By
Sheila Bapat
Arizona Daily Wildcat
All the bellyaching freshman arriving on the UA campus should just be thankful that they don't go to school in China.
While most of them probably spent the summer surfing or sleeping, Chinese graduates had another big fat test to look forward to after their senior year ended.
The summer before their freshman year begins, Chinese students don't take trips to the beach and spend the summer playing Super Mario Brothers until their thumbs ache. They study until their brains ache. They study until their college extrance exam in July, a period so stressful it has been called "Black July."
Currently, the Chinese education system is being reformed so that less emphasis is placed on one exam. But while the Chinese are slowly moving away from the standardized test system, America is moving closer to it. Here in Arizona, we call the test AIMS.
Say hello to Arizona's Black July exam. Thanks to changes in the test content, it is not nearly as deadly as China's exam. But the idea of making a high school education culminate with one high-stakes standardized test parallels the current Chinese education system.
Proponents of such standardized tests might argue that the Chinese / AIMS way lets the real talent get into college. It makes the system "merit-based." It rewards those who have studied hardest.
Maybe we should steal this idea and up the ante on AIMS. Tomorrow, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, Lisa Graham Keegan, could announce that AIMS not only prevents you from receiving your high school diploma, but it'll keep you from getting anywhere near a university for the rest of your life.
So should we lazy Americans be allowed to have fun in the sun, or should we be studying all summer long and making AIMS the gateway to a college education?
Meet UA freshman Sarah Getman. Getman graduated eighth in her class from Paradise Valley High School.
During Black July, Getman was traveling with friends and working. She already knew she had been admitted to the UA, unlike the millions of Chinese students who were tearing their hair out over one huge exam.
"I don't do well on big tests like that," Getman said. "I don't think it's fair that one test could determine a student's entire future."
Getman, 18, is at the UA studying General Biology. She took the AIMS practice exam and did very well, though she did not have to in order to get her diploma as will the graduating class of 2002. Her high school grades counted for enough.
"More people should be given the opportunity to go to college," Getman said. "If they want to go, they should be able to."
One test score certainly shouldn't be a barrier between high school and college. Similar to the Black July exam, AIMS is trying to select a few good test takers to make it into college and eventually enter the workforce.
Such standardized exams do force students to buckle down and study. This summer more Arizona high school students enrolled in summer school just to prepare for the AIMS test.
However, they do not allow for a very well-rounded education. Most students will end up studying only to pass the test and teachers will teach only for students to pass the test. Standardized tests make report cards essentially worthless, since the bottom line is only one test score.
Unfortunately, more and more states are jumping on the AIMS bandwagon. Though nowhere near as deadly as Black July, Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards exam will soon be a college graduation requirement for all Arizona high school students. Failing the exam can prevent students from receiving their high school diplomas. The idea is not a far cry from China's high-stakes college entrance exam.
If the trend continues, Arizona high school students will be experiencing a Black July every summer.
