Last school year, an unprecedented number of students opted out of the annual Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) exams, offered through the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System. For the English Language Arts (ELA) exam, 197 out of 714 students opted out of the exam; for the mathematics exam, 310 students opted out, according to https://caaspp-elpac.ets.org.
Compared to the the2018-2019 school year, this was roughly a 55% increase in opt-outs for the ELA exam and more than a 146% increase for the mathematics exam. Since MHS collectively only was able to attain a 71% testing rate, which is under the 95% threshold set by the state, MHS has been given a “low performance” rating on the California School Dashboard.
Students should be concerned with these numbers because choosing to not take the test means you are preventing the school from receiving as much performance data as they could. SBAC data is important for your parents, teachers, and administrators because it provides them with a clear picture of what they could be doing better and ensure learning standards set by local educational agencies, the state of California, and the nation.
Especially for students who are considering taking the SAT or ACT exam, taking the SBAC in your junior year can be helpful in ensuring that your test-taking nerves are completely gone before you embark on the three-hour test.
Beyond moral obligations, the SBAC also plays another important role in property values.
A major concern is if large numbers of students continue opting out of exams and the school’s low-perform- ing status persists over a long period of time, prospective home buyers will be discouraged from living in the city and sending their child to the school district. According to realtor.com, homes in top-performing school districts receive 42% more views compared to ones in low-performing school districts.
While it won’t affect your college admissions, it is up to you to ensure the continued success of our school and city. Even if one is on-the-fence on taking the SBAC exams due to, say, pure laziness, or maybe they would rather not go through the stress of taking a 3-hour-long test, for the future health of our school and community, students should do their part in ensuring a brighter future for all.