This week and next, we will be assessing our students' abilities in reading, writing, and mathematics. This is a new initiative that many other schools are beginning with us from grades 1 through 8. Please find the letter attached to this newsletter for more details.
We know that math and literacy skills are important, and that to be an educational institution worth its merit, we need to teach and learn these things well. These tests are an important part of that process. HOWEVER, they are not an indicator of so many things of value.
These tests will not measure how students treated each other last week, if they were polite to the stranger, if they helped around the house, if they comforted someone who needed it, or if they tried to include someone who was left out. They won't measure their character, the depth of their thinking, or what they care about. The lowest standardised test score in the school may belong to the most caring, empathetic, and loving student among us. We know that which is why the results will be important, but they will take their proper place among all of the other assessments and feedback we engage in on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis, which include so much more than what a test can measure.
Ultimately, each student at NACE is valued, but even we get it wrong. It's important to remind ourselves often that our students are not valued for any of these things in God's eyes. When God sees them, he sees his Son who bears their sins and wipes them away.
The cross of Christ. How's that for a standardised test? Romans 5:9-11
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