School system places testing above students’ education

The purpose of educating students is to teach skills that they will carry with them in the future, and help them learn facts and information that will assist them in their later years. However, it seems as if school systems are losing sight of this goal and only taking time to prepare students for specific tests, rather than attempting to teach. This has been heightened in recent events where teachers have had no regard for students’ stress with both AP exams and EOCs.

Recently a few college students from UK who were worried about finals, they mentioned that it was dead week. Curious, I asked what that was. They explained that it was a week before finals where teachers were not allowed to assign tests or major assignments while students were attempting to prepare for end of the year tests. Why does high school not have a dead week? Granted, a high school student’s work load is not much compared to a college student’s, but it would still be helpful to have that rule set in place. We too have to study and prepare for not only finals, but also EOCs and AP tests depending on the courses we take. However, even some of the teachers who are even teaching these courses still relentlessly pile on work for these students.

These days, it does not seem as if the school system has the best interest of students but rather the score the student receives. We take these courses for an entire school year, only to forget everything we learned after we have taken the test that the state requires. Tests seem to be the main focus of education. Should education not be about actually teaching the student? They should be providing them with things they will keep with them throughout the years, not  things they will forget the day the test is over.

So why is the school system gradually becoming more worried about a student’s score rather than the students education or well-being? Consider this: my freshman year, finals were worth 10% of our final grade. Now, finishing up my junior year, they are worth 20%. Why such a big change? Students are even more stressed out than they were in previous years. The final really and truly makes or breaks your letter grade. The school system seems to be no longer worried about what the child is learning and what will benefit the student later on, but rather the score they receive on a test at the end of the year.

The school system is in need of a fix. School should be a place that students come to learn, not stress to the point that they experience physical complications due to the overwhelming pile of work. We are already stressed about regular finals, then tests and quizzes and exams are being added to an already stressed out student work load. Freshman worry about being exposed to finals for the first time, sophomores are worried about EOCs and AP exams, junior year is the year of standardized testing, and seniors are worried about college. Not one specific age group is exempt from this suffering, yet teachers and members of the school system do not seem to care, piling on more work. The school system needs to understand we are still human, not robots, and we need to have some of our educators reach for a little compassion.