Standardized B.S.

I am sitting here proctoring the California State Star Test. A standardized test that says how well our school is doing, how well our teachers are doing, and where we should focus our energy. There are no direct consequences for the students, they can fill in all of the answers to their best ability or they can make designs and spell words--they have a difficulty seeing the direct connection.

I am writing this after yesterdays testing revolt: Kids finished their test in 2-3 minutes then started writing all over their booklets and asking me who cares about this test. This is a hard question for me to answer when I personally think standardized testing is a complete waste of time and energy.

Here are the reasons why I don't like it:
Its Racist-- there is no multi-cultural awareness and it is biased to the wasp majority
Its gender biased-- studies show males do better on it
Its multiple choice-- how much knowlegde can one pass on through abc or d
Its an unfair measurement of teacher and student progress-- can one test really tell the state how good or bad of a teacher I am.
It focuses on a WASP perspective of history

Here are some interesting alternatives