For many years, school systems and parents across America have asked: Do high school tests measure a student's knowledge fairly and accurately, and do they benefit them? ? Tests do not accurately measure a student's true academic ability. Additionally, tests do not always measure a student's knowledge fairly. High-stakes testing only adds stress to a student's life. Studies have proven that testing is not beneficial to a student's educational growth. High school testing is affected by different factors; therefore, results may be unreliable and may not benefit student growth. A well-created test can measure learning and diagnose a student's weakness (Merrow, 4). When testing, the idea is for the student to get the correct answer on information they know and incorrect answers on information they don't know. However, a test error may occur. A test error occurs when a student gets a correct answer to information that they did not actually know or an incorrect answer that they may have known (Gellman, 30). The people who create these tests want simple measurements. However, test designers do not design these tests to measure what a student can do academically (Fusaro, 1). Large testing companies produce tests and sell them nationwide. This results in the test not being specialized for the school or county and students not performing as well as they could have if the test was specialized (Popham, 4). There are three possible ways to test a student's knowledge: multiple choice, essay response, or they are asked to complete a task and then graded on their performance (Merrow, 5). Some tests are designed to assess an individual's performance, such as an achievement test. Others, however, are designed...... middle of paper...... to make a student's test scores false. The student could simply be anxious about the test and affect the results (Testing Our Schools, 3). In order to achieve accurate reading for a student, high-stakes test scores must be combined with classroom work, portfolios, and teacher evaluations. High school testing is not beneficial to students and only wastes thousands of dollars to take these tests. Art programs are being dropped because the tests are more important and these programs can be beneficial to the student. Additionally, very important educational decisions are made based on the results of a test. This puts a lot of pressure on the student and can significantly affect results. In order to achieve an accurate and beneficial result, the student must take these high-stakes tests, but classwork, teacher evaluations, and portfolios must also be integrated..