Junior year is arguably the most important year in a student’s high school career. Students typically take more rigourous classes, prepare for the ACT or SAT, and have more responsibilities in general. As opposed to the previous year’s testing that spanned only three days, Junior’s will conclude the MME by taking exam M-STEP, a week long test, in April.

Last year’s Junior class took the MEAP portion of the MME on their third and final day of testing, after the ACT and WorkKeys. With the MEAP test being replaced with M-STEP, a much longer test, a switch in scheduling makes the most sense.

“The test has changed around three times since the beginning of the school year,” principal Tom Leitz said. “The whole test is determined to take approximately fourteen and a half hours online to finish.”

M-STEP begins April 13th, the week after spring break. It usually takes eight to nine days to get through the entire test, but considering the Performance Task section has been eliminated, testing will be finished after one week instead of two weeks.

“I wouldn’t mind having the test go over a week,” junior Sara Baum said. “This way I wouldn’t miss as much in my classes.”

Testing takes place through student first to fourth hours. Two days will consist of English and social studies questions, with half of the students participating either day; math and science questions fall under the same circumstances. The science and social studies shadow the MME test that students have taken in the past, while math and English are somewhat different in terms of questions.

“This test is very different,” Leitz said. “Instead of multiple choice questions with one question that is correct, M-step may ask you to highlight a certain area of a document or match together different answers.”

This test, being different from the previous test, requires you to be able to read and answer each question carefully. Seemingly far too difficult to pass, it is not impossible. Sample questions are online for students to practice. This web site can be found in the newsletter located on Utica High Schools web site.

“I feel the test wont be as hard as others believe it is,” sophomore Daniel Standifer said. “I will try my best to prepare for all the tests when it comes time for me to take them all next year.”

M-STEP is equally as important as any other exam. As ACT and WorkKeys test college readiness, M-STEP tests the standard knowledge each student should have obtained throughout school.

“I suggest to keep a positive attitude going into the exam,” Leitz said. “Students do much better going into a test confident and happy.”