Opinionated Writing

In the state of Texas, all students are required to take the STAAR test, a state standards in core subjects including reading, writing, math, science, and social studies.

In the fall semester, students are demanded to take a final and then in the srpoing the students need to take finals in all of their classes as well as STAAR tests.

I do not personally agree with having students take standardized testing exams along with a final exam around the same time in the spring. At Bowie High Schools all grades are required to take the STAAR exam and a semester final. I strongly dislike the idea of having four exams as well as the final because I get stressed out and I am not a fan of  exam determining my academic level.

Many outstanding students may nevertheless do poorly on a standardized test because STAAR results count for %15 of a student’s grade and may impact the student’s grade point average or class rank. For a student applying for competitive colleges like the University of Texas, a single percentage point in class rank can make or break the chance for acceptance.

For student’s staying up late studying for the STAAR texts and then having to worry about the other final exams their health is at stake because stress causes lack of concentration, problems with sleeping in order to get rest for the tests, feeling irritable or annoyed, you are more likely to catch a cold, and high levels of stress can lead to anxiety and depression.

For students to graduate high school, everyone must pass all of the EOC assessments which mean sone failure on a single STAAR test can keep a student from graduating. The STAAR EOC assessments must count for 15% of a student’s grade.

One solution to the problem is to have a bill to eliminate certain STAAR exams. In the state legislature there was a bill to eliminate the 8th grade social studies test and high school US history exam. The legislation only received one “no” vote significantly scaled back the number of tests to the only ones required by the federal government.

Therefore, the need to eliminate the STAAR test is very high because the state should be worried about students stress levels and health as well as them being able to go to college.