In the spring, SBAC testing begins for elementary schools and, unfortunately, for juniors at Mark Keppel High School. SBAC stands for Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, and is a test to measure students’ achievement in English and Math. The SBAC test consists of two main parts, the computer adaptive test and the performance task. For English, the first part includes a variety of question formats such as fill in the blank and multiple choice. The second part is an essay based on a given prompt. For math, there are also multiple choice and short answer questions. The performance task includes more complex problems or problems the student hasn’t learned yet to test the students’ learning ability.
To help students prepare, teachers gave students the opportunity to practice and study for the upcoming tests. During PowerTime, students got sent to both English and Math classes to help them prepare and give them the extra support needed. These classes were for both Tuesday and Wednesday for about four weeks. However, when SBAC started, it made class periods two hours long and PowerTime was temporarily removed to make room for testing. Many students had mixed opinions about the longer schedule and SBAC powertime.
In an interview with Evan Pan, a junior, he stated that, “I believe that I was ready for the SBAC, although I could have studied more. I’d say through the past couple of PowerTimes, my readiness has improved. So yes, I am prepared for the SBAC.” He also claims that he had already started studying for the math SBAC since he was worried about it, while the English he said he was not worried about at all. “I think English is something that I feel more comfortable with since it is one of my strongest subjects; however when it comes to math, it is not my strongest.” He mentioned how he doesn’t like the 2 hour block periods. “I kind of hate it. Usually during Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I would get breakfast after the second or first period, but during this bell change I haven’t been able to get breakfast. There’s no break in between classes and I’ve been hungry during school these weeks. PowerTime was boring those weeks too, but it did give me the extra support I needed in math.”
Graciela Rivera, a Mark Keppel Junior, admitted she hadn’t studied but wasn’t too worried. “I [didn’t] study for any of the SBAC tests, but I think I will be fine. I am worried about math because I suck at math, but I think Powertime helped me out a lot.” She also mentioned that she thinks the English test will be easier for her. “I hate the long block periods, especially with no PowerTime. I don’t think I can last another week like this. I love getting to choose where I want to go and I don’t want to be stuck in math any longer.”
While some juniors are stressing over the SBAC, others don’t seem worried. The test is to see how well the school is at teaching the students. Due to the help and extra practice during PowerTime the weeks before, students were more confident. PowerTime was helpful to students as it made them feel more prepared overall.
