Opinions

Testing at Stuyvesant is no trivial matter—admission itself is based on the Specialized High School Admissions Test. Yet recently there has been a trend of excessive testing.

With so much testing, students often resort to cramming and then promptly forget the information after the exam. When the majority of a class fails a test, teachers often continue the curriculum without going back and re-teaching what the class might have missed. Neither approach helps students learn.

While testing is an adequate—or even sometimes ideal—form of evaluation in some departments, it is not productive in all classes. Each department’s unique needs should determine the amount of testing it incorporates into its curriculum.

The physics and world language departments have implemented separate final exams to accompany the New York State Regents Exams this June. The English department is also considering an in-class essay final for sophomores.

Assistant Principal (AP) World Languages Arlene Ubieta and AP Chemistry and Physics Scott Thomas believe an additional exam will benefit their respective departments. World languages finals are designed to prepare students for Advanced Placement classes, while the physics final aims to prepare students for the Regents.

The physics department will use the extra final as an additional grading tool. The Physics Regents has traditionally been the students’ final exam grade. But the Regents will be graded the day before grades are entered this year, making it difficult for them to be factored into final averages.

The process of filling in bubbles and having a machine return a grade is easy enough, but test grades often fail to reflect how much a student understands.

If teachers want students to retain information, they cannot forget the importance of interactive learning. Advanced Placement language courses, which tend to be test-heavy, should find alternate methods for evaluation. Creative projects, which are both entertaining and informative, can accurately demonstrate students’ comprehension of a subject. World Language teachers can also help reinforce grammar and vocabulary lessons with ‘No-English’ days. For the other departments, hands-on lessons are very effective in helping students understand the course material.

Test results are not the only effective method for evaluation. Stuyvesant teachers should shy away from simply increasing testing to better gauge students’ performance. Each class needs its own tailored approach. Testing is not the only answer.