What are benefits to students?

To the editor:

MAP scores are just plain stupid. When I was a student I had to take the MMAT every year. I never took it seriously. Most times I just guessed at an answer without even fully reading the question. The tests were so long and boring that I made up a game. I would try to spell words with my answers. It made the tests a little more fun, but it also meant a lot of my answers were wrong.

These tests also took valuable time away from our teachers that could have been better spent teaching us our normal class work. I know that most teachers barely make it through all of the material needed to be taught in a year without having to take time out for MAP tests.

Those in charge need to wake up and realize that no matter how good a teacher is or how well teachers work with us to try and give us all the answers, it all comes down to the individual students. It's the students who have to take the test, not the teachers. What benefits, if any, do the students get from these tests? They don't affect their grades or their chances for getting into college, so why should they take them seriously? I didn't.

DANA JOHNSTON, Jackson