HSAP

So, rather than discuss something deep or heavy or anything like that, I'm just going to complain about standardized testing. While I understand that HSAP scores are (maybe?) important, I think that it's pretty ridiculous that they take up so much time.

At my school, we run on an A/B schedule with four classes each day (not including lunch and Enrichment, and don't even get me started on Enrichment. That's a rant for another day entirely...). Anyway, we also have the privilege to take classes at the college down the hill if we pass something known as 'Compass Testing', have good grades, and a teacher recommendation, and the college classes are taken extremely seriously (by me, anyway. I can't speak for the other people at my school.)

For those of you who don't know, HSAP is a standardized test that takes place over the course of three days and determines if you get your diploma or not. From what I've heard, it's incredibly easy, and I really have absolutely no worry about it at all. I have also heard that it SHOULD take around ten minutes to complete each part (and this from a person that I wouldn't exactly label as a "genius"...) but the wonderful people at my school who are oh so smart think 'I'll just take a long time so that I don't have to go back to class'. (Wonderful). What they fail to realize, or fail to care about, is that no one can leave until EVERYONE gets done. This is bad for people like me who are taking junior and college level classes and are missing important lecture time.

Because of the thoughtful tenth graders at my wonderful school, I am missing my Spanish 102 class which we just so happen to have an exam in that day. Thankfully, my Spanish professor was willing to work with me and scheduled me to take the exam on Friday. Fortunately, I'll get to take the test instead of receiving an automatic zero. On the downside, I have classes on Friday.

Frustration ensues.

Don't you just love teenagers, especially when combined with standardized tests?

'Til tomorrow,

--A