{solsc} 8/31 #sol17 A Last I Will Not Miss

My last Iowa Assessments. My shoes squeak as I walk about the room, making sure everyone bubbles in on the right test. As juniors, they know the drill. They've been joking about making Christmas trees, about not really reading and just guessing. Most won't do any of this, but they can joke about it.

I think back to my own days of bubble testing. I was in second grade the first time I felt like I wasn't smart enough. We got our test scores back. I was in the 98th percentile overall, but a boy, the one I always tried to be better than, got a 99.  Why didn't anyone tell me I was better than my test score?

Throughout my teaching, I have always tried to convince students of this. But it's hard today to convince them they are more than their test score when one of the final things I have to say is, "You must be proficient in the areas of reading, science and math in order to take concurrent classes at the college. If you aren't proficient in reading, you may be required to additional reading classes."

I get it. I do.

But this is a "last" that I will not miss.