Last week, Juniors and some eligible seniors took the CAASPP (California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress) in the mornings, adjusting school schedules for the week and providing late starts to non-test-takers.

With state standards, this year’s CAASPP challenges students to understand subjects deeply, to think critically, and to apply their learning to the real world. To measure these state standards, educators from Smarter Balanced worked together to develop the CAASPP tests for English and math. These tests are done in order to provide more accurate and meaningful information.

“I think that we already have so much that we need to worry about already, like finals [..and] IB exams. Since there are already those stressors, I feel CAASPP tests are not really at the top of people’s priority list,” junior Lala said. 

As Lala highlighted there are already existing stressors for these upperclassmen. Some CAASPP test-takers felt that the tests were not as high of a priority in comparison to their other stressors as they do not affect their class grades. However, these tests can affect class placement in students’ senior year and college. 

“Honestly, I guess what’s stressful is how they want us to really try on [the tests], but yet we do all this testing for the whole week, and on top of that, we have school work, so it kind of piles up,” junior Joy said.

Joy feels stressed because of the pressure of balancing multiple responsibilities—hours of testing throughout the week combined with regular school work—leading to stress and feeling overwhelmed. Both Joy and Lala mentioned that the hardest part of testing is staying awake as well because they feel tired not just from testing but also from the school work on top of that and outside things. 

Despite efforts to motivate students through daily announcements and free snacks, the combined workload of the tests and schoolwork has left many students feeling less motivated and focused.