As a future educator, it is frustrating to me that my destiny is still determined by standardized tests. Up until this point I've probably takes up to 50. None of which have enriched my knowledge on the particular subjects, they just inhibit my potential for learning actual useful information, rather than "how to take the test", as they are all differently formatted and they all have a "system". It frightens me how much of an impact these tests have on our future, it's just not fair. I for one have a 3.5 GPA, but if you looked at my scores, it would seem that I am a C average student. The state can fix the tests all they want, they can try and measure school districts against each other, but in the end they really aren't helping our students grow. So why are so many people so hung up on them?

As a full-time student, I have plenty to stress over, and adding a standardized test into the mix might seem like "just another thing" but it always escalates so quickly. From them being too expensive, to the prep books that are 500 pages long, to the prep courses (which are also expensive) to the actual 5 hour test, to the results that never seem good enough, it's just a downward spiral. Maybe it's because I'm on the arts route, but I think there are much better ways to measure someone's intelligence. Yes, there are standards for many reasons to make sure everyone is on the same level, but pinning students up against each other is just plain stupid. No more than ever, there are less students who want to be teachers, and there are more people going into teaching that don't agree with these expectations with standardized tests.

Schools now take MONTHS out of their curriculum to teach this crap. We're missing out on so much by wasting time on practice tests and prep for these tests that in 30 years will mean nothing. Of course as a future teacher I want my students to do well, but their personal growth means more to me than if we did better than another district.

As a society, we are always telling students to "look up" and to get off the phone or the computer, but then we ask them to take test for days straight on computers or Chrome Books, etc. For me, I can't stare at a screen like that for too long because my eyesight is bad, I wonder why it's getting worse every year! It is so easy for me to lost focus because my contacts are drying out, I'm uncomfortable, I have to use the bathroom, etc. during a test. There are so many missed opportunities and questions I get wrong because of these simple things.

One of my teachers was telling me that one of her colleagues teachers her entire curriculum like it's the PARCC exam in prep for that years tests. We're taking the humanization out of teaching by wanting them to be like robots. It really is a shame. No Child Left Behind should encourage us to help our students as individuals, not push them to severe levels of stress that don't do any good.

Believe me, it seems ideal to have a 1/4 chance in getting the right answer, but this testing is to the point now where I wish I had more essays to write than tests. Some people probably won't agree with me, but that's just how my brain works. Why is it that someone who has my brain and someone who has someone else's brain is expected to function the same and get high scores.

Sure, students have the option to opt out, but what good is that doing? My sister did it twice in the last two years, and she finds herself sitting in the library waiting for everyone else to be done, and then in the classroom on those days, it's just more prep so there's really no point in her having to go to school at all. She's one of the smartest people I know and she's still going to be asked for her test scores because everyone's so hung up on it. It's sick.

To those that think standardized testing is effective, I feel sorry for you. For my fellow colleagues who have to take hundreds of tests just to prove your worth, I feel sorry for you too. There has to be another way. Seriously.