midterms

Something that students don't get about the DVUSD math midterms is that they are written by people who understand how students make mistakes. The writers of the exams work out the problems, showing the mistakes that students normally make, and then they put the incorrect answer that the students will get if they mess up, and they make that one of the choices. Students then walk out of the classroom after taking the midterm, feeling good about themselves and their incredible knowledge because all of the answers they got were there on the test, just to find out, when they check on Monday, that they failed it miserably. So far I have graded two of my drop-back classes' midterms, and both classes averaged an F (52% and 58.4%). I expect that my 7th hour will fall somewhere in between those two averages (since that's about normal for them on other quizzes and tests). Are the midterms written well? I believe so. Would I change them to help the students do better? No. If the students cannot do the correct work, then their grade should reflect that. The test is not too difficult, that is, if the students knew how to do their work correctly. Does it bother me that they score so poorly? Sure it does, but is that because I want to look good or because I want them to succeed? And even if it is for them to succeed, why do I want them to succeed? Even "good things" can be sinful because in them I am feeding an identity which is in something other than Christ: and that's sin. I'd still like them to do better.