To Araniel Gonzalez Garcia and his family, the top score the high school junior earned on his U.S. History end-of-course exam was a tribute to hard work and a cause for celebration.
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To the Osceola County school district, it was a “statistical anomaly.”
They ordered the St. Cloud High School student from Kissimmee to take it again last month. And, in what Araniel said was a stress-filled situation, he failed.
Now the disheartened student, who otherwise has an A in his history class, and his family are speaking publicly against a review procedure that hangs up a tiny percentage of students on state-required tests each year.
Araniel said his “perfect” score — he received the maximum number of points on the multiple-choice, computer-administered exam, though he did miss a few questions — was taken from him, and that it was an “unfair” situation.
“I worked my butt off in that class, so I just feel a little irritated,” he said.
The School District of Osceola County won’t say how Araniel’s score was flagged, only that a review of unexpected scores is “standard testing protocol” and that 36 other students out of more than 5,000 district-wide also were told to retake the exam.
But Araniel guesses he stood out because of his failing grade on the statewide English exam taken the year prior, he said. Araniel has a waiver for the English exam, which is a graduation requirement, because of a learning disability.
He’s struggled with his studies in past years, he said, but wanted to “lock in” and study hard to end his junior year. His history teacher reviewed the exam material with the class for three weeks before the test to help them prepare.
“When the testing came, I was ready,” he said.
And when he got his score at the end of the test, he was jubilant.
He eagerly told his family in the car and called his relatives in Puerto Rico to share the news right when he got out of school that May afternoon.
“Everybody was so happy for him,” said Judith Gonzalez, Araniel’s grandmother and legal guardian.
The happiness didn’t last. The school told Araniel about the retake exam on Friday, May 15, and gave him only the weekend to prepare for a new test the following Tuesday.
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Gonzalez said he was “stressed the whole weekend,” scrambling to review the material again.
In stark contrast to the first exam, taken in a room with his regular class, Araniel faced the completely different retake exam in a small room with only one other student and three assistant principals supervising. He called the situation “high-pressure” and “stressful.”
Florida high school students can take several standardized tests each year, often in rapid succession. Araniel’s retake exam was his third state exam in eight days.
He isn’t sure if he’ll get a third shot at the test, which is 30 percent of his final grade. But he said if he can take it again, he wants to.
Araniel’s teacher argued on his behalf to the school administration and the district when she learned he was forced to retake the first exam, he said. She had watched over the testing session and collected everyone’s phones before they started. The teacher did not respond to inquiries from the Orlando Sentinel.
Gonzalez said it was “disappointing” that Araniel’s school and the district didn’t have his back, especially since his teacher vouched for him. “She’s defending you for a reason, she wouldn’t be defending you just because,” she added.
“It’s like they don’t care about the kid and how the kid has done and how the kid feels. Nothing,” she said.
The school and the district never accused Araniel of cheating or offered any other potential explanation for the anomaly. The district’s statement to the Sentinel said students found cheating would have had their test scores invalidated altogether and not be given a retake.
But Gonzalez likened the retake testing conditions around to “jail” and said it made Araniel feel like he had done something wrong.
“They put him to fail 100%, like ‘You’re not gonna be ready for this. I’m gonna fail you, and that’s it,’” she said.
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