Since the beginning of elementary school students remember the feeling of having to take multiple tests for every subject. By the time we are in high school, we have probably taken hundreds of tests, and they just keep coming.
Students, such as myself, have had the feeling of anxiety, nervousness, stressfulness, sadness, and anger over a test score. Letting it make us feel as if we failed just because one test told us so. Then when entered into the gradebook it can completely weigh down our grades.
Personally, as a student in the public school system, I never felt tests were very fair.
I do well in all aspects of the subject; projects, socratic seminars, essays, etc… But when it comes to having to take a test I overthink, doubt the right answers and overall question what I know. It’s not that I didn’t study the material, but the fact of knowing how much it would affect me if I don’t do well. An example being AP Psychology weighing their tests at 75% and for one of Mr. Torres' math classes tests are weighed at 70%. Taking a test puts unwanted pressure onto a student.
Though many students don’t have a problem with having to take tests and don’t face these problems, others do. Tests do not show accurately what a student knows, as there are many factors that can contribute to a poor performance from mental health, short term memory, anxiousness, stress, etc.. With these factors being considered, tests can weigh down a grade and even worse take more of a toll on mental health.
Tests should be used as a readiness mark that shows a teacher what is working well and what is not. Not something that puts a number on our intelligence and deems what we do or do not know.
