Achieve3000 is a bad system and hurts students more than it benefits them. Achieve hurts students’ grades, can take time from classroom learning, and some students might not even be able to do them at home due to a lack of internet or device capable of doing Achieve.

In my classes, Achieve takes up a mighty 10% of the grade, more if some teachers decide to give extra work with them. This means that you could have a 70 in class, which is still a passing grade, but if you slip up on the four Achieves you have due each month, that 70 will drop to a 63, a failing grade. That shouldn’t be allowed.

Like stated above, some teachers give out bonus work you have to do with the Achieve, meaning if you do the Achieve, but don’t do the paperwork, that’s half of that grade gone. That 100 you would have gotten on the Achieve would drop to a 50 without the paperwork. On top of that, you have to balance tests, homework, quizzes, worksheets, and more. So for Achieve to take 10% of your grade is just wrong-headed.

Some students don’t even have the means to be able to do the Achieves. Teachers can reserve a laptop cart, but much of the time it cuts into class curriculum that could be better spent enforcing the lesson they’re being taught to prepare for the test at the end of every unit. Students without internet at home, or without a device, may not be able to do the Achieves. This isn’t a problem for me, but for some students this is an issue.

The whole point of Achieve3000 is to test where your students’ reading abilities lay, yet when half of the students don’t do them, it’s not a good indicator of students’ reading ability. We need a way to incentivize it. When people are forced to do them for grades, people don’t enjoy taking them and look at it as: “God, I HAVE to do this, even though I really don’t want to.”

Much of the time, they won’t do it because they would rather do something else. We could maybe spread out the articles across different classes, give students the time to do them, and give students one block a day spread out over a month to finish the articles. This way, students might be more willing to do them.

Don’t look at the students that do utilize Achieve3000; look at the students that don’t. Make it seem more of a choice then a: “You have to do this otherwise I’m going to drop your grade” type decision. You’ll see a growth in students who actually enjoy doing Achieve and not look at it like a chore.

Below are stories published in the April 7 Issue of The Roaring Gazette.

Meet the Candidates by Cassidy O’Neal

Ring Dance Glamorous and Unforgettable by Kaylyn Neves

Three Lunches Test Cafeteria Capacity by Elena Day

Student Art Wows at the MOCA by Ariana Hernandez

When Senioritis Gets Real by Kayla Smith

Passing Students Just to Pass Them: Why this is Harmful by Dave Nimer

Let’s Face it: Cursive is Dead by Amari McCoy

Schools Should Re-Think Standardized Testing by Tyanna Lamar

Immigration is Great, but the U.S. must Ensure it is Safe, Legal by Dylan Klepk

In a Digital World, Why do Teachers Make us Print? by Marissa Howell

Achieve 3000 Causes Undue Stress by Tyler Dennis

“Kong” an Exciting Set-Up for the Monsterverse by Austin Luciani

Big Sean’s New Album Proves He’s Back by Erin Nathan

Top Ten Wiseguy Films by Charles Romano