Testing week is the time of the year that every student, and surprisingly most teachers, often dread. Students often get less sleep at night and stress more during testing time. A lot of teachers say that they think state tests are unhelpful, and this has led to a change in Tennessee’s testing standards.

When a few select teachers around the school were asked about their opinions on testing week and the tests themselves, their responses were mostly half and half.

“State testing week is my least favorite time of the year because the schedule is completely turned around and I’m never sure who will show up,” elucidated Matthew Joyner, one of Central’s geometry teachers.

“I don’t mind testing week because it’s helpful to measure how much the students have learned throughout the year,” commented Gary Fomby, one of Central’s biology teachers.

Most students and teachers think that the tests are stressful but Kevin Parsons, Central’s English 9 and philosophy teacher, thinks otherwise.

“The state tests benefit the students, because I feel like the only way to hold students to the same standards is with these tests,” replied Parsons.

When the teachers were asked about their high school testing, almost all of them either said they didn’t remember, or they did have state testing, but they didn’t have as many tests as students do now.

“When I was in school, we just had the ACT, but now it seems like the tests are more focused on each subject,” concluded Chris Kribs, one of Central’s world history & geography teachers.