After the conclusion of their high school careers, most students will reflect on the fun and fulfilling experiences like close-friendships, academic merit, crazy nights out, or stunning victories with their teammates; yet it’s safe to say that not a soul who exits the campus for the final time is going to miss the standardized testing they’ve been dealt. No one marks their calendars in anticipation of testing days. No one gets giddy at the thought of answering a long series of questions for hours on end. The tests themselves can seem to drag on incessantly and the thought of “Why do I have to do this?” will echo through countless teenage skulls, but believe it or not, there is a method to this unfortunately despised madness.

This year’s tests consist of the PARCC for grades 9-11, and the CMAS for seniors throughout the state. The PARCC assessment is certainly important to judge where the fledgling students of Colorado lie academically, but the CMAS will be the chief guide for a school’s reputation and distinction. The test is designed to judge how well suited the most experienced students in high school, seniors, are in biological and environmental sciences.

It consists of six, fifty-five minute sessions that are to be taken spread out so that the student can move the testing around to their scheduling needs. The majority of students who have completed their sessions finish earlier than the given fifty-five minute mark, but in the occasion that they don’t, there is a fifteen minute window of time that can be allotted if necessary. The point being that the tests aren’t world-ending when it comes to a student’s busy work-load, yet they do require time out of the day all the same. That may sound tedious and superfluous to an already-overstressed teenager, but the implications of going through the gauntlet that is testing are simple and entirely unselfish.

To start, the consequences of too many students (95% attendance is necessary) opting out of CMAS testing are as follows:

• The school’s “grade” or rating will drop from its currently perfect score thus clipping off a corner of Air Academy’s flawless record.
• Teacher pay and benefits WILL be hampered seeing that standardized tests are truly a reflection of the institutions they take place in, rather than the students who take them.
• A drop in the school’s rating will put all future graduating students at a disadvantage to schools with higher participation.

That last point has particularly important phrasing in the sense that students don’t have to ace this test, but they do have to participate. 2014 being the first year of the CMAS, current seniors will be a trial run for the state. The grade they will receive on the CMAS will not follow them into college applications, but the image of graduating from a lower-rated school will. Next year’s seniors, current juniors, will, however be judged on their scores more likely than not, although this is still only strong speculation from faculty at the moment.

That very same faculty that we interviewed, Mr. Dan Olson and Mr. Sean Whitson (our Assistant Principals for the classes of 2015 and 2017, respectively), had high, yet realistic expectations for their students on their way to testing. As Air Academy’s history has shown, students “always do really well on tests” commented Mr. Olson. Mr. Whitson added that “there is nothing to fear with these ‘new’ tests considering that seniors have been taking them for over a decade now.” Neither man was worried with their students’ ability, but both voiced their concern over mass absences from testing. Mr. Whitson pointed out that “the instruction hasn’t changed, the caliber of students hasn’t changed, but the rating decreases all the same without 95% participation.” He is well aware that Air Academy has “great students, great teachers” and how he would “hate to not be recognized for what we have.”

After a very in-depth talk with the top authorities on the matter, we at the Jetstream Journal finally understood the seriousness of the situation, as well as the effects it will have in the future. CMAS testing is an inconvenience. CMAS testing is going to be something you can complain about. But most importantly, CMAS testing IS necessary and beneficial to Air Academy and your fellow peers. So do yourself and your classmates a huge favor, and take the CMAS.

To sign up for CMAS, contact Mr. Whitson before the end of November. We’d like to give a special thanks to both Mr. Olson and Mr. Whitson for taking time out of their busy days to provide such detailed information and astute insight.

Jacob Wilkes – Junior Copy Editor

Maddy Jahelka – Senior News Editor