TESTING: California is one of the 45 states that has adopted the tedious Common Core Standard Testing, which includes the option of computerized tests.
by Valeria Carrillo, Staff Writer
In California, two weeks out of the school year used to be manipulated for the California Standards Testing. This year was different. Those two weeks were frantically scheduled to fit around one test that does not count towards anything except “testing the test.” The new curriculum and test, known as Common Core, supports the idea that students should not be learning the what of subjects, but instead the why. Even though the concept of the entire system is well thought out, as one of the hundreds of guinea pigs, I must say the test was almost torture.
Since a majority of the pressure to pass Common Core is brought on by the federal government, schools across the country are more than willing to participate in order to avoid losing government funding. The Common Core Program is the result of the federal government’s notice of the decline in American schoolchildren’s academic performance compared to the global education benchmarks. According to a study done by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, “teachers were racing through textbooks and checking off boxes without pausing to gauge the intellectual growth of their students.” The purpose of the new state standards is to have fewer boxes to check off so that students can master the material they are taught. The Common Core Test preparation appears to be aimed more towards elementary and middle school students in order to lead them down a new path of independent thinking and analyzing instead of memorizing. Although high school students may learn how to analyze more deeply, others could not care less and may not have their brains rewired in time to adapt to a new way of thinking that contradicts what they have learned their entire lives.
Standard Testing is changing the future. Instead of memorizing specific words or ideas, students must formulate their own answers based on presented material. Instead of randomly choosing answers, the Common Core Test contains more open-ended questions. With the addition of technology to the Common Core Test, the new, instantly-sent tests will be quicker and easier to grade than the old, mailed-in bubble sheets. Regardless of where students are, school districts are cooperating with the new Common Core Standards Test extremely well; the districts have become more flexible and students with bad or no Internet connection are granted as much of an equal opportunity as those with it. Even though Common Core Testing is the future of standardized tests, the system does contain flaws.
As if the regular three hours of the California Standardized Testing on paper were not enough, the Common Core Test creators are moving the test to small laptops handed out to each junior on the day of the test. Within the first few minutes of receiving a laptop and mouse, everyone in the classroom was fed-up with the new technology. After about half an hour to one hour, the clicking of the keyboard was constantly going off in my head even if no one was typing. Each click of the mouse became more and more annoying as the hours dragged on without a break to rest our brains or ears from the continuous clicks coming from all sides of the classroom. Around the second hour, my eyes were on fire from staring at the screen. Though there were other students who found it natural to stare at the monitor, others, such as myself, struggled with looking at a computer screen for more than two hours. As a result, the test became more excruciating and repetitive with every second that went by. No normal human being is capable of taking the Common Core Standards Test in one sitting without starting to randomly type words onto the answer columns or falling asleep while reading or listening to a passage. At the end of the three hour block, every junior wished to go home and sleep off the two-pound, brain-crushing test.
Regardless of whether the test passes or fails, California is adopting the new Common Core Standards that emphasize a focus on understanding the concepts, not just knowing them. The Common Core Standards illustrate the future of education by teaching children to use a thought process instead of regurgitating everything taught to them by their teachers. On the other hand, the Common Core Test needs a reality check. No student will be successful on the test if they are forced to sit down in front of a computer for three hours nonstop.