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Eat a well-balanced breakfast. Listen to classical music for at least one hour. Drink a plentiful supply of caffeine. Get at least eight hours of sleep the night before. Meditate. Breath. Relax. Don't forget two number two pencils! (If number two pencils are the best, why are they called "number two"?) Teachers commonly give these directions the night before a test. Whether students like it or not, tests are inescapable. Walter Ballou Jacobs, author of How to Survive in Your Native Land said, "That the schools will ever be free from the tyranny of diploma and examination may be an Utopian expectation" (Bracey 79). Webster defines a test as, "a set of questions, problems, or exercises for determining a person's knowledge, abilities, aptitude, or qualifications." According to this definition, a test is more than an assessment used to determine how one is doing in school. A test more accurately reveals how one is doing in life. Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Triangle illustrates the theory that human beings need to feel capable of accomplishing goals and gaining respect. This level is called self-affiliation (See psych book). Unfortunately, Maslow found most people never reach self-affiliation. It is difficult to pinpoint the reason for this. However, test scores do have an influence on one's self-esteem. Generally speaking, students that have just received a "high" test score feel like they have accomplished something. Often, recipients of these test scores tend to share their test grades with classmates and family members. I interviewed a high-school sophmore about this process of sharing. Kelly Barber said, "I can't wait to get a test back. But when it's time, I become so nervous. I peek at my grade so no one can see. If it is good, I tell everybody around me and ask, 'What did you get?' If it is bad, I only will tell them I passed. No one wants to do badly on a test. And when you do, [poorly on a test] everybody knows you are a stupid person or a slacker." Recent polls have indicated that an overwhelming majority of high school students face test anxiety before taking "an important test." (make up reference) However, standardized testing is the only way local, state, and national government can monitor how a school system is performing.
Approximate Word count = 1288
Approximate Pages = 5.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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