Aptitude Tests were created circa 1926 and intended to measure inherent intelligence. The test was emulated from the World War I Army intelligence quotient test and was used as a scholarship screening method for specific colleges throughout the 1930s (Knoester & Au, 2017). Since the 1900’s the “intensity and importance” of testing as stated by Knoester & Au (2017) has grown in the United States education and political arenas, despite being found to be controversial and complicated by education scholars.
There are many criticisms pertaining to aptitude tests being given to student’s kindergarten through twelfth grade. As stated by Knoester & Au (2017) the “achievement of privileged children is determined by their home background and opportunities”
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The aptitude tests generated in the early 1900’s were designed for white, influential white males. The case of Brown v. Board of Education may have been established to end segregation; however, it did not change the status of white privilege that still prevails today. The standards for all testing utilizes the whites for the standard to which all others should achieve. Knoester & Au (2017) found that whites “historically and presently monopolize political, economic, social and educational power.” As stated by Knoester & Au (2017) that if one is to believe that every student who is subject to take a standardized test there is an objective measurement then every student should be given a “color-blind and class blind, fair and equal shot at educational, social and economic …show more content…
There is considerable research available emphasizing both the positive and negative inequities of testing students. I do not remember any particular testing I may have taken in school; however, I do remember taking the SAT for college. After completing the test, I remember feelings as if I had failed, since many of the questions did not align itself with the class learning. By requiring tests, I believe that students could be effected and impacted negatively. I do not believe the testing is a true reflection of the students ‘knowledge, creativity and capability. If testing was genuinely used to obtain a student’s growth with the goal of “academic excellence” then the tests we are using would be able to reflect “current constructivist views of knowledge and learning” (Dunbar,