Once again, campus students must take the Stanford Achievement Test 10th edition (SAT10), April 10-11. The underclassmen will be put to the test to evaluate the knowledge they have learned over the course of the year.
The SAT 10 is a nation-wide test which private schools take while public schools take the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) test. The STAR test challenges students on California State Standards to make sure the schools are teaching state standards.
“Private school give the SAT 10 test to their students because they can not give the STAR test,” Principal Todd Bennett said. “This test provides accreditation and lets us know if the teacher is affecting the students. Some portions are not valid for various reasons, so we do not use them for testing.”
Bennett says the cumulative scores of the test provide an accurate picture of students’ education.
“Everyone performs differently on the test,” Bennett said.”To get an accurate reading of the student, we look at the past five years to see how they have grown or why they may not have done well. However, some sections aren’t that accurate because they may only provide a few questions so if a student misses one it completely destroys their percentile.”
To help generate a more accurate result, FC is looking into developing their own standardized test.
“We hope to develop our own test for the school because neither test [SAT 10 or STAR] is accurate,” Bennett said. “The only difficulty in creating a test is establishing an accurate system for scoring. At our school we are more advanced in math than the national average so students tend to excel in these areas.”
While administration appreciates the benefits of the test, they are sometimes lost on students.
“I don’t like the SAT 10s,” Amanda Merzon, ’12, said. “They are long, tedious and I find them boring. They don’t seem to be beneficial other than for the school, but not for my own personal gain. I think the test results must be taken over a period of time because during one year a student may not do so well.”
Though the process as a whole is commonly regarded as trivial, certain sections provide interest for students.
“I do think the SATs are boring, but I find science to be interesting,” Matt Jenkins, “13, said. “I like the science section because I like learning new things about science. I do think that as a student matures they do better on the SATs because they take the test more seriously and look at the questions more in-depth.”
As their high school career has almost ended, the senior class is not required to take the tests. They can arrive at 10:25 on Monday and 11:25 on Tuesday.
“I love not taking the SATs this year since I’m a senior,” Paige Maltos said. “I never really found the test to be beneficial, but it helps you become a better test taker. I never find one particular section to be helpful because it seemed repetitive.
“I do have to say for all other test takers that they should take it seriously, because it does help the school know if the students are learning, even if it does not help you personally.”
Bennett says he hopes the students do their best.
“We have had a great, smooth year,” said Bennet. “I hope the students take the test seriously so we may determine how well they are improving as well as the teachers effectively teaching the students.”
For more information, e-mail Bennett.
For information about other standardized tests, read the Dec. 4 article, SAT, ACT influence college options.
