Standardized Test Bias?

[Colossal Spoons]

We were talking about this topic in a class of mine last night. To me, the really sounds like BS. To think that being an upper middle class white male has something to do with you doing better on a test is ridiculous to me. Unless it's a test that proposes real life scenarios in which personal experience can affect your decision; I think we can all agree that polar bears are white, water has hydrogen in it, 100/10=10, and that Hitler was a bad man. So I ask this:

Minorities: Have you ever felt like you didn't do as well on a test b/c it was designed for rich white men?

White Men: Have you even taken a test and at the end of it said "Yes, if I didn't have caviar for dinner last night after my polo lesson, I totally would have failed that test"?

White Women: Have you felt like you would have done better on a test if you were a man for some odd reason?

 

[Won '08]

The thought that Standardized tests are designed for the upper class white americans doesn't come purely from ignorance of race or the acceptance of racial discrimination's existence...

but from the cold hard -FACT- that people in lower class families...which..sadly...minorities are the majority of...

receive less than adequate schooling. It's true. lower class students usually do less than fantastic on state and city exams due to the quality of the schools they are attending. Not in any specific ism towards any race...but rather the quality of living.

it just so happens that us minorities make up most of the lower class in America =/

 

[Kaboom]

its been explained like this (and this is just an example) if the question asks you about a boat amd its relation to archimedes first principle, and even if you if you know what archimeded first principle is if youve never seen a boat, chances are you wont do well with it.

i don't but it, but im also white upper middle class, so whos to say.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

The thought that Standardized tests are designed for the upper class white americans doesn't come purely from ignorance of race or the acceptance of racial discrimination's existence...

but from the cold hard -FACT- that people in lower class families...which..sadly...minorities are the majority of...

receive less than adequate schooling. It's true. lower class students usually do less than fantastic on state and city exams due to the quality of the schools they are attending. Not in any specific ism towards any race...but rather the quality of living.

it just so happens that us minorities make up most of the lower class in America =/

See, that I agree with. If they were to say that "standardized tests are geared towards people with better resources and better schooling" I'd say duh! I agree and who would disagree. But to attach race and gender to it just seems unecessary.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

its been explained like this (and this is just an example) if the question asks you about a boat amd its relation to archimedes first principle, and even if you if you know what archimeded first principle is if youve never seen a boat, chances are you wont do well with it.

i don't but it, but im also white upper middle class, so whos to say.

That reminds me of the eaxmple my prof gave for a question that had to be removed form the IQ tests b/c it was biased. There was a picture of a man on a horse and you had to guess what was missing from the picture. The answer:

Spoiler

a saddle

 

[blind_fury]

I have to agree. When an inner-city school claimed bais and attempted to get "ebonics" put in their standardized test I wanted to shoot someone.

 

[SoulManX]

I have to agree. When an inner-city school claimed bais and attempted to get "ebonics" put in their standardized test I wanted to shoot someone.

 

[Kaboom]

I have to agree. When an inner-city school claimed bais and attempted to get "ebonics" put in their standardized test I wanted to shoot someone.

i smiled when the whole "ebonics is a language" debate essentially ended when cosby told people to **** and speak proper-like.

nobody messes with the Bill...he's like oprah, but a man.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

I'll even debunk the old "poor kids aren't as motivated in school as wealthy kids." So many people hold that to be true. As somebody who's experienced both ends of the spectrum, let me say that ALL kids are lazy. I blew off schoolwork with my friends when I was a kid in the Bronx and just wandered the streets. Once I got to Delaware, I also showed up to school hours late because I was smokin weed in a parking lot with kids who's parents have bank accounts so big, you wouldn't believe.

 

[AndThePickles]

Indeed, some poor kids are even MORE motivated because they don't want to STAY poor.

 

[blind_fury]

That's the exception to the rule. Many black students have to pretend to be ignorant because being smart in school is unpopular with peers.

 

[Victor Von Doom]

i smiled when the whole "ebonics is a language" debate essentially ended when cosby told people to **** and speak proper-like.

nobody messes with the Bill...he's like oprah, but a man.

LMAO that reminds me that one Boondocks strip where the grandpa was immitating Bill Cosby. He kept screamin at em to pull they're pants up.

But back on topic, It's hard for me to imagine that an actual test is culturally biased. Unless the questions are, "would the average white person on a flight rather eat fish or chicken" then I belive that it's a stretch. It's obvious that the education in poorer areas is inferior to those of more well off neighborhoods, and it is also obvious that the majority of residences within those areas are of minorites (mainly black and hispanic), but most tests are based on every day things that most people deal with. Most situational stuff deals with food like apples and oranges and milk. Or scenery, like trees and bushes and grass. I haven't encounted a test that deals with the equestrian team or timmys maid.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

That's the exception to the rule. Many black students have to pretend to be ignorant because being smart in school is unpopular with peers.

Makes me sick. Like nobody wants to see anybody else leave the hood just b/c they're stuck there.

 

[Soundwave]

That's the exception to the rule. Many black students have to pretend to be ignorant because being smart in school is unpopular with peers.

Unfortunate... but true.

