out
that it was hard to focus
It left me wondering if I was a good student anymore.
