Tests are stupid

So in order to teach here in Washington, I had to take a test proving my worthiness to teach here, because every state has the firm belief that no other state has properly trained their teachers. I took two (actually 4) tests on two different days. I passed the social studies test, no problem, despite questions asking me what the meaning of the word "eutrofication" was, and I took the general education test at the beginning of March. This test consisted of three parts - reading, writing, and math. Anyone who knows me very well knows that I am dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to math, but I've got some skills when it comes to reading and writing. I will allow that it is possible I have burned some brain cells by refinishing furniture indoors from time to time, but still. So I was consequently very nervous about the math part of this last test. But my scores were emailed to me on Monday, and I actually passed all three parts! I will say that it is a good thing they only scored the answers and not the way I solved the problems, because I basically had to visualize everything as a picture and pick the answer that was closest to what I thought was right. Thank goodness most of the test was geometry. But here's the twist. I got a hard copy of my scores in the mail, and realized that each test was worth between 100 and 300 points, with a passing grade set at 240. I scored a 278 on the writing part (makes sense, it's pretty subjective), a 282 on the reading part (I couldn't remember some of the grammar rules), but a 286 on the math part!!!!! I really don't understand this at all, but hey, I passed all three parts, meaning I am a little farther along the path to becoming a legitimate Washingtonian. Woo hoo!!