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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Could I opt to test out of this test?

When I was in high school, I took the SATs twice, and I didn't break 1000 either time. I never took the practice tests because I figured it was a test on my basic knowledge and why would I study for that? It would be like studying for a common sense quiz-- der. But I knew how important the test itself was, and I had good intentions going in, but once it started I got bored and just skimmed over the questions, quickly filling in the bubbles. I didn't have the patience to read all that garbage. I was so smart that even just guessing, I figured I'd do ok. My beautiful and complex brain would shine through the test results. --Right?

I was wrong. Luckily, I never had to take another standardized test again.

Except. California requires substitute teachers to pass a test called the California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST) and I figured, big deal. Basic Educational Skills. I've got basic skills. I went to college. My mother is always telling me about how smart I am. So I took the practice test, and I failed every section. I failed the reading section and I was an ENGLISH MAJOR. I don't have test anxiety, its like I have, the opposite, I have some sort of undiagnosed test over-confidence, that leads my mind to think it can wander. Its like I look at a totally easy question, and by the time my brain gets to the multiple choice answers(oh, did I forget to mention it was a MULTIPLE CHOICE test?), I'm elsewhere. Like this one, for example, the beginning of which was an actually question on the CBEST practice test:




See what I mean?? There has got to be some way around this. I'm sure if I could just talk to the people who grade the tests and reason with them, they would wave the test requirement.

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