On Tuesday, March 29, 2016, thousands of freshman souls will take the English I Texas state end-of-course assessment. These fifty-two goodie-bags represent my hopes, my prayers, and my personal encouragements for each one of my precious ninth grade students who will complete the arduous task of satisfying the state's ideals of what it believes a fifteen-year-old should know and be able to do in an ELA classroom, no matter what his/her background is: abused, neglected, homeless, hungry, sick, dyslexic, anxious, depressed, autistic, three reading grade-levels behind, unable to read and write in the English language, etc. Please keep in mind that those who regulate the state's assessments, those who create the assessments, and those who grade the assessments have likely never been a teacher, nor set foot in a classroom as an adult. The pressure on many of our students is insurmountable. My students know that this test does not define who they are as individuals, nor does the test have any eternal significance, yet the stakes are so high for them at an age where they are not mature enough to grasp its importance and, in many cases, unable to successfully satisfy the test objectives. They need reassurance and comfort - a little prayer wouldn't hurt either! Would you please join me in praying for all of the state's students who will be testing over the next two months? Thank you.
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