During the month of April, juniors at Rancho Cucamonga High School participated in State Testing by taking the ELA (English Language Arts) and math tests.
The purpose of state testing according to the California Department of Education and Forbes is to attain data that aids in identifying existing gaps in knowledge so students can receive the support they need to be successful in school.
According to Dr. Sherry Berwick, assistant principal of instruction at RCHS, the purpose of California state testing is to test what students have learned.
Since RCHS juniors haven’t been tested since 8th grade, state tests look at “how much students have learned in their three years of high school,” Berwick said.
Unlike AP exams where there are predetermined curriculums for the specific subject, state tests are testing “general knowledge,” according to Berwick. “If courses at RCHS are following the state standards, students should be prepared.”
Testing took place during two weeks. The first week, tests were scheduled on a regular schedule. Students took the adaptive or multiple-choice tests.
Block schedules were used for the performance test for the English questions which required essays.
“For me, the English multiple-choice questions were difficult because it always seemed like too many choices were wrong or too many choices were right,” junior Tiffany Luu said. “The written questions, however, had more engaging sources so I felt like I had more creative freedom and could expand on my thoughts.”
With the block schedule, students had two hours of undivided time for the test.
“For block schedule, there were pros and cons,” Luu said. “I liked being able to focus on each subject for longer, but sometimes I would lose concentration from working for long periods.”
Make-up tests were also conducted for the students who hadn’t finished their tests.
The results of these tests “guide the California dashboard,” Berwick says. The approximate time that the results will be visible is late summer and guide the dashboard reading for next year, Berwick added. This dashboard is important as it determines funding for RCHS.
“For students, the results are important because some colleges look at the results,” Berwick said.
Students will also be notified individually and get an individual report for their test results.
“Even though I don’t think anyone finds testing particularly fun, I do believe that it is worth spending time on so that colleges have a standardized way of viewing students,” Luu said.
