Writing Test

Yay it is finally Friday!! I am so glad it is time for the weekend. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Although since it is Friday it is time for Friend or Foe Friday! I wanted to focus on writing test and wanted to find out if these test are your friend or foe?
We have discussed writing prompts in past blogs and about how many papers our students write. All those paper are mainly preparing them for these big writing test. I mean don't get me wrong it is important that our students learn how to write a paper. They will use this skill throughout their life but preparing them for the test is definitely the short term goal for teachers. We need to prepare them for all types of paper and help them understand all types of prompts. We are teaching them how to write a successful paper but we are thinking about what they will need to know to write a successful paper on the test.
What do you think about these test? Are they your friend of foe? Do you think they help you by showing how your students did on the test? Does it help you strive to teach them better or worry you that you aren't teaching them enough?
~Manda