Written by Vincent Price
The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported a decline in the test scores of both reading and math for 13-year-old students, the first drop registered in 50 years. The test was given in early 2020, which was right before the COVID pandemic shut schools down.
Unfortunately, this is also occurring at the college level, according to Brandon McCoy, the education policy expert at the Manhattan Institute. Colleges have slowly moved toward test-optional instead of requiring them. The pandemic has expanded this practice for colleges, with over 1400 of them adopting this practice, ” The number of schools going test-optional had risen to 1,050. The pandemic has catalyzed this trend, with at least 1,400 colleges in 2021 making the move to test-optional. College systems around the country are now permanently eliminating the requirement for the SAT and ACT; the University of California system is doing away with the tests altogether.”
Education establishments will do anything to undermine these low test scores because it makes them look bad. Of course, teachers unions are working toward the elimination of standardized tests because if they fail to do so, parents will be angry at the poor education their children are receiving. The best way to do that? Call these tests racist and take no responsibility.
For example, the Massachusetts Teachers Association has spoken out against these tests, asserting that these tests “allowed white supremacy to flourish in public schools.” The union is endorsing a bill that would eliminate the requirement of a passing score on these tests for graduation.
This is also happening in Canada, the president of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation, Teri Mooring, said that standardized testing is “hurtful” and blamed the right for misusing these results to “inappropriately rank B.C. schools.”
The National Education Association has also made false claims that testing children is racist, stating that “From grade school to college, students of color have suffered from the effects of biased testing.” With priorities like this, it’s no wonder America’s educational system has worsened.
Photo Cred: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
