The requirement regarding standardized tests also varies from state to state. In 1987 Oregon required yearly standardized testing, but we had to pay some independent tester $55 (which was quite a bit back then) for the service. It sort of looked a bit like a scam to me, but I followed the law and set up the appointment for the test. The night before the test my daughter developed a very high fever and did not sleep all night. I took her to the doctor first thing the next morning, and she had pneumonia. I explained this to the lady who was supposed to test her, and begged her to let us reschedule, but she told me we’d have to forfeit the $55 we had already paid and pay again to reschedule.
I was so angry I couldn’t see straight! I couldn’t afford to pay those prices a second time, so I bundled my exhausted, painfully ill child up and dragged her over to the lady who would give her the test. My little girl wanted to do well, but because she was so drugged up and in so much pain, I just told her she just had to get her name on the paper and do what she could.
Any test is a snapshot in time, and this was the first one that she’d taken in that state, so they had nothing to compare her bad score to. I figured it was a good deal for us, because the next time she took the test she was certain to do better than the last one.
My point is, don’t get hung up on test scores. They’re not all they’re cracked up to be. Some kids are not good test takers. If you have a child like that, see if they offer another option for you.