I am a parent from District 7. My children attend Apison Elementary and East Hamilton Middle School. I have been frustrated for some time now, with the amount of testing that our school district puts our students through. I streamed the last two school board meetings. In the March meeting the school board made it clear that many parents and teachers in the district have also communicated their concerns and frustrations over the amount of testing our district does.
Students just completed two weeks of TCAP testing. Now, the school district is requiring that our students complete MAP testing for ELA and Math, which takes several days. My daughter is an "A Student." Unfortunately, she has test anxiety. She used to love school. Now, she comes home upset on a daily basis. She hates going to bed at night because it means she has to go to school the next day. She has trouble going to sleep at night because she can't stop worrying about what test she has to take the next day. I have trouble getting her up and ready for school because she hates school.
Our school system is broken, and it is doing its best to break our children. My 10 year old should not have anxiety and stress. If our children are not in a good place mentally, how can they learn and succeed in the classroom?
In the March school board meeting, Dr. Robertson referenced "the data" they gain from the multitude of tests and how valuable that data is to them. I want to know what the data shows about the impact all of this testing has on our children. The 4th grade counselor at Apison created a special counseling group that meets once a week, because there are so many 4th grade students with anxiety. That is not normal.
I have emailed the school board members, the county commissioners, Dr. Robertson, Dr. Stewart, and members of the TNPTA demanding they step up and put an end to all of this testing.
There has been a lot of talk about balancing the school budget. One has to wonder how much money could be saved if we eliminated all of the excessive testing. While it might not completely solve the district's financial problems, it would certainly be a step in the right direction.
The school district is also always stressing how important it is for students to be present at school and in the classroom in order to learn and be successful. Think of how much more our students could learn every year if we didn't waste over a month of school days testing.
I'm emailing your news outlet in the hopes you will follow up with the school district, school board members, and the county commissioners. I feel like if we shed enough light on how broken our school system is, we might start seeing some changes.
Samantha Mowrer
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I completely agree. Let’s not forget benchmark testing three times a year.
My daughter has bad test anxiety, and I don’t believe all these tests are an accurate reflection of her progress through the year. She’s so terrified of not finishing the test that she doesn’t take the time to read the questions/answers completely.
And don’t get me started on 3rd grade retention based off these scores.
Dawn Viljoen