Comments on: Standardized Tests: Inadvertently Or Not, They Are Racist

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:20:36 +0000

What rubbish! I took many test during school with questions concerning train A leaving a station at a certain time and train B leaving another station. At that time, I had never been in either a train or a train station and I still answered the questions correctly. In the example in the article, if you substitute playing polo in the Himalayas for hiking in the Appalachians, I would not have a problem understanding the sentence.

By: McCharmly

McCharmly — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 03:14:40 +0000

I don’t think the tests are racist. The economic status (upper, middle, lower) of families can be a disadvantage or advantage, but students who are pushed by their parents or themselves can excel on these tests regardless of their class. Having prior knowledge of subject matter can also count. I, for one, had an extremely solid education in English (grammar and writing) when I was in middle school. I easily got a 700 on that section. My friends who read all the time did well on the reading section. Certain uncontrollable factors give certain advantages to certain people, such as having educated parents with an extensive vocabulary (which I certainly DO NOT have) and money for study resources ( DID NOT have that either). So I guess its a mixture of something similar to…nature (what type of enivornment/family you’re born into) vs. nuture (what type of education you received or what activities you enjoy doing).

By: Johnny Appleseed

Johnny Appleseed — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 01:01:34 +0000

Why do Asians outscore every other group on these tests if the tests are racist?

By: Bryan Hearn

Bryan Hearn — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 20:54:23 +0000

Hi Jesse,
Just real quick, someone being more aware of the world around them is an unfair advantage? Some people have to work harder to gain simple knowledge of the functions of a dietician, or the culture and geography of the Appalachian mountains, but not having to work as hard to gain simple knowledge like that is an advantage. Having better parents and more knowledge of the world is an advantage but it is definitely not unfair

By: mason

mason — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 02:06:34 +0000

and tammy, do you think the Dominican government would change the tests to accommodate them?. Dare I say no

By: Chris W

Chris W — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 00:37:11 +0000

As a math teacher, I must admit that in their quest to be “multicultural,” the writers of NYS math exams often cause confusion just by using names that look or sound odd to my students, e.g. “Laquan built a ramp…”

I think that the title of this piece is misleading; replace “racist” with something tied to socio-economic status and you would be accurate.

By: John

John — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 09:46:46 +0000

If an alien ever comes down to earth for the first time it would be completely impossible communicate with the being b/c of no cultural similiarity. The only way our two kinds could relate to each other in anyway would be to draw a triangle, because rudimentary geometry and physics knowledge is necessary for interstellar travel. Math and science cannot be culturally biased, if your kid fails it means they’re dumb, end of story. And white middle class familiarity in reading comprehension? One of my SAT reading story was on an elephant that would draw pictures in the ground, what fucking familiarity would I have with that? If an american kid never studied or even learned where the Appalachain mountains are (grade school shit), then their school already sucks to begin with and they’re not going to do much better with less bias.

By: What is Liberal?, by Ron Jones

What is Liberal?, by Ron Jones — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 12:28:20 +0000

[...] Standardized tests are racist… But racial quotas and set-asides are not. [...]

By: 'Pain is racist' - Page 2 - Stormfront

'Pain is racist' - Page 2 - Stormfront — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 17:22:51 +0000

[...] Beings. Computers are Racist Computers are Still Racist Soup is Racist Dogs are Racist Tests are Racist Tests Are Still Racist Test's are still Consistently Evil, Gun Toting, Cross Burning, frothing at [...]

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 17:05:33 +0000

I like how Mr Jesse shut his mouth after James here set the record straight.

So i’ll point this one at the ignorant Tammy.

It depends entirely on the knowledge required by the test,

Subjects such as Math and Science cannot be ‘racist’. cultural history will of course, be an immigrants struggling point.

But that does not make it ‘racist’. It can only be expected that a country will have tests taking into account their own experiences, norms, and history. It is downright ridiculous to assume they’d forgo this.

Knowledge in and of itself cannot hold discriminatory thoughts. Anything can be achieved through perseverance, and if one comes into a country, wanting to be a part of that country, then they could show the respect in doing what is necessary to learn about that country.

Unless responsibility is also now racist.