Policy makers and educators disagree on the high-stakes nature
of the state’s accountability tests despite monetary incentives and
pep rallies to increase students’ self-esteem so they do well on
the state-mandated exam.
Policy makers and educators disagree on the high-stakes nature of the state’s accountability tests despite monetary incentives and pep rallies to increase students’ self-esteem so they do well on the state-mandated exam.
Gov. Gray Davis has given out a Governor’s Scholar Award since 2000 to students who perform on the Standardized Testing And Reporting test. The $1,000 award is for ninth, 10th and 11th graders if they place in the top 5 percent of public school students in their grade level or in the top 10 percent of students in their grade level at their public school.
Last year, 24 Anzar students and 189 SBHS students received the Governor’s Scholar Award. A total of 119,365 students in the state achieved scores high enough to earn the designation, according to the California Department of Education.
STAR administration will take place during the next two weeks at Anzar and San Benito high schools.
“It is high stakes,” said Jean Burns Slater, superintendent of the San Benito High School District. “In high school, it’s really hard to get kids to take this test seriously. For a lot of kids, this doesn’t mean anything.”
Compared to Advanced Placement Exams, Golden State Exams and SATs that go on transcripts and directly help students get into colleges, the STAR test has no motivational factor for many students, Slater said. Many of these students will receive a waiver from taking the test. Slater said the Scholar Award serves as motivation.
The $1,000 must be set aside for college – whether it be a four-year university, two-year college, vocational, technical or trade school. The monetary incentive provides motivation for students who don’t take the test seriously to take it and do well on it, Slater said.
Davis considers the award a “merit-based scholarship program.”
According to the state Department of Education, the goals of the new program are to encourage students to study hard to master the state’s content standards.
If a student earns the award each year, they can build up $3,000 for college, Slater said.
A pep rally held at R.O. Hardin School this morning also served to recognize the high-stakes nature of the STAR test. The pep rally was developed to energize students and teachers and encourage students to do well on the state’s STAR test. R.O. Hardin students will take the test for two weeks starting Monday.
“All we can do now is get the kids positive and get the teachers positive,” said Rosa Apodaca, a teacher at R.O. Hardin. “… These kids are brilliant. We don’t tell them that enough. If we remind them of how brilliant they are, hopefully, it will help them.”
Apodaca as well as teachers Delia Gomez and Lilia Espinoza organized the pep rally. They wanted to relieve some of the stress associated with the test for the students. The 30-minute rally included three key speakers and the school’s Husky mascot to help lift students’ spirits before the test.
Also, students signed a pledge promising to go to bed early, come to school and eat a healthy breakfast during the two weeks, including considering every answer before answering questions and believing in their abilities as a husky.
“Believe it and you’ll see it,” Apodaca encouraged at the rally.
