Slaves to Standardization The United States of America is an extraordinarily multi-cultural society and encompasses a wide variety of ethnicities, religions, languages, and ideologies, as well as a host of other cultural aspects. This requires us to embrace our differences and respect and learn from cultures other than our own, which is generally considered a positive development. However, there are several glaring exceptions to this philosophy of celebrating our differences. One such exception is evident in the political realm, where differences and disagreements seem to be equated with evil intent – I have lost count of how many of my acquaintances claimed that those voting for the other candidate (whichever that was) in the last presidential …show more content…
Nor is this the only mitigating factor. The human brain tends to function best when both it and the body are well-rested and nourished. Suppose that two children, whose knowledge and skills are approximately equivalent, come to school one morning to take the big test. One of these children had eight hours of sleep the previous night and ate scrambled eggs for breakfast before coming to school. The other child’s slumber was interrupted by screaming neighbors, or perhaps even gunshots outside his window, and all he will get to eat today is the free breakfast provided by the school and a reduced-price lunch a few hours later. Which of these students will be more likely to provide an accurate representation of his learning when taking the standardized test? Ironically, one of the primary purposes of implementing standardized tests was to reduce the “achievement gap” and ensure a better-quality education for under-privileged children like the one I’ve