Where Art Thou ITEDs? By Danielle Hernandez

Hear ye, hear ye! Yea, but a wee three months ago, we proud students marched most courageously into battle for nigh on a week to vanquish the hideous beast known as the Iowa Test of Educational Development or, as the villager Friar Angel refers to it as, "The I-T-E-D's". We endured plights such as rising from our slumber knowing that we must test tirelessly, endlessly, for several hours. And why? For the promise of riches beyond our greatest dream; the inevitable Holy Grail known as SOME SERIOUS EXTRA CREDIT. And now that my knowledge of medieval-type vocabulary has grown thin, and I still have a whole article to write, I feel the need to ask... Dude, where are our ITED scores?

I've noticed I'm not the only student wondering just what's going on. If you don't recall, the teachers here at HCHS gave us some incentives to do well on these tests, i.e. up to twenty points of cold, hard extra credit. But the end of the semester draws near... and still no results? No extra credit? But, but... Extra credit makes everybody feel so good inside :(



I decided to hit the classrooms and hallways, and give some voice to the students concerns. One sophomore girl declares that she "... is very upset, because I need the extra credit, and I was promised it at the beginning of the quarter. WHERE'S MY EXTRA CREDIT, DARN IT!". Of course, some people aren't so upset. Chandra Knudsen "... only needs extra credit in one class. It'd be nice if I scored high enough to get some, but if I didn't I guess these scores back now isn't really that convenient. I guess I don't really care." Then of course there's that one student who said: "I don't really care about the scores. In fact, I hope they never come back. I don't want docked points, 'cause I KNOW they're not proficient." Tsk, tsk.


But rest my brethren (the ones who actually care and are upset by this of course), I come bearing great news from the lord of the land! According to High King Wagner, "Our scores really depend upon the company we send them to, Iowa Testing Services. We're kind of at their mercy when it comes to this. Apparently there was some glitch that caused the scoring to be delayed. I called last Thursday, though, and we're really hoping the scores are in by the end of the week." Praise! All hail King Wagner! Rejoice!



But will-eth the scores be in-eth before the semester comes to an abrupt close? Will our valiant slaying of the dragon known as "I-T-E-D" be justly awarded? But more importantly, will I ever stop reporting this School News story like a Renaissance scribe? Who is to say, I suppose we will all have to wait and see.

So, what does the rest of the student population think? Does anyone care that the ITED scores aren't in yet? There's still the distinct possibility that we won't receive them... How are you affected? Be sure to leave a comment, I would love to hear that I'm not the only one a little concerned by all of this. This has been Danielle Hernandez for School News!