Staff Editorial
Junior year is the most important year of high school in terms of grades, GPAs, extracurriculars, standardized testing, and preparing for and beginning college applications. Typically, students take their hardest courses in 11th grade and are increasing their amount of AP classes. These pressures combine to create a large workload. California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) testing is an unnecessary addition to the workloads of already bombarded 11th grade students.
According to the California Department of Education, the purpose of CAASPP testing is to help the teachers, parents, and administration with evaluating the extent to which the curriculum met the subject quotas. The testing required for high school students are for math, science, and English/Language Arts, per California Pacific Charter Schools.
Juniors are focused on college admissions and finishing their Junior year with grades that reflect their hard work. Thus, finding the motivation to complete a multi- hour exam that is believed to have no effect on the individual student is difficult. However, CAASPP testing scores have an impact on California State University (CSU) and Diablo Valley College (DVC) applicants, according to the California Department of Education. If a student scores high on the CAASPP, they have the option to opt out of traditional English and math courses for DVC. CSU schools use the CAASPP or SAT/ACT scores to determine class-level placement. California community colleges (CCCs) may also utilize CAASPP results; however, this depends on the college. By scoring higher on these exams, one can save money on college courses, and personalize academics to specific interests.
While CAASPP testing results may only affect certain students’ college plans, CAASPP also reflects on the quality of teaching at Costa, and should be taken seriously. Although, with all of the stressors in the past few weeks for juniors, including AP exams, finals, and college admission preparations, testing sophomores would ultimately serve as a benefit to all.
Although state testing is important in terms of providing students with the opportunity to show what they know and what they can do, according to Columbia Virtual Academy, its means of measuring intelligence are based on somewhat false pretenses, as intelligence can be interpreted in many different ways. With the emergence and surge of more creative fields and job focuses, intelligence is becoming a vague term. Getting good scores on state testing, of course, highlights intelligence, but it is more that not performing well on these exams should not mean that one lacks intelligence.
With an overwhelming workload, college applications, SAT/ACT testing, finals, and AP exams all surrounding the timing of 11th grade CAASPP testing, students experience a lack of motivation, setting students up for failure. If state testing were to be administered on another grade level, such as 10th grade, it would not only remove a stress factor from juniors’ already busy schedules, but would also will improve test scores as circumstances would be better aligned for a more focused testing environment.
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