State testing is coming up soon. It starts on Monday April 10th and continues throughout the week. State testing is important in that it helps ensure that all public school students receive a quality education. And although it is necessary and required many students and teachers dread state testing. Ms. Fifarek says “I never look forward to state testing. It wears everyone out and I don't feel like I get any meaningful results from the tests that would be valuable for my teaching.”
I know that many do not even try during state testing, or feel very pressured and get anxious, which affects their test scores negatively and reflects badly on the school and the teachers. This is why many believe that state testing and the way schools go about it needs to be changed.
There are many ways that state testing could be changed for the benefit of everyone. Bringing back paper testing could help the students' testing performance. Reading on paper is often easier to comprehend than reading on a screen.
Another way to help students better perform in these tests is making the environment more comfortable and less serious so that students do not feel pressured. MAP testing, for example, is similar to state testing. When I was in elementary school I looked forward to this because we were offered snacks during testing. If snacks were provided during the state testing I think it would be much more enjoyable for students and even teachers. But whether or not state testing is changed, make sure to be prepared for it.