As the second semester of the year begins, so does PERT testing. The Post-secondary Education Readiness Test or “PERT” for short, is a test that is taken by students who are planning to take dual enrollment classes in the near future. For those who don’t know, dual enrollment classes are where students are enrolled in high school and college/university at the same time. Students can choose over 100 dual enrollment courses – of which Gables offers roughly 10 – to take at school and may also take courses directly at Miami Dade or FIU for free while receiving college and high school credit at the same time.

The PERT tests assess the areas of reading, writing and math.  Because there is a large amount of  students that take the PERT, it is needless to say that all students cannot take the test at the same time. Even though PERT testing should not take long, testing usually becomes bothersome due to misinformation and seeming lack of information.

Both teachers and students alike are victims of the misinformation about the PERT testing. For students, it is highly confusing not knowing whether they are taking the PERT or not, when they are taking it and most importantly the purpose and importance of the PERT. On the other hand, for teachers testing becomes a nightmare as students are constantly pulled out of class and the testing dates and schedules are not neatly organized. Most teachers rather not comment on the faulty planning of the PERT, as this may cause more trouble than simply sticking to the current PERT system.

Testing issues aside, the PERT test does serve a highly important purpose: to assess whether students are ready to take college level classes or not. Teachers do recognize the importance of the PERT.

“The PERT is definitely useful. The scores that the students get very much reflects their level and are very much the same as what they get on the class, the PERT is very well balanced,”Mrs. Furnari, Algebra 2 teacher said.

Some students however, are unable to see the importance of the PERT. Students are already being pressured to do well in school which includes numerous standardized tests such as IB tests, AP tests and the SAT and/or ACT. It seems as if the PERT is just another test that adds to the overwhelming amount of work that students have to put up with.

“The PERT is a pointless exam that puts pressure on students just so they can be placed in a certain class.Truthfully, it doesn’t measure the amount of knowledge they have,” sophomore Dachelys Perez who recently took the PERT said.

One of the biggest issues with the PERT is the misinformation about the importance that it holds with respect to the proper placement of students in certain classes. Student should begin to prepare to excel in any of the 3 PERT tests beginning freshman year, however, this is not the case.

“I really don’t know what the PERT is; I know that it is going on now, but I don’t know what it is for,” freshman Skylar Lingenfelser said.

A minority of students however, do agree with teachers in that the PERT, although troublesome to organize and plan, is certainly necessary for the students to take.

“The test is not difficult, but it should be taken seriously because it is part of the process of determining whether you are accepted to Miami Dade College if you are considering to go there. Also, if you want to take a specific dual enrollment class at school or at a MDC or the FIU campus, you need to make sure you do well on the PERT,” junior Van Le said.

In short, students should be taught about what the PERT is and its pivotal importance in their high school careers beforehand. For now, we might have to ignore all the issues with testing, although disorganized, at the end of the day the testing system does the job of administering the test to all students that need it.