Despite achieving excellent grades in his classes and a GPA of 3.5, Bridgeport High School graduate Jaime Gonzalez thought his dream of becoming an elementary teacher was over after failing eight times to pass part of a writing test required by the Nebraska Department of Education. Gonzalez, however, received surprising, good news late last year when he learned he would receive a waiver for the portion of the test he couldn’t pass due to meeting criteria as an English-learner. Now, Gonzalez, who will graduate from Chadron State College in May, is excited to begin his teaching career this fall at Westmoor Elementary School in Scottsbluff.
JEFF FIELDER Editor
BRIDGEPORT – In the last few years, Jaime Gonzalez has developed a big desire to teach and be a positive influence on kids at an elementary school. And after going to Chadron State College for six years, he felt like he had done just about everything he could to earn a shot at teaching.
But one thing was holding him back. He couldn’t pass a portion of the Praxis 1 exam, a pre-professional skills test that’s required by the Nebraska Department of Education for anyone who wants to become a teacher. Gonzalez, a 2014 Bridgeport High School graduate, did well on the reading and mathematics part of the exam, and he even did well on the essay part of the writing exam. But he struggled to pass the portion of the writing test that focused on sentence structure.
Gonzalez actually took the test a whopping six times, but each time he failed to post the score needed to pass.
He could feel his heart sinking deeper and deeper.
“I got completely discouraged and upset,” he said. “I really wanted to be a teacher, but I just couldn’t get through that one part of the test. It was demoralizing.”
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