A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

For the last several weeks, my children have been completing the South Dakota STEP exam. It is the stat exam mandated by the SD Department of Education. It is what is used to measure AYP (adequate yearly progress) for NCLB (No Child Left Behind). Our children consistently perform poorly. I did not enjoy giving my children the test, nor did they enjoy taking it.

There are very strict rules in administering the test. In fact, I felt as if I was recruiting future CIA operatives rather than simply testing the kids on state standards. The tests are to be kept under lock and key and under no circumstances are the tests or test booklets to be copied. It is all very top secret--code red stuff. That is why it was a very big deal when one of my student's answer sheets went missing today....

It all started innocently enough. My children had finished their tests and much to our relief, we could move on with our academic lives. Eager to get rid of the materials, I carefully examined each child's answer sheets to ensure that everything was bubbled in properly and then place those sheets inside that kids' answer booklet. I did this nineteen times and found that everything was in order. And so, I lugged the huge box down to the Resource Center and turned it over to the testing coordinator, relieved to be finally done...or not.

About fifteen minutes later, I was reading Coraline to my children when I heard a rather ominous knock on our classroom door. In the doorway stood the test coordinator, with a rather concerned look on her face. In a very serious manner, she gestured me to come over to speak with her. I got up quickly, wondering what could possibly be wrong. She then stoically told me, "You are missing one of your student's answer sheets." I shook my head and replied, "I checked every one before I brought it down. You are sure?" Eyes wide, she crisply said, "I'm positive." She then stated the office--that I needed to locate the answer sheet. Not doing so was simply not an option. I could get in big trouble with the SD DOE--as could the school.

I immediately issued a Code Red in my classroom and had ever child search their desks. I even threatened to make all 19 children re-take the test if they failed to locate the missing answer sheet--a threat which I certainly could never make good on. However, my sinful lie seemed to work as the children buzzed with the intensity of the search. Though their were many children who claimed to have found the coveted sheet, they all proved to be merely fools gold. No longer willing to waste time on the search that I suspected with be futile, I sent my aide down to recheck the box. I myself attempted to continue teaching, 'attempted' being the operative word. But after my aide came back and told me that the third search of the box had come back with nothing, I simply couldn't go on. I sent my children into silent reading early and proceeded to exit the room.

As I walked down the hallway towards the Resource Room, I began to pray. My prayer sounded something like this:

"Lord, I need that test to be there. I just can't deal with this right now. Please God, I know that they have checked three times and it wasn't there, but would you just please put there right now? Please?"

When I got to the Resource Room, I had a captive audience. When it became clear that I had no found the test and had only come to search the box myself, I could sense the disapproval. I told the test coordinator that I wished to search the box myself in order to dispel any doubts I had that it was somewhere in my classroom. One by one I began to search the question booklets to see if the answer sheet was someone wedged in there. As I methodically searched, the coordinator began explaining to me the process she used to check everything and firmly conveyed once again that it was not here. As she spoke, I glanced over to the pile of papers in front of her. At that moment, I saw that she was clutching about five pieces of paper in her hand. Beneath the fifth paper, barely peaking out was the answer sheet to the missing student--the child's named boldly scrawled across the top. I let out a cry, and pointed to the paper in victory. As she began to express her surprise, I literally dropped to my knees in front of four staff members and cried out "Thank you God!" It was reflex...and they thought I was crazy. I simply got back to my feet and walked out of the room as they tried to explain how the paper had gotten there. I didn't need to hear. I already knew.