Throughout the year, students at BSM can find time to make up missed tests and quizzes before or after school in the library. But are students’ options for testing being limited in regard to scheduling? With after school testing being closed for staff development on Tuesdays and Fridays, many students are feeling the pressure of making time for testing with limited scheduling opportunities.
To learn important work skills, some students may decide to pick up a job during the school year. Students must balance competing demands between work and school, now along with the lack of available time slots for testing. This issue can potentially add excessive stress to students who are already juggling their school work, and it inhibits their ability to achieve academic success and financial stability. Sophomore student Natalie Nordquist voices her struggle with finding time to take assessments. “I have work on Wednesdays and Thursdays after school, so that leaves me with only one day of the week that I can come in to take or retake tests or quizzes,” Nordquist said.
There are other opportunities for testing like during study hall or early before school. However, these testing periods don’t work for many students. Long commutes, familial responsibilities, and limits on transportation can all affect a student’s ability to make up or retake assessments. Students having to rely on testing before school becomes impractical and disregards the varying circumstances and personal lives of many at BSM. Riley Rohr, a sophomore at Benilde-St. Margaret’s, communicates her concerns. “Students have busy lives and busy schedules along with other homework they have to complete, so coming in early before school might not be an option,” Rohr said.
While many students are unaffected by the lack of flexibility in testing hours on a regular day, when deadlines draw near, stress levels increase. Students struggle to make up missing tests and quizzes along with retaking previous assessments to better their grades. Procrastinators and those who waited until the last minute to test flood the testing rooms, attempting to cross items off their backlog of assignments. This can overwhelm students and make it even more difficult to test due to overflowing testing areas with students who have limited schedules. Nordquist voices a solution to the problem. “I think that towards the end of the semester, or the end of any grading period, the library should be open as much as possible because students are trying to get in there to retake tests and quizzes to better their grades,” Nordquist said.