The one thing that stresses me out the most in life is this: tests. Schools refuse to understand the emotional impact of over-testing. I believe we are being set up for failure, and over-testing is causing a mental health crisis in schools. I feel as if I am being over-tested, and even parents feel the same way.
Tests serve a purpose, but overtesting students is harmful to their mental health. While they provide valuable insights for teachers and educators, their impact on students’ well-being is questionable. Tests are designed to assess students’ knowledge, which can drive improvement. However, excessive testing can lead students to experience burnout rather than fostering a conducive learning environment. Though educators believe that frequent testing helps them identify areas where students are struggling, it may actually lead to poorer performance, absences, and lower self-esteem.
The issue with tests is that they are used to make significant decisions that could potentially determine our lives, such as high school graduation or whether we pass a grade. This can be unfair to many students, as not all students excel at testing and may experience anxiety, leading to lower scores. Consequently, this could result in students dropping out due to a lack of fair opportunities to learn the material covered on the test. Testing does not improve education, but it determines our future.
There should be a shift toward project-based learning instead of relying on testing students. Project-based learning offers more benefits to students’ education. It allows them to actively engage in meaningful activities and derive enjoyment from the learning process. This fosters a sense of confidence and prepares students for success, unlike tests, which do not guarantee student success.
Testing has become a source of fear, with students enduring long hours of studying and hoping to achieve a good score. Students are missing out on other learning opportunities while studying for these exams, which don’t accurately measure a student’s overall skills. The number of tests we are subjected to is overwhelming, to say the least: standardized tests like the SAT, ACT, PSAT, MAP Testing, Regents, AP Tests, and constant regular school assessments. These tests are designed to determine our academic standing and future prospects, but it does not need to be this much; we need a limit to testing.
Our efforts define who we are as a person, not our test scores.
Works Cited
“The Dangerous Consequences of High-Stakes Testing.” FairTest, The National Center for Fair and Open Testing, Aug. 2002, https://www.idra.org/resource-center/the-dangerous-consequences-of-high-stakes-testing/.
Diallo, Amadou. “Project-Based Learning and Standardized Tests Don’t Mix.” The Hechinger Report, 14 May 2018, https://hechingerreport.org/project-based-learning-and-standardized-tests-dont-mix/.
Mostafa, Tarek. “Is Too Much Testing Bad for Student Performance and Well-Being?” OECD, 19 Dec. 2017, https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2017/12/is-too-much-testing-bad-for-student-performance-and-well-being_139f29cd.html.