Really

 We have arrived at that point in the school year when we start to threaten and cajole. The second of three report cards have been passed out. Parents and caregivers have been sent a clear message about their child's progress. 

Or lack thereof. 

Now we begin the push toward the cliff that is the End Of The Year. The end of May is actually much closer to the end of the calendar year, and in terms of the continuum that all my years in public education allows me it is only a pause, a mere two months and change before we fire up the engines once again to start the whole cycle over. And over. And over again. 

But for now we can look for those threads that can be pulled to tease out those leaps in understanding that are still available for our third trimester together. This is the one with the standardized test. The one that third, fourth and fifth graders are asked to take in hopes of showing the academic growth they have made since they landed in their classrooms back in August. Teachers are a sneaky bunch, and it isn't as if we will be walking blindly into this fray. There have been a number of assessments given ahead of The State Test (insert ominous chord here). 

But these are not the ones that the folks up in Sacramento will be staring out over the summer. The grownups will spend those months wondering just what those scores will look like. Those folks up in Sacramento will send us a bunch of numbers and graphs that will show us all what we have already anticipated. What we already knew. Those folks up in Sacramento are primarily confirming the reality we experience in our little school in East Oakland every Monday through Friday from August to May. 

We already have a pretty good "hunch," an educational term that I had to go to teacher school to learn. Our pretty good "hunch" can sometimes be wrong. Which is exactly why we start making the pitch in March to those kids we hope will be a surprise. How can we get every single one of those boys and girls to meet or exceed those expectations we have for them? 

Ultimately I believe that any and all of these Big Tests are just as telling as the little ones. They are snapshots of where each kid is on the path toward being ready to join their friends and neighbors in the next grade. Even if they are not quite ready. Holding one of them back is a process that begins far in advance of The Big Test. Their score on The Big Test will not be the single mitigating factor in their promotion. 

Which doesn't mean we aren't above suggesting that. We teachers are a wily bunch, capable of much subterfuge as Ed Code will allow. We want our students to achieve. We want our students to excel. Even if that means we have to give them prizes for showing up on time, ready to learn. 

Because we know what the real prize is: Education. 

Aw, c'mon Mister Caven. Really?

Yes. Really.