Too Much Standardized Testing Junior Year?

Junior Year is rapidly drawing near for the Class of 2007, and Senior Year is closer than most of us may think. Now I suppose is a better time than ever to look back in retrospect on the year, especially with respect to the amount of time spent on standardized testing.

Barely a month into the school year, the Juniors were faced with their first major test, the PSAT/NMSQT. This test is touted as one where many scholarships are decided, and is a major indicator for how well students will do on the SAT, the most important of all the tests to college admissions committees.

Next for most students was the High School Proficiency Assessment, the test which single-handedly determines whether students are ready to graduate from high school. While the attitude of most Magnet students is one of indifference about this test, it is still a test that deserves mentioning, as poor performance on this test can have disastrous consequences.

Following this assessment for most students nationwide as well as those at Magnet was the all-important SAT, the test that determines for many students their chances of getting into their dream schools as well as all their other choices. Oftentimes this test is underranked as to put less pressure on students taking the exam, but the score on this test is arguably worth almost as much as your high school GPA in terms of admissions. The test is a nice level playing field to judge students with similar school performance against their performance on a test that is the same to all students.

Two weeks of Advanced Placement testing follows, although the vast majority of Magnet Juniors do not participate in the testing, as for many Magnet students only one AP class is available for them to fit into their schedule. Of course their are notable suggestions, the most extreme being Justin P., who was taking 6 tests during these two weeks.

Many Magnet students also continue on to take SAT subject tests, which measure their performance in a number of subjects ranging from the Spanish Language to Chemistry. These tests last only one hour each, although it is not uncommon for students to take three tests at once, as the most extremely selective schools require three, even with the submission of ACT scores.

Another test that many Magnet students take is the ACT, an alternate to the SAT that is more popular in the Midwest. This test is supposedly more student friendly and measures classroom knowledge rather than the ability to reason the right answer out. The June 10th testing date is a popular date for Juniors, as it is a convenient date 2 months after the April SAT date and is a mere week after the last SAT and SAT Subject Test date, June 3, although it is in the middle of Final Examinations.

One looks at all these tests and it is astounding to many how much time is spent sitting down, taking a test with thousands of other students also taking the same test, trying to do the best of their ability. When is the cutoff for when too much testing is too much? For many Juniors at Magnet, they simply take the testing in stride, aware that it is just another part of the requirements to get into the school they're looking at getting into. If one were to take the PSAT, HSPA, the SAT, one AP test, three SAT subject tests, and the ACT, the total number of hours spent testing would be around 35 hours. For sitting in a room testing, this is absolutely mind-boggling. This does not even take into account those students who have taken the SAT multiple times or have taken multiple AP exams. A good point to ponder is: How much testing really is too much? When do we stop the taking of these standardized tests and decide that our ability has been tested enough? How many times do we have to prove ourselves to colleges that we are worthy of their presence?