As April rolls around, students have about a month left of school. This should be an exciting time… right? Well, unfortunately it also marks the beginning of testing season, which is very stressful for students as they need lots of time to prepare for these big tests that can affect their futures. This overtesting is very bad for students, and school administrators need to act quickly to prevent things like burnout among the student body.
Students spend way too much time studying for tests. When asked how many hours they study per week, 49% of students said they study 1-2 hours per exam. While this may seem like a small amount of time, it adds up quickly when multiple exams are involved. This is hard for students as many have to manage studying with extracurricular activities, chores, jobs, and homework.
As mentioned earlier, testing season brings a lot of stress for students, this stress doesn’t only come from preparing for the exam, but also the effects their test scores have on their futures. When asked how stressed students feel due to tests and exams, 64% of students say they feel “very” or “extremely” stressed. This statistic is significant because it shows just how much pressure students have on them during exam season with the excessive number of tests. When asked if students feel as if there are too many tests throughout the year, 79% of students said that there are too many tests through the year. This is bad because it increases the chances of students burning out and that’s going to have a lot of bad consequences.
Tests do not accurately reflect their knowledge. In fact, at Harrison, 68% of students said they feel tests don’t accurately reflect their understanding of the material. This shows that a ton of students might know the stuff on the test but struggle to show it through testing. A variety of factors like test anxiety, confusing questions, and pressure to finish quickly can affect scores.
There are several different tests that students must take, and each of them bring a lot of stress and impact student’s futures. At Harrison, the most common tests here are MAP, AP, Ohio State Tests, and normal teacher-written exams; these tests can be overwhelming because they’re long, tricky, and have a potential effect on student’s futures. For example, AP Exams can affect college admissions or whether we earn credit, while the Ohio State Test is required for graduation. These high stakes can lead to a variety of problems like a lack of sleep, anxiety, and burnout.
Our school needs to do something about this problem now if we want to prevent the student body from becoming stressed, anxious, and depressed from thinking about how these scores will affect their futures.
