Students who don’t take the STAR test face consequences.
According to assistant principal Brad Metheany, everyday after the STAR tests, each test was opened and was given a quick glance. Numerous teachers were told to make sure students were not sleeping and bubbling in at the last minute. Teachers had sent in names of students who did not take the test seriously, and those students later had to redo their tests.
Every year, a few students have to retake their tests because instead of taking the test seriously, they fill in the bubbles in the form of shapes like smiley faces.
Hayes was one of those students. On his science STAR test, he made a smiley face out of bubbles and on his history test, he made a rocket ship.
“I usually sleep…and in the last 10 minutes I’ll bubble in whatever,” Cukic said.
“The STAR test is important information for a student’s progress,” Assistant Principal Brad Metheany said. “When I write recommendation letters [for college applications], I look at the student’s STAR test scores and I see how their tests compare in the national percentile to the state.”
Out of the 1,865 juniors, sophomores, and freshmen on campus, 1860 students took the STAR test, a number which, according to Metheany, is “pretty darn good” compared to other schools. Of the five students who didn’t take the week-long star test, two were seriously ill, two were hard to find, and one student opted out of taking it since the STAR test is not a mandatory test.