I'm not sure if this is a nationwide thing or if it's just something that has been heating up in NYC for the past couple of years. Some of the top high schools in the city use test-based admissions. Many officials are essentially trying to get rid of this and are citing it as oppressive.

newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/04/29/new-york-city-specialized-high-schools-admissions-test-shsat

vox.com/first-person/2019/3/22/18276408/new-york-city-stuyvesant-high-school-brooklyn-tech-science

Standardized testing means they give every person who signs up the same test. And if they have 100 spots open for the freshman class, the first spot goes to whoever got the highest score, then the second highest score, all the way down to the 100th highest score. The only criteria for admission is this single test score.

The problem, according to officials, is that the end result are schools that are over 60% asian with the remaining percentage mostly being white.

Some argue that this system needs to be removed in order to balance out school demographics and give more opportunities to students of other races. They say it is a tool of structural racism.

Other people argue that this is essentially punishing students and families for studying hard and preparing for the test. And that test-based admissions were originally introduced in order to avoid biases.

What do you think?

very much so.

should've been done away with decades ago. Proving you remember s*** doesn't determine your intelligence.

That graph is WILD.

Wait I didn't read the thread

I don't think remembering s*** should determine your intelligence. However I think students should have a basic understand in education. Basic skills are a necessity in this world.

Yeah but it isn't really the test's fault. Asians culturally put more importance on these exams and as a result spend more money to prepare they kids for it

If you have access to a tutor and previous years tests you are going to do way better than someone with none of those

Since the pandemic though I've heard of a lot more schools that don't ask for standardized test scores. I have a theory that making the test online last year made it way easier and f***ed up the score distribution

And tell me what does standardized testing have to do with basic skills?

My sophomore year of high school, Georgia suddenly decided out of nowhere to experiment with how they would teach the math curriculum. We were essentially the guinea pigs for basically, instead of separating certain math classes (geometry class, trigonometry class, etc.), they would just throw everything into one semester/year. (Math 1, math 2, math 3, math 4, etc.)

The end result was not good. A lot of kids (myself included but only by one point, that b**** had a grudge against me) ended up not passing and had to end up taking summer school.

I passed the graduation test the very next year but it's no shocker that the math portion of the GHSGT had the lowest passing rate around that time.

I don't like how schools can just mess with curriculums and force students (that already gotta deal with basic sleep deprivation) to only have a year to adjust and still might end up failing said tests and be told it's their own fault and not the schools for not realizing everyone has their own pace of retaining s***.

That s*** just aint fair. And as a black student that saw this first hand, it's a very poignant way to make kids that truly did have potential, just fall through the cracks. F*** standardized testing.

I don't support standardized testing or the "No Child Left Behind" act.

I'm not sure if you remember being in school during the 90's or early 2000's before this was put into place: but do you remember how the curriculum changed in basically forcing teachers to stick to a specific curriculum that was probably state mandated?

Before then it was assessed differently just by grades but teachers were actually devoted into teaching their students by using their OWN curriculum. Inspiring the younger ones.

I'm sorry to hear what you said; yes that IS oppressive. If you notice there's much more of an emphasis in Asian culture for the to do well and study in most of their free-time. It's a different type of parenting than say; someone who is white.

I think the No Child Left Behind act needs to be abolished.

Personally I find it weird that we focus a lot of education reform going from top down (uni and high school)

I think we need to put way more resources towards early childhood eduction so that we have kids in better learning environments early on. Once that happens kids will be on a more level playing field going forward

The kids of these specialized schools and the parents of these kids all say that it isn't the teachers or curriculum that makes these schools so good. It's the students. All of them are there to learn and education has been emphasized from early on which how they got there.

We need to get everyone on board like that starting with elementary school

I was in private school til 7th grade, I aint go to public school til high school. And overall, I did dope (had honors and AP lit/history classes all throughout sophomore year)

And you're absolutely right. It's wild the NCLB act has not been abolished yet.

That's nice to hear that you did well

Yeah, completely agree with that.

NCLB is the sole reason that alot of teachers dread even going into class to teach.

Natural end result of an education system based on regurgitation

Standardized Testing should exist in one form or another. To end it is a bandaid issue that is rooted in so many worse things in our education system

The thing of public funds to property tax, the No Child Left Behind Act, and the harsh rules of school districts are all factors that bar low income children from receiving a proper education

standardized testing is simply the result of this bullshit system

Justifying Asian people doing better because of culture is a racist talking point, just FYI. Also perpetuates the model minority myth.

Solid point about the money aspect though, that is 100% a big factor

yes

never met someone who got above a 30/1300 without a tutor

culture this d***

if black people had money we'd have tutors too

Bro thats not what i mean chill look at white scores

i was just trying to explain why they might want to put more resources into it

In my personal experience i've seen white kids get bad scores on these exams when their parents had damn well enough money to get them a 36, they just didnt care

Another thing is despite only making up a fraction of the population, Asians make up the largest percentage of test takers

A lot of african american and latino parents/students aren't even aware of this test until the weeks preceding it. They either don't sign up at all or just sign their kids up with zero preparation at all

There needs to be more awareness and readiness for sure

Some stereotypes are rooted in the truth

I don't know how it works in other parts of the country but in Kentucky they give a free one to everybody junior year of high school

If you want to take it before that to prepare, it's $100 every time

If you don't like your score and you want to get a better one before you apply to college, it's $100 every time

The definitely need to fix that s***

Schooling in general is oppressive, White teachers in the hood won’t ever end well for the students, plus the School to Prison pipeline and the draconian treatment of Students that act up in class that deserve help and not punishment. From Kindergarten to 12th grade the School System in these Inner-City schools treat the children as Future Criminals instead of Vessels of Knowledge

They don’t even try to teach the kids either, I saw kids forced to read The Cat In the Hat in 8th Grade, and they were not mentally slow at all.

That Asian culture s*** is offensive to asians and other minorities

Asian Americans and immigrants are not a monolith