Proficiency tests: better if optional

Should Ohio's proficiency tests be mandatory?
Do proficiency tests have any real value?
With the next round of tests to be administered next week, these and other questions are sure again to be a hot topic for discussion.
Ohio's proficiency tests are used to see how much pupils in grades four, six and nine know about reading, writing, math, citizenship and science.
But are the tests fair?
If a pupil does not pass one part of the test, does that necessarily mean that pupil doesn't know what he or she is doing?
That same pupil might pass that part the next time around only because the questions are easier or written in a way that made them easier to understand.
Then, can we say that proficiency tests are fair? Can we say that they should be used to determine if a teen-ager should be held back or not be allowed to graduate?
Teachers' judgment: Instead of allowing proficiency tests to determine the fate of a pupil, why not allow teachers to do it? Teachers interact and work with pupils everyday. They are the best people to judge a pupil's strengths, weaknesses and abilities. Teachers should be the ones to decide for certain whether or not a person should graduate.
Keeping all of this in mind, should the state still make these tests mandatory? Or should they make them voluntary, like the SAT and ACT college entrance exams?
If schools were to do this, it might relieve some of the pressure or stress that pupils are under to pass.
As a student who has taken the tests, I can honestly say that they are stressful and that schools put a lot of emphasis on passing them.
Allowing more time: It would also eliminate proficiency preparation courses, time which then can be replaced by new classes.
Middle-school pupils could possibly start learning foreign languages. High-school students could start to take college prep classes.
Tests are not bad; they shouldn't be banned. Tests are a good way to measure a person's ability to retain information. They are a great way to determine how well pupils are performing.
But, unfortunately, the proficiency test and others don't take into account that some kids are bad test-takers and that some classes might not cover all of the information the state requires to pass the exams.
These are all reasons why pupils should have a choice on whether or not they want to take this test.
XAshley, 17, is a senior at Hubbard High School and a member of National Honor Society, the marching band and the French, Key and Ecology clubs. She passed all five parts of the ninth-grade proficiency test when she was in the eighth grade.