Last week, the freshmen took ERB tests in the arena during the morning. This week, the middle schoolers will be taking the test, with 7th graders testing in the morning and 8th graders testing in the afternoon.

“The ERB tests were meant to test the curriculum more than the students. By looking at the results, we can see where our curriculum is strong and where it needs improving,” said Kathy Karigan, one of the upper-school guidance counselor’s overseeing the tests.

The ERB tests are a series of timed multiple choice tests covering things such as reading comprehension, vocabulary, algebra, and science. Used mostly by private schools, the ERB ranks the overall score of one school with other schools in their area, and each individual student who takes the test.

Instead of being a normal Scantron test, the ERBs were taken online.

“Everyone had their own computer and their own account to use. The whole thing was very complicated. In the arena, there were just wires everywhere,” said Karigan.

Having so many people getting online in one spot used up much of the school’s bandwidth. Almost any sort of video or music streaming had to be blocked for both teachers and students to make sure there was enough bandwidth for the tests. Westminster decided to begin giving the ERBs to students this year, believing it could help prepare them for tests like the SAT and ACT.

“The freshmen didn’t have a big standardized test before,” said Karigan, “The sophomores took the PLAN, juniors took the PSAT, and seniors took the SAT and ACT. The ERBs have a similar format and questions to those tests, and we believe it could help freshmen prepare for tests like the SAT and ACT.”

Despite being online, the tests went smoothly with a limited number of glitches. Since everything went so well this year, Westminster intends to give this test to future freshmen and middle schoolers.