 

[Victor Von Doom]

 

[Sun_Down]

We were talking about this topic in a class of mine last night. To me, the really sounds like BS. To think that being an upper middle class white male has something to do with you doing better on a test is ridiculous to me. Unless it's a test that proposes real life scenarios in which personal experience can affect your decision; I think we can all agree that polar bears are white, water has hydrogen in it, 100/10=10, and that Hitler was a bad man. So I ask this:

Minorities: Have you ever felt like you didn't do as well on a test b/c it was designed for rich white men?

White Men: Have you even taken a test and at the end of it said "Yes, if I didn't have caviar for dinner last night after my polo lesson, I totally would have failed that test"?

White Women: Have you felt like you would have done better on a test if you were a man for some odd reason?

The supposed bias in standardized tests is a cultural bias. Different cultures consider different things to be important or true. The idea is that "truth" is a social construct and someone who grew up in a different culture may have a different view of what is/isn't true or what is worthy of learning.

I'm not sure if this has an impact on standardized tests or not, but that's the basic idea as I understand it.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

Minorities: Have you ever felt like you didn't do as well on a test b/c it was designed for rich white men?

I've only had that happen ONCE on my literacy test.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

I love boondocks, I've read every single strip

 

[Victor Von Doom]

I love boondocks, I've read every single strip

One of the best comic strips of all time.

 

[Halcohol]

I've only had that happen ONCE on my literacy test.

The idea of this thread is for you to explain what the questions were that made you feel slighted.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

I can't remember, but I've had that problem before

 

[Colossal Spoons]

AM, so you feel that rich white men know more/bigger words than you?

 

[ScottyBBadd]

The thought that Standardized tests are designed for the upper class white americans doesn't come purely from ignorance of race or the acceptance of racial discrimination's existence...

but from the cold hard -FACT- that people in lower class families...which..sadly...minorities are the majority of...

receive less than adequate schooling. It's true. lower class students usually do less than fantastic on state and city exams due to the quality of the schools they are attending. Not in any specific ism towards any race...but rather the quality of living.

it just so happens that us minorities make up most of the lower class in America =/

I buy that.

 

[Road Warrior]

We were talking about this topic in a class of mine last night. To me, the really sounds like BS. To think that being an upper middle class white male has something to do with you doing better on a test is ridiculous to me. Unless it's a test that proposes real life scenarios in which personal experience can affect your decision; I think we can all agree that polar bears are white, water has hydrogen in it, 100/10=10, and that Hitler was a bad man. So I ask this:

Minorities: Have you ever felt like you didn't do as well on a test b/c it was designed for rich white men?

White Men: Have you even taken a test and at the end of it said "Yes, if I didn't have caviar for dinner last night after my polo lesson, I totally would have failed that test"?

White Women: Have you felt like you would have done better on a test if you were a man for some odd reason?

I live in Miami and in the state of Florida they have a test called the FCAT. If you want to graduate from high school YOU HAVE to pass that exam. I took the test and it was easy. However, I still hate that test. Why? Well, I hate it for several reasons. To begin with, the schools get graded based on the performance of the students on the test. If most of the students pass the test with awesome scores then the school gets more money. If students do bad then the school gets crap. So, what happens is that the school's main focus is that darn test! They focus WAY too much on it and its getting in the way of real learning! You take the test in 10th grade. And, I hated 10th grade because of that damn FCAT. Instead of actually learning something we spent half the year preparing for the test. Talk about a waste of time, huh? Then, the biggest insult came my senior year. I had to re-take my SATs. I did AWESOME on the verbal section. I got above average in fact. Math, however, has ALWAYS been my weak subject. I did horribly on the math section, so I knew I needed help. The school offered free tutoring for poor kids. And, can you believe that there was not ONE SINGLE tutor for the SAT? Like 99% of tutoring was for FCAT. It just pissed me off so much.

 

[ScottyBBadd]

I live in Miami and in the state of Florida they have a test called the FCAT. If you want to graduate from high school YOU HAVE to pass that exam. I took the test and it was easy. However, I still hate that test. Why? Well, I hate it for several reasons. To begin with, the schools get graded based on the performance of the students on the test. If most of the students pass the test with awesome scores then the school gets more money. If students do bad then the school gets crap. So, what happens is that the school's main focus is that darn test! They focus WAY too much on it and its getting in the way of real learning! You take the test in 10th grade. And, I hated 10th grade because of that damn FCAT. Instead of actually learning something we spent half the year preparing for the test. Talk about a waste of time, huh? Then, the biggest insult came my senior year. I had to re-take my SATs. I did AWESOME on the verbal section. I got above average in fact. Math, however, has ALWAYS been my weak subject. I did horribly on the math section, so I knew I needed help. The school offered free tutoring for poor kids. And, can you believe that there was not ONE SINGLE tutor for the SAT? Like 99% of tutoring was for FCAT. It just pissed me off so much.

That sounds like the, I think its now called, the TAKS in Texas. It seemed every thing was geared up towards passing that test. I thought it was a snap when I took it as a junior, but it is wrong to base pass/fail high school based on one test.