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Test wastes time, money

The Spokesman-Review

I am a freshman at Mead High School and in my opinion the High School Proficiency Exam is a waste of our state’s money and time because it doesn’t tell colleges or other educators specific information as to what a student knows.

I understand that schools need accountability and students should meet certain standards for graduating. However, the HSPE causes much unneeded stress and I don’t think that just one standardized test should be a deciding factor in students graduating from high school or not. Instead, looking at a semester final from each class and seeing the student’s overall grades would better show what the student understands.

Results from the WASL, or HSPE, only give a score and generalities as to what I need to improve on but nothing specifically helpful to my learning. I don’t like how failing the HSPE puts a student’s graduation from high school in jeopardy and how much money it wastes for such little information.

Christianne Petty

Spokane

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