Standardized Annoyance

March 11, 2008

In a school, very rarely does everybody feel the same way. Usually, students and teachers clash over policies like the food policy, the attendance policy, or the electronics policy (specifically cell phones and ipods). But there is one thing no one in the school seems to like: the ACT/MME testing taking place this week.

The ACT/MME is the new standardized test put in place to replace the MEAP. Every high school junior across the state is taking this test this Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (March 11th, 12th, &13th.) On Tuesday is the ACT, which is one of the standardized tests required for admission to most colleges. On Wednesday, there is the Workkeys test (measures your job skills) and the Michigan math test. On Thursday, we end with the Michigan Social Studies and Michigan Science tests.

It's obvious what students are thinking, after all, what teenager wouldn't look forward to a week of testing? But there are other reasons why juniors are dreading this week. One, we miss 2 days of each class. We miss all four classes on Tuesday, we miss 3rd and 4th block on Wednesday, and we miss 1st and 2nd block on Thursday. That's a lot of work to make up. It's hard enough to keep up in classes (especially for people who are taking APs), but now we are forced to miss class. Also, we pretty much have no choice but to come to school. We juniors would rather come to on a stretcher full of IV's then miss these tests. Since the ACT/MME is required to graduate, we have to take it on the normal date or the makeup date. But the state scheduled the make-up date for spring break. So for those of us traveling spring break, we have to take the tests this week or risk not graduating.

This week also seems to be an annoyance to teachers. Even though the teachers aren't taking the test, it still has a huge impact on their lesson plan. They still have 9th, 10th, and 12th graders in their classes, so they have to find something to teach for those three days where the kids in the class have something to do, but where the juniors aren't missing much material. Also, a lot of the teachers are being kicked out of their rooms for these next few days so they can be used as testing sites. I can't imagine it's easy for a teacher to give a lesson in the auditorium without their materials or a chalkboard.

Even the administrators seem to be annoyed with this testing. After all they have to arrange all of the testing areas, figure out a good schedule so the juniors don't miss too much class, and make sure all the juniors actually show up so they don't have to give up THEIR spring break to make up testing.

So if no one likes this ACT/MME, then why do we do it? One, the state tells us we have to. We have no choice in the matter, not even the date of the tests. Two, it's a free ACT test. Since we have to take it at some point if we want to go to college, now we get to take it for free and save about $45! But the biggest reason that we juniors take this test, and take it seriously, is the Michigan Promise Scholarship. If we meet certain requirements (a minimum score on the test, a current Michigan resident) then we are eligible to receive a $4,000 scholarship from the state of Michigan. We can receive this scholarship after successfully completing two years at an approved MICHIGAN college with at least a 2.5 GPA (unfortunately, you lose your eligibility if you attend college out of state). With how much college costs today, every cent counts, and $4,000 will definitely help.