By JESSE SCACCIA
According to an article in The New York Times, “The College Board said Thursday that it was putting off the unveiling of a new standardized test intended to help eighth graders prepare for rigorous high school courses and college.”
What does it say about our values when we can’t find a way to further standardized test 12-year-olds right here, right now, by any means necessary?
I’m going to start wearing a pin on my lapel to show solidarity with all the 8th graders missing out on months of mind-numbing test prep, leading up to a soul sucking week of testing. I’m designing the pin right now. I’m thinking the symbol should be either a dead pigeon or the Gerber baby holding a shotgun to his head.
What is wrong with us? I mean, WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?
Middle adolescence is probably the most confusing age of life. Kids go through identities quicker than I go through clean socks. Now if we think that what we teach our kids might affect the adults they turn into (and isn’t that the point of school?), then what message would this testing send?
Standardized testing tells a kid that society values… standardization, and testing. (Sometimes life really is that simple.)
There’s so much talk about needing more testing to compete with the Chinas and Europes out there. But as far as I know, America didn’t become great by valuing a standardized set of knowledge and skills. We’re diverse! We’re creative! Individuals are encouraged to follow crazy paths, to believe in crazy ideas that sometimes end up with inventions like cars and the light bulb! The desire to have all children value the same set of knowledge and skills is about as American as fascism!
(Deep breath.) (Okay, I’m better.)
It isn’t even the standardized tests themselves that get me so riled up. Back in elementary school we took the California Achievement Tests, and I was no worse for the wear. The difference is, back then the tests were no big deal. One day we took them, and that was it. No prep, no nothing. But in today’s high school environment, test prep is something like how I imagine air raid drills were back in the 50s. Principals are frantic. Teachers talk openly about losing school funding and jobs. Hell, they might even shut the school down if you kids don’t pass! Standardized testing breeds a certain mania that tells our kids, “NOTHING matters more than these tests.”
Why, you might wonder, was the public denied their right to this test on 8th graders? The answer can be found here.
And also here: money. The misleadingly-offically-named The College Board, which came up with the test, said they’re holding off because school systems don’t have enough cash. They said that school boards just don’t have the finances to spend on “new programs.”
Only in America, man.
And… this woman is nuts. Fyi: http://health.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/04/13/standardized-testing-tips/
I’m no fan of standardizd testing, either. I skimmed the link — why is she nuts?
Just to clarify, I don’t disagree that she’s nuts, I’m just wondering why you think she’s nuts. I think all of standardized testing is crazy, but were I to accept it, the linked tips don’t seem like they would be any crazier, even if they are annoyingly perky.