This is a common refrain heard from students whose "summative evaluations" have gone less than optimally...students who've, quite frankly, bombed a test: "I just don't test well." And it drives me nuts. It's difficult to tell when it's the truth and when it's an excuse; and, as most of us are not diagnosticians, it's beyond the scope of our job descriptions and skill sets. We simply can't make that leap and determine whether or not the student has, for instance, a learning disability (although we can encourage them to seek out our institutions' diagnosticians or outside resources). But, all that aside, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy: students who say this, whether they've arrived at this conclusion honestly, come to believe it. And that belief shapes their future performance. Any thoughts on how to put an end to this virulent strain of thinking?