The Transitional Colorado Assessment Program (TCAP) is a state-wide standardized required to be taken by all students in grades three through ten. The tests are designed to measure how well the schools are teaching the Colorado Model Content Standards. Do these tests effectively measure whether or not the schools meet the standards? Do they benefit the students? Are the tests even necessary?

Do the tests effectively measure how well the schools are meeting the standards? The TCAPs do not effectively measure how well the teachers in schools are teaching the material in the Colorado Model Content Standards. When a student sits down to take a test that covers material which was taught to the student up to three years ago, it is not very likely that the student will remember the material. In some cases the tests contain content that is not even taught to the students. This happened multiple times, especially on the science test required for sophomores. They were tested on earth science, biology and chemistry; however, a large amount of sophomores have not even taken a chemistry class and therefore could not, by any means, know how to answer the chemistry problems correctly. Therefore the students are looking at a problem that they have absolutely no inkling on how to solve it.

Do the standardized tests benefit the students? If a student earns proficient or advanced on TCAPs, he or she will receive .25 elective credits for the accomplishment. TCAPs can be beneficial in helping the students prepare for the extremely important ACT and SAT. But outside from preparation, the tests do not benefit the students. Instead they drain the students of energy and cause them to become exhausted. Their brains take several different tests for a long period of time, and after testing their brains essentially become incapable of thinking clearly and correctly.

Are TCAPs even necessary? The tests are viewed by many as a complete waste of time. Teachers wish that the valuable time used to administer the test could be used to teach their students instead. Rather than taking away time to test, allow the teachers to do what they do best: teach. TCAPs do allow the students to see how much they have progressed from previous years, but they don’t do anything different to improve their scores. They continue going about their normal activities and ways of life, not thinking about how they can do better on TCAPs, but rather how much they dread it. Students perform no differently after receiving their scores. Teachers still teach the same material in the same manner, nothing changes.

The answer to all of the addressed questions is no. In my mind, the Transitional Colorado Assessment Programs are not essential. They cause stress, anger, frustration and utter madness amongst the students and teachers. Not only do they take away from valuable learning time, but they do not even achieve their goal of testing how well the students are being taught material. TCAPs are a waste of time and do not need to be administered to Colorado students.