How Have Assessments Influenced My Life?

I guess when you really think about that question, you have to take into consideration everything that testing implies: the pressure, the rewards, the planning, the preparation, the creation, etc. So many people are fond of saying that life is a test, and to a degree, that's true, but I've found that this changes drastically the older I get.

When I was in high school, I'm sorry to say, I don't think I ever got too upset or worried about any test beforehand (save for my driver's test). I probably didn't get really serious about tests until college, and then that's because I finally realized then why education was important. Probably the most significant tests I've taken are the Praxis exams...my whole future rode on the outcome of those tests. But I'll always remember once I had taken all the Praxis exams I would take, every student had to take the equivalency of an eighth-grade math test to teach high school in NJ. This freaked me out like nothing else; I had never received higher than a C in any math class in school. Now this one test was going to decide if I got a license to teach high school English? What does math have to do with that? (As I was about to realize, quite a lot, actually). So, after the initial trepidation and anxiety, I passed the test. Done and done.

Now that so much of my professional life involves creating assessment, testing has taken on a stronger role. I wish that assessment was addressed more when I was an undergrad...I think it would have made my first year that much easier. When I first started teaching, my district emphasized "individual measurement" of each assessment or "How is each individual student assessed on this test?" That was such a foreign concept at first, I wasn't sure how to proceed, but of course, the answers became clear.

Testing influences my life because I have to look at how each student will respond to the most recent test I am creating...I am forced to create different assessments while balancing the needs of the state mandated testing to give my students the tools needed to, in the short term, write the persuasive essay, and in the long term, be a better person. Can testing accomplish all that?