System hurts accelerated learners

It is once again the time that all students in the state of Washington begin taking finals in their classes. However, many of my fellow students and I will not be taking a test that reflects what we have learned in the past year.

I am a freshman taking junior-level math classes, and although the juniors and sophomores in my class get to take the Algebra 2/Trigonometry Smarter Balanced Assessment, my fellow freshmen and I cannot. We have been given reasons by our teachers such as “the state cannot afford it,” as to why we can’t take the test.

However, we are the first class in Mead that is (as of right now) required to pass the Smarter Balanced Assessment to graduate. Once we are eligible to take the test, we will have completed and dismissed some of the material we had studied.

This system does not make sense because all students in a math class should take the test for that specific class, not the level of math below them as we will have to this year. Our education system has flaws, such as this one, that need to be addressed.

Maddie Gendreau

Spokane