Jongin+B’s+OpEd+Article

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[[image:ㅇㅁ.JPG width="174" height="247" align="center" caption="The fiendish California Standard Test; an art by Jongin B."]]
= = = **"Can STAR Program Really Measure Students’ Progress and Knowledge in a Subject?"** =

By Jongin B.
Every California student in grades 2 through 11 is DOOMED to take the standardized tests called California Standard Tests (CSTs) during two weeks of school years toward the wonderful summer vacation. Indeed, when student is very excited for near summer vacation for its promise of fun and relaxation from the stressful schoolwork, he or she is forced to face the sudden, cold splash of misfortune, under the name of malevolent devil, the Standardized Tests. Why do these students, as young as second grades, have to face the unspeakable misery, before the wonderful step toward the summer vacation? What is the purpose of the so called STAR program that nonchalantly and brutally pushes students in the deep chasm of agony, right before the beautiful paradise of summer break?

According to the official website of the California Standardized Testing, the purpose of seemingly unnecessary and time-consuming pit of hell is “to identify strengths and weaknesses” of students’ academic abilities. Well, this devil camouflages its unutterable enormity inside its abhorrent, despicable “heart” (if it has a heart) – or rather say the pitch-black dust of inferno that venomously flicks its tongue at the innocent students. The test is indeed nothing, but an onerous burden or the double-horned devil ridiculing the student’s sheer agony.

Let’s be realistic. How can one test possibly determine student’s progress and knowledge, which have been expended enormously throughout the school year? How can this test at the end of April or at the beginning of May actually see students’ intelligence on certain subject? The standardized test cannot effectively show one’s academic abilities taught by the school. The state or California education system is quite naive in claiming that a single test can identify and comprehend how much the students have learned at the school. In addition, the test itself takes so much time and energy of busy students. Two weeks is a long time that can be rather wisely used for something else, not for the silly tests haughtily and superfluously claiming for its excellence in determining student’s progress through its mere snapshot. Furthermore, for the poor students’ sake, I personally do not see the necessity of these standardized tests. The students can actually learn something and elaborate their knowledge, instead of blowing their time for nothing but the devil’s vicious prank.media type="file" key="jonginb-muckraker-0910.mp3"