We take standardized tests pretty seriously around here, but that doesn’t mean these exams don’t give us all plenty to laugh at. The Onion really nails many of the absurd Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing. Here are the pros:
- Every student measured against same narrow, irrelevant set of standards
- Holds teachers personally accountable for success of large, monolithic testing organizations
- Western tradition of critical thinking best embodied in bubble-sheet format
- Keeps students quiet for upwards of 90 minutes
- Repeated testing carefully develops teachers’ cheating skills
- Only biased against kids who couldn’t afford college anyway
- Data. More data
Visit the Onion to see the cons of standardized testing, or at least the ones they’ve listed!
Mike Bergin