Assessments are nothing new for students and educators. When it comes to education, the significance of standardized tests and end-of-the-year (EOC) testings can be debated on.

Many schools believe that EOC testing is vital for a student’s well-being in their school career. Here at Lebanon Trail High School, staff and teachers express their opinions on the resourcefulness of standardized assessments. 

“I think testing is a great way to learn critical thinking and test-taking skills,” journalism teacher Lacey Gilmore said. “These types of questions are also the types of questions they might see on something like a college entrance exam or an SAT. In that sense, it is good practice.” 

Standardized assessments can be argued as both significant for a student’s school career, and not. Many necessities come with having the opportunity to get an education, but students contemplate if EOCs are one of them. 

“I think they’re not super necessary, but I feel like they’re necessary for each subject or course for a year,” freshman Steffi Sam said. 

Preparation is what develops the most motivation to follow through with an assessment. Many tests are taken within a student’s years at high school in order to prepare them for much larger obstacles that take place in their future. 

“They’re kind of brutal because they [EOCS] are so much harder than regular tests and STARR tests, but I think they are good for high school,” Sam said. 

Difficulties when taking tests are always a downside. Students take their EOCs at different times during their school career, and handling those downsides also leads students to look at the positives. 

“Specifically, I took my EOC in the eighth grade, which was really hard, but I think that in high school they help with AP exams,” Sam claimed.  

Schools need to gather plenty of data that shapes how they treat and educate their students. This data usually comes from assessment scores that test the ability of students, which then amends the teaching strategies used. 

“I believe what they do is, they rank schools by those test scores and oftentimes, it will happen if a school several years in a row does not receive high enough scores on those exams, they kind of put a spotlight on that school,” Gilmore said. 

The LTHS community takes standardized assessments very seriously, and everyone, including staff, educators, and students, have varied opinions on the significance of these tests.