Students from The John Cooper School Earn Perfect Scores on National Spanish Exam

THE WOODLANDS, TX – Each year, students in Señora Rebeca Shiffrin’s class at The John Cooper School take the National Spanish Exam (NSE) sponsored by The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. This year two Cooper Middle School students earned top honors.

The exam is given to measure performance (interpretive communication) and achievement of students who are studying Spanish as a second language.

The 2020 exam, due to current requirements for distance learning, was administered online using Zoom as opposed to being administered in the classroom and was optional. Shiffrin monitored the exam online to 13 of her students.

Eighth graders Caroline Dylewski and Ian Hou had the distinct recognition of earning a perfect score in the NSE. “It is very difficult to earn a perfect score,” Shiffrin said. In order to earn a perfect score, students need to earn 200 points in the achievement (vocabulary and grammar) test and 200 in the proficiency (reading and listening) test for a total of 400.

“This is a great honor,” Shiffrin said. “Out of my 20 years here at Cooper, just 10 students have earned a perfect score. I’m very proud of these two students. I am also proud of all the students who elected to take the exam.”