Juniors face impending SBAC

The notorious SBAC test will take place during the weeks of May 23 and May 29, during junior students’ math and English classes. The schedule will also be changed during these days, but it is undetermined what the change will be.

What is likely to happen then is that the schedule will be changed to four block days per week. Another thing that the school is trying to do is have students test within their own classes and not have many students travel to a new environment during their testing.

Last year there were many problems, both from technology and from the students’ participation. There were wifi problems and not enough chromebooks to give to all the students.

Participation wise, the school wants 95 percent of students to take this test. Last year the school had 80 percent take the English portion, and only 72 percent took the math portion as more than 100 students opted out of the exam.

This could result in an undesirable “program improvement” designation for the school.

Good SBAC scores can allow students to waive the required math and English placement tests for community colleges and California state universities. So by not taking this test, students are not only missing out on a great opportunity, they are also losing money.

So what can be done? Well, the school is attempting to educate the junior class about the tests and motivate students to do their best.