Standardized Testing and the Gospel

This week we are doing some standardized testing with our students in our MK school. It is helpful for parents and teachers to have feedback about strengths and weaknesses for individual students and for our school as a whole. This information can help us plan curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of each student in our school. Last weekend Caralina, our oldest student, also took the SAT in order to apply to colleges. As we were preparing for these tests, I wanted to talk with the students about how the gospel informs our perspective on testing.

As I was talking with my students, I remembered a conversation with my parents from many years ago, on the night before I took my SATs. My dad told me that no matter how well I did, or how poorly I did, their love for me would not change one bit. They would not love me any more or less. They also reminded me of God's loving care and good plan for my life. They reminded me that no matter what score I earned on this test, God would still be working for my good and determining my steps. Those were the things I absolutely needed to hear as I was preparing for a test that, in my mind, would determine the course of the rest of my life. After this conversation with my parents, I remember feeling a great weight being lifted. Obviously those words had a significant impact on me, since I remember them more than 20 years later. 

I am so blessed to have parents who knew how to encourage me with the truth of the gospel applied to everyday life. I hope that God uses David and me to do the same for our children, the missionary kids we teach, and all the children here at GSF.