The Stanford Achievement Test (SAT-10) has reached the halls and campus classrooms. All students grades 3-11 are to take the exam administered, March 31- April 1. Not to be confused with the SAT or STAR testing, the SAT-10 is a different test used in the United States to measure academic knowledge.
Campus Principal Todd Bennett explains the purpose of this week’s standardized testing.
“The SAT-10 tests are used for a lot of different things,” Bennett said. “But one of the major things we use them for is accreditation purposes. Because in order to be accredited, you need to have some data that shows that you are teaching, and that you are teaching to a standard held by other national schools.”
Able to see past the monotony of test taking, junior Joseph Lange sees the value of taking the SAT-10.
“It?s a good thing to take this test,” Lange said. “It helps you prepare for what the actual SAT is going to look like. It an also help you learn what your weak spots are and what you need to work on. The test challenges your mind unlike most tests do.”
Shannon Martens, ’11, previously having already taken the tests before, finds the tests unnecessary and incredibly tiring.
“The SAT-10 might be good practice for the SATs, especially for the juniors,” Martens said. “My favorite part of the test is the mints that are passed out. I don?t like the test because I find it tedious and a waste of time. I do not think it applies to what we learn at Fresno Christian, so I don?t find it very necessary.”
Freshman, Alejandro Torres, did not know what to think of the test.
“I don?t really know what to think about the test,” Torres said. “It?s boring, that?s for sure. I guess I could see how it could be useful for the SAT, but that doesn?t make it anymore interesting or fun to take.”
Michael Fenton, math department head, says that the SAT-10 is a good measuring tool for schools to measure themselves against other schools.
“One of the things our school needs to do is get accredited,” Fenton said. “To do that we need to have at least one assessment like this that gives us a sense of not just how we are doing in our opinion but how we are doing compared to other schools.”
Bennett explains why the SAT-10 is necessary for FC and why accreditation is needed by schools to become successful.
“One of the things that is beneficial for students taking this test is that the school gets accredited,” Bennett said. “Now when your school is accredited it gives you a better chance of getting into universities. The other thing is that colleges will look at past test scores to determine what classes you will be put in your freshman year.”
Students will be tested on Reading Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, and Science on March 31. Students will take their final tests on Language, Math, and Spelling on April 1. The testing will end around noon.
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For more news, read the March 25 article, BRIEF: Cheer tryouts approach, March 29.
