Is Testing Overly Stressful for Students?

By Yaelis Monteros, Writer | January 24, 2025

A student on their chromebook working on the iReady platform. Photo courtesy of Yaelis Monteros (author).

iReady Testing is done three times during a school year for high school students. There is a diagnostic test at the beginning of the year (BOY), middle of the year (MOY), and end of the year testing (EOY).

“I don’t like the diagnostic because it is really long. I always get the same questions every year,” said Carson High School senior Shailoh Johnson. “I prefer STAR testing.”

Teachers, however, are able to track our progress and see if students went up or down. This information can be used to assist instructors in knowing how to better help students reach their academic goals; teachers can modify lessons in order to meet the needs of students based on the results.

Data gathered by teacher librarian Ms. Nguyen states that iReady, regarding Language Arts, assesses a wide range of reading skills assessment, including vocabulary, phonics, and comprehension with the purpose being to identify areas of strength and weakness in a student's reading ability.

"I am in favor of iReady when it's used for improvement and instruction purposes, which is how I use it with my students," said CHS Biology teacher Ms. Velasquez.

Some argue that iReady is a waste of time and want the school to adjust its testing methods.

"Although there are pros and cons to iReady, as of now ,I feel it's a waste of time as the test itself takes too long with no incentive for students," said CHS M.E.Di.A teacher Ms. Rodriguez. "I believe that test scores listed on iReady tend to not be accurate either. There are also zero repercussions if the test isn't taken, and also [disagree with] the manner in which it's taken."

CHS junior Ruben Salgado said, "[Students] don't really do much when it comes to iReady. When we see the scores, I think it makes everyone feel really dumb when they see a low score. Most of us don't really try on it anymore."

However, some do recognize that there is an upside to the testing.

"I tend to use iReady in two different ways. The first is in my advisory class, my students go on the platform and take time to practice. The second [way] is taking that data from my side and seeing where my student's have improved or helping them if [their] scores have dropped," said CHS History teacher Mrs. Whitford.

CHS senior Celest Macias believes that "iReady is easy and can be completed if [students] know what they were doing. If you don't understand it, it obviously won't be easy. My scores really improved this year because I knew what I was doing."

Ultimately, if your scores go down then you can take lessons that will help you to improve on what you don't know.

In the end, it is beneficial for students to take their time and to take the test seriously in order to achieve a better score and to showcase how much they have learned.