Why Should not Students
Have Summative Testing
By Bella
“Good morning sunshine!” a
student said. The student changes their clothes so fast and gets up ready to
look at the daily plan. Oh! Such a dreadful day, it is summative day again. Students
can feel this way, and this can ruin their feelings about school. Is there a
better way to get up in the morning and start the day in a happy mood? Summative
testing should not exist; they cause anxiety for students; they are not the
only way to see how schools or students are performing. Kids need time to rest.
They also need to know “summatives” are not scary; so, they do not feel stress.
Schools should only have tests at the end of the semester. Other unit tests
should be small quizzes. This makes students learn and study in a comfortable
way and allows teachers to teach in a comfortable way. Schools should not have summative
testing because they make students nervous, they frustrate teachers, and they
might make students drop out.
The first reason
schools should not have summative testing is because they make students nervous.
“High stakes exams can cause anxiety” (Munoz). Students will get nervous
because of the results of the exam. They are afraid the grade they receive will
be low. In International Baccalaureate (IB) schools, if the student does not
get over a “3” they will have to stay in the same grade for the next year. This
adds pressure to students and makes them extremely nervous because they want to
go to the next grade. Students gave their opinions about summative testing, “[summative
testing] makes student’s life harder… [summative testing] frustrates kids…[Students]
just worry [about the results].…[Students] hate them, [and they] don’t
understand why they have to do them” (Zheng et al.). Students will also get
nervous because they are worried they have not learned all the knowledge points
which affects the confidence of the student. In addition, some students with
special needs cannot take tests in a quiet and serious place. For example,
there was a student who had this problem last year. When he was in a quiet
place, he was afraid of the quietness. Therefore, summative testing might be
affecting students with special needs. The pressure of the upcoming test also
makes students worried. Students get nervous because they are worrying about
what they are about to do. Summative testing stresses students, this affects
the health of students and student’s confidence. Therefore, schools should not
have summative testing.
The second reason schools should not have summative
testing is because they frustrate teachers. “One in ten teachers have complained about becoming stressed due to
test-preparation activities… [which are] not aligned with the objectives of a
class” (Lynch). Teachers are frustrated because students are not mastering
what they should learn because teachers must focus on reviewing the old
knowledge points so the students can do better on summative testing. If they do
not teach new material and just review old material the students are just
learning what they already learned repeatedly. “High-stakes testing [also]
drives out good teachers” (IDRA). One in five
teachers do not want to teach anymore because there are too many tests
(Putman). A math teacher at ShenWai International School [SWIS] responded
if she wanted to give “summatives” to students, “No because if [students] do
good in [their] homework then [teachers] can see how much [they] know and what [they]
still need to learn” (Bailey et al.). This quote shows there are other ways to
see how a student is performing without relying on summative testing. Teachers
believe teaching is more important than giving students summative tests. So,
they would get more frustrated reviewing knowledge points for summative testing
than teaching students. It is clear teachers are frustrated because of summative
testing which is why schools should not have summative testing.
The final reason schools
should not have summative testing is because they might make students drop out.
“High-stakes testing leads to increased grade retention and dropping
out…students who are retained do not improve academically” (IDRA; Lynch). In
most IB schools, students who get less than “3”, on their summative, will have
to repeat the same grade level again. Students do not want to repeat the same grade,
so they drop out. Students may drop out because they are not confident they
will do well on summative testing. They believe they cannot do well in school
because they did not do well on their test. They would rather drop out of
school than continue to do so poorly in school. Special
education students may need particular care, but with too many summative tests
they are not able to receive this care and it hurts the student. This might
make the student uncomfortable studying in school or feeling they do not belong
in this environment, which can cause students to drop out. Therefore, schools
should not have summative testing.
The opposition uses high stakes testing results to inform their
decisions about their child’s education because the results can show how well
or poorly their child’s school is doing (Munoz). It is true high stakes testing
can give parents information about how well or how poorly their child’s school
is preforming but other evidence is better. A child’s grades, homework, and
what the child says can show the parents how well the school is doing. A school
which is doing an excellent job feels like active parents, good teaching, and high
expectations. Because there are other ways of knowing how well a school is
preforming, schools should not have summative testing because they make
students nervous and unconfident. “High stakes testing actively hurts, rather
than helps, genuine educational improvement” (IDRA). Therefore, schools should
not have high stakes testing.
In conclusion, schools should not have summative testing because it
affects the teachers, the students, and the school itself. Summative testing
can make students nervous and harm their self-esteem. Also, summative testing
can frustrate teachers, and teachers are disgusted by summative testing given
to students frequently. Lastly, they might make students drop out. Summative
testing discourages students to keep on staying in the school. No summative
testing for schools would be the best for students and teachers!
Works Cited
Bailey, Janet, et al. What Do You Think
about Summative Testing? 20 Nov. 2021.
IDRA. “The Dangerous Consequences of High-Stakes Testing,
FairTest, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing.” IDRA Intercultural
Development Research Association, IDRA Intercultural Development Research Association, Aug. 2002,
www.idra.org/resource-center/the-dangerous-consequences-of-high-stakes-testing/.
Accessed 27 Nov. 2021.
Lynch, Matthew. “A Look at High-Stakes Tests: The Pro’s and Cons.”
The Edvocate, 23 Aug. 2016,
www.theedadvocate.org/look-high-stakes-tests-pros-cons/. Accessed 4 Dec. 2021.
Munoz, Roberta. “High Stakes Testing Pros and Cons.” Education.com, Education.com, 4 Dec.
2014, www.education.com/magazine/article/high-stakes-testing-pros-cons/.
Accessed 27 Nov. 2021.
Putman, Hannah. “Testing, Testing… Are
Teachers Less Likely to Quit When States Stop Testing?” National Council on
Teacher Quality, National Council on Teacher Quality, 27 Aug. 2020,
Testing, testing… Are teachers less likely to quit when states stop testing?
Accessed 9 Apr. 2022.
Zheng, Yolanda, et al. What Are Your
Feelings about Summative Testing? 20 Nov. 2021.
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