Testing Angst

One of my students is a new immigrant and has been living here in the United States for 2 years now. When I first met him last year in the 7th grade, he did not know a word of English. Now he is in an ESL 8th grade class and we can have one of those stop-and-go conversations. He’s learning English. He’s trying very hard.

Yesterday he told me that back at home in Yemen, he scored top of his class in all subjects, including reading and math. He is so proud of his academic accomplishments in his native country. But he told me he was extremely worried about taking the state English Language Arts assessment, which begins today.  The ELA is a 3-day ordeal. He expressed his fear of failing for the first time in his life. 

I didn’t know what to tell him. What would YOU tell him?