12 Wayne Au - Clip: High-Stakes Testing, Class, and Race in Education

Summary

This transcript explores the historical roots of standardized testing and its role in perpetuating inequality, particularly in relation to class and race. It highlights how tests like the SAT and IQ assessments have long been used to reinforce existing societal hierarchies, grounded in outdated and biased notions of intelligence. The speaker critiques the idea that test scores accurately measure learning, proposing that they reflect social and economic factors that contribute to class reproduction. The discussion also touches on the recent movement to remove standardized tests from university admissions, signaling a shift in educational policies post-pandemic.

Takeaways

• 📚 Understanding the historical roots of testing is crucial in examining the sociological impacts and contemporary politics of education.
• 🎓 The elimination of SAT/ACT requirements by schools like UC and University of Washington signals a significant shift in education.
• 🧠 Testing is often seen as a common-sense method of measuring intelligence, but it's built on the assumption that test scores reflect intelligence and other societal values like good schools and neighborhoods.
• ⚖️ The origins of standardized tests were built on inequality, aiming to create unequal outcomes, which is why they often reflect class and racial disparities.
• 📊 Tests are historically based on the bell curve and the belief that intelligence is biologically determined, often used to justify classist, sexist, and racist biases.
• 🔬 Early test creators believed their tests objectively showed that certain groups, such as the poor, immigrants, and people of color, were less intelligent, aligning with the eugenics movement.
• 🏫 The same early testing methods underpin modern educational programs like AP and gifted tracks, continuing to reinforce historical inequalities.
• 💡 Despite major changes, the results of high-stakes tests today mirror those from 100 years ago, with affluent white students often outperforming low-income students and students of color.
• 📈 Research shows that up to 80% of test scores are determined by non-school factors, meaning that standardized tests don't measure actual learning effectively.
• ⚙️ The speaker suggests that test scores may reflect the social resources invested in students’ class reproduction, which Marxism could help explain, rather than measuring learning directly.

Q & A

Why is it important to understand the historical roots of testing?

Understanding the historical roots of testing helps to reveal how standardized tests have been used to create and reinforce inequality. These tests were designed with biased assumptions about intelligence and class, reflecting broader societal inequalities, including race and socioeconomic status.

How do standardized tests historically reproduce class relations?

Standardized tests are based on the assumption that intelligence is distributed on a bell curve, where only a few succeed and many fail. These tests often favor students from affluent backgrounds, effectively reproducing class relations by ensuring that poorer students are less likely to excel.

What is the connection between standardized testing and white supremacy?

Historically, standardized tests were developed by individuals who held racist and classist beliefs. These tests were used to justify white supremacy by providing 'objective' evidence that marginalized groups, particularly black and brown students, were intellectually inferior to white students.

What role does capitalism play in the structure of standardized testing?

Standardized testing aligns with capitalist ideals by supporting class reproduction. The education system uses these tests to sort students into different tracks, ensuring that those from affluent backgrounds receive better opportunities, while working-class students are funneled into lower-paying jobs.

How has the post-pandemic movement impacted standardized testing, particularly in universities?

In the post-pandemic period, universities like UC schools and the University of Washington have started to move away from requiring SAT and ACT scores, marking a significant shift in how admissions are handled and reflecting growing criticism of standardized testing as a measure of student potential.

How do standardized tests perpetuate inequality in schooling?

Standardized tests often produce results that reflect students' socioeconomic backgrounds more than their academic abilities. Poor students, students of color, and English Language Learners (ELL) generally score lower, reinforcing educational disparities rather than addressing them.

What is the significance of the book 'Unequal by Design' in the context of standardized testing?

'Unequal by Design' underscores how standardized tests were intentionally created to perpetuate inequality, revealing the flawed assumptions behind the idea of intelligence being measurable through such tests. It critiques the biased foundation of these tests and their role in sustaining societal hierarchies.

What is the historical connection between standardized tests and the eugenics movement?

Early developers of standardized tests were influenced by the eugenics movement, believing that intelligence was biologically determined and that certain races were inherently superior. These beliefs shaped the design of tests that reinforced racial and class hierarchies.

What contemporary challenges do high-stakes standardized tests pose to students from marginalized backgrounds?

High-stakes tests continue to disadvantage students from marginalized backgrounds by failing to account for the impact of non-school factors, such as socioeconomic status. These tests often measure the resources available to students outside of school, perpetuating inequality rather than addressing educational needs.

What does the speaker mean by standardized tests not measuring learning?

The speaker argues that standardized tests do not accurately measure learning because they largely reflect factors outside of school, such as family income and educational background. Studies suggest that up to 75-80% of test scores are based on non-school factors, meaning they do not effectively capture what students have learned in the classroom.