E O G

While most Protestant churches and some modern Catholics have abandoned the idea of Purgatory, apparently it is still alive and well in the public schools where it exists in under the name E O G. End of Grade testing. A purifying state of limbo one endures for three days in order to pass through the year end gates to summer. While Purgatory was traditionally thought of as not Hell, considerable prayer was still directed towards shortening its duration. This tradition continues during EOG. Particularly on the part of the test administrators and their proctors.

I returned to Randleman Middle School on Tuesday, May 11, just in time for the first day of EOG. I was given a run-through of proctor training and a booklet to read which further explained what I'd just been told. Then I was hustled down the hall to proctor for the 8th grade science teacher administering the 8th grade reading comprehension exam. Clearly she had done this many times before, and with precision and emphasis, delivered the materials and instructions to students and set them to their task. All classrooms had been stripped of their posters and decorations for the occasion and the television monitors in each room ominously reported the time in large numbers. The entire building was in a state of hushed concentration. For 140 minutes (146 counting the two 3 minute breaks), the world stood still while students tested and their testers and proctors tiptoed the aisles looking for misalignment or worse.

I found it nerve-wracking to be so still for so long with nothing to read and nothing to do but watch others concentrate. The test administrator appeared to find it wearing as well, as she looked for ways to stretch and move that were not distracting to the students. And as if this all weren't hard enough, at the end of the testing period, students who had not finished their exam were escorted to the library where they signed in, still in hushed silence, and continued to work under the watchful eyes of Maddie and Robin. Maddie was overwhelmed. In a school of about 850 students, Maddie had well over 50 of them wrapping up in the library. The exams started shortly after 8a. The time on the monitor indicates when the last student finally left.

While we were eating a late lunch in the workroom, the principal came down for a de-briefing. Everyone was surprised at the number of students needing extended time. He expressed the hope that it meant they were all taking the exams seriously and the end result would be better scores. Everyone agreed that accountability was important, but there was much discussion about better ways to achieve it at substantially lower cost (the savings directed towards hiring more staff and improving the education the tests were supposed to evaluate). Apparently, nobody likes the EOGs but the politicians that mandate them and the testing companies that get paid for the tests.

Despite all this, there are two more days to go. As with purgation, we'll hope there's a little redemption at the end.