For those keeping score...
My paperwork is all in, except my Praxis II test scores. I have an appointment to observe in a local high needs school at the beginning of next month, and have been diligently writing my essays for the first day of classes - I've written my outrage at the institutionalized racism and classism that infect our educational system, my fury at the failure of schools to offer a more challenging curriculum.
I'm signed up for the college component of the classes I'll be taking. I have my hiring preferences on file, and am planning to sit down and update my resume to reflect my acceptance into the program, as well as write a generic cover letter to be personalized for various school principals over the summer.
Saturday, I take the Praxis II for Elementary Content Knowlege. I have thus far taken 2 practice tests - one full size and one mini. *sigh*
My adjusted score was 198 on a scale of 200. Mind you, passing scores are well below that, but that's not the point. I *missed some questions*. Why this bothers me so much, especially when I haven't even studied some of what I am being tested on, I am not even sure I can say. Well, yes, actually I can. It bothers the snot out of me because I spent so long measuring myself on these stupid things, and the second I'm back to taking them, I'm back to the same self-lashing. What do you mean, I only made it into the 95th percentile, I used to ask myself as I carefully looked over the score sheets - I'll have to work harder so *that* doesn't happen again next time. I came out of my first pre-college testing session, and informed my mom that it was probably going to come back informing everyone that my best career choice might be garbage truck driver, or possibly the guy who hangs on in the back and throws the garbage in.
I could miss something like 5 times as many questions and still have a passing grade, but still I fret and worry. Pedro commented that I could probably take the thing with a raging hangover and still pass with room to spare - and the Praxis are a pass/fail set of tests. It doesn't actually matter to the Board of Ed. what my passing margin is, but it still horribly matters to me. Part of me wants to argue that it should matter to the Board of Ed., although in general, I think these tests are terribly contrived and artificial measures of educational progress - they mostly aren't very accurate at anything past about one and a half standard deviations from the mean - meaning that after a certain point, the test is more about what you had for breakfast, whether the pollen count was high, and how well you handle test anxiety. But if we're going to measure the kids by those point swings, why are we cutting the adults a break?
I now have 1 dozen newly sharpened and inspected HB#2 pencils resting next to a plastic pencil sharpener, a "pink pearl" eraser, and a very nice calculator (Thank you, NorthernWalker!). I'm planning to get a breakfast at my favorite diner the morning of the test, with no coffee, a cup of OJ and something resembling nutritional balance. And then, I'll take the bloody thing and be out by noon, so I can attempt to forget my worries for a couple of weeks while waiting for the notification.
And then I can formally submit my resignation, because I will have passed.
I'm signed up for the college component of the classes I'll be taking. I have my hiring preferences on file, and am planning to sit down and update my resume to reflect my acceptance into the program, as well as write a generic cover letter to be personalized for various school principals over the summer.
Saturday, I take the Praxis II for Elementary Content Knowlege. I have thus far taken 2 practice tests - one full size and one mini. *sigh*
My adjusted score was 198 on a scale of 200. Mind you, passing scores are well below that, but that's not the point. I *missed some questions*. Why this bothers me so much, especially when I haven't even studied some of what I am being tested on, I am not even sure I can say. Well, yes, actually I can. It bothers the snot out of me because I spent so long measuring myself on these stupid things, and the second I'm back to taking them, I'm back to the same self-lashing. What do you mean, I only made it into the 95th percentile, I used to ask myself as I carefully looked over the score sheets - I'll have to work harder so *that* doesn't happen again next time. I came out of my first pre-college testing session, and informed my mom that it was probably going to come back informing everyone that my best career choice might be garbage truck driver, or possibly the guy who hangs on in the back and throws the garbage in.
I could miss something like 5 times as many questions and still have a passing grade, but still I fret and worry. Pedro commented that I could probably take the thing with a raging hangover and still pass with room to spare - and the Praxis are a pass/fail set of tests. It doesn't actually matter to the Board of Ed. what my passing margin is, but it still horribly matters to me. Part of me wants to argue that it should matter to the Board of Ed., although in general, I think these tests are terribly contrived and artificial measures of educational progress - they mostly aren't very accurate at anything past about one and a half standard deviations from the mean - meaning that after a certain point, the test is more about what you had for breakfast, whether the pollen count was high, and how well you handle test anxiety. But if we're going to measure the kids by those point swings, why are we cutting the adults a break?
I now have 1 dozen newly sharpened and inspected HB#2 pencils resting next to a plastic pencil sharpener, a "pink pearl" eraser, and a very nice calculator (Thank you, NorthernWalker!). I'm planning to get a breakfast at my favorite diner the morning of the test, with no coffee, a cup of OJ and something resembling nutritional balance. And then, I'll take the bloody thing and be out by noon, so I can attempt to forget my worries for a couple of weeks while waiting for the notification.
And then I can formally submit my resignation, because I will have passed.