[Tiburon]

I'm a HS senior right now, and I agree that standardized testing distracts students and teachers from learning. In our school, they spend weeks before the state tests teaching us "test-taking strategies" and trying to motivate us to actually try hard so they can get funding from the state. Unfortuantely we learn nothing useful.

Also, nobody knows how to write anymore. When we peer edit each others papers I'm amazed at the lack of ability to spell, use grammar, or write a complete sentence. If they can't do this, how can they be expected to do things like effectively analyze evidence? I think the problem is there aren't enough writing assignments. For example, in my senior english class we wrote two papers the whole term, while every night we'd have some sort of pointless worksheet to do. Then when people get to college they can't handle writing papers on a consistent basis.