Last night I dreamed that I could not control my class while administering their end of grade test, and because of this, our testing session was declared a misadministration. How horrible! That is probably the worst thing that could happen to a teacher in my district in this economy, when teaching positions are about as stable an occupation as working in an automobile factory.
I cannot help but recall the OWL exams taken yearly at Hogwarts Academy in Rowling's Potter tales. I think perhaps Rowling is using these wizarding tests as a vessel to make some statement about standardized testing for real life students. I remember somewhere in one of the books, something crazy happened in the middle of the OWLs...what year was that???? I cannot remember...well, anyways, that would most definitely add up to a MISADMINISTRATION, and whichever character who was teaching at the time would definitely have had to meet with Dumbledore in his private chambers to discuss his/her job performance.
The point is that these tests are not merely stress conductors for students, but the looming reality of misadministrations or testing irregularities plague teachers from the moment the tests begin to the second the intercom resounds with the relieving message, "Today's testing session has now ended. Please move students to their next block of classes." You can almost hear a collective sigh among students and teachers, alike. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole city felt a slight tremor at that moment when the entire district's students and teachers exhale in unified relief upon the finale of the exams!
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