From: Kaydenze Brock and Abigayle Trotter
Hope
Did you know that over $45 million dollars each year are wasted on ILEARN testing? And that is just for Indiana. Standardized testing is important but for almost 20 days it is putting stress and pressure on students.
The stress and anxiety that students go through when taking ILEARN can affect their mental health. Especially with the pandemic that is happening it is harder because it causes more stress on students.
Students are also worried about what could be happening to friends or family members that are struggling with COVID-19. If we didn’t have ILEARN, students would feel more stress free and would not have to worry about trying to get a good score.
Money and funding has a big impact on how the test works. Each year in Indiana $45 million dollars is spent on the test. That money is coming from teacher’s salaries. This money is just being wasted when it could be used for something else that is more important. The test may not even be an accurate measuring stick of what students learn and are taught because when students are stressed they will likely not do their best on ILEARN.
ILEARN doesn’t make sense. It only reveals whether or not a “kid passed a certain benchmark that the state randomly assigned.” ILEARN doesn’t determine if you go on to the next grade or not. Also, we already take NWEA which already tells what you are good at and what you struggle with. NWEA also already shows if the teacher is teaching well or not.
In conclusion, we should not be taking ILEARN because it puts too much stress on students. It also takes up too much money and time. This money could be going to much more important things such as teacher’s salaries and students who need extra help.
