Liandethza Ramirez
Published: february 8, 2006
From the moment we enter the public school system as carefree and unsuspecting 5 year-olds, we are taught to share, to get along with others, and to worry.
The Florida Department of Education has always believed strongly in the assessment of an individual’s potential for success through the use of standardized tests. Lately, however, the department seems to have gone a bit test-crazy. Standardized tests no longer just assess potential; they have become the determining factor in whether or not a student even gets the opportunity to try to fulfill their potential.
Starting with the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test given in the third through tenth grades to test reading and mathematical skills, students are programmed from an early age to think that their self-worth lies within the pages of an exam.
If that’s not enough to take the fun out of learning at such an early age, the department recently added a science section to be given specifically in the fifth, eighth, and tenth grades.
A student must pass the FCAT their sophomore year of high school in order to graduate with a standard diploma. Those that don’t will instead receive a certificate of attendance, which is completely worthless in the big bad reality of life after high school.
If the test determines whether or not the child knows enough to graduate, then why is it given sophomore year when the student has only taken half the classes and are only equipped with half the information required for graduation? Not only does this seem illogical, but it makes the next two years of high school pointless.
Once the FCAT roadblock has been crossed on the path to graduation, two more appear: the Scholastic Assessment Test (the infamous SAT) and ACT. Only this time, these tests are blocking the gateway to college.
These tests are in essence just another FCAT. They measure just how much a student learned in high school to determine if he or she is college-bound. Seems somewhat redundant, considering a student’s FCAT score has already determined the same thing, doesn’t it?
The list goes on and on. Students are repeatedly subjected to standardized tests that are heavily relied upon by educators on all levels- and are almost certainly unfair. Students who don’t do well on standardized tests or don’t have the money to spend on prep courses simply aren’t afforded the same opportunities as those who do.
Now, the Department of Education is considering developing another standardized test, this one to be given to community college sophomores before they go to a university.
College success statistics show that community college grads perform at the same level as students who started at universities. So why, once again, should we be expected jump another roadblock to prove ourselves worthy?
If the Florida Department of Education is so preoccupied with students’ performance, why don’t they try encouraging instead of discouraging students?
Scaring people into learning is counter productive. All it does is cause more stress and anxiety for the already over-worked, over-stressed, under-paid, and now unmotivated college students in an environment that should, in theory, be positive and helpful to the learning process.
As college students, our academic performance proves whether or not we are good enough to be on the path to higher education, and we deserve the chance to progress down this path free of roadblocks.