Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a new member of the House “Squad” that includes five other liberal representatives, called standardized testing racist on Tuesday.
In a series of two tweets, Bowman, the former principal called standardized testing “a pillar of systemic racism” and linked to a National Education Association article expounding on “the racist beginnings of standardized testing.”
The racist beginnings of standardized testing. https://t.co/TIC77KFEBq
— Jamaal Bowman (@JamaalBowmanNY) March 2, 2021
The article, which described standardized tests first developed in the early 20th century as “scientific yet … deeply biased,” claimed minority students suffer from miscategorization when subjected to this testing.
“African-Americans, especially males, are disproportionately placed or misplaced in special education, frequently based on test results,” it said. “In effect, the use of high-stakes testing perpetuates racial inequality through the emotional and psychological power of the tests over the test takers, according to FairTest.”
NEW SAT ‘ADVERSITY SCORE’ INCLUDES CRIME AND POVERTY OF TEST-TAKER NEIGHBORHOODS
Some companies that manufacture these tests have begun making changes in response to charges of racial bias. Last month, College Board, the corporation behind SAT and AP examinations, eliminated the essay portion of the SAT, along with its supplementary subject tests.
“The expanded reach of AP and its widespread availability for low-income students and students of color means the Subject Tests are no longer necessary for students to show what they know,” College Board wrote in its press release.
Last summer, College Board dropped plans to implement an “adversity score” that would have judged students’ personal hardships according to 15 criteria, including crime rates, high school quality, and neighborhood poverty. Race would not have been one of the factors considered.
Bowman, who served as a middle school principal in the Bronx prior to his congressional tenure, previously called on President Biden to issue standardized testing waivers for students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Over the past year, our students have faced unfathomable amounts of trauma and anxiety due to the pandemic. They’ve lost teachers, family members, and their entire way of life,” he wrote on Feb. 23. “The Biden Administration’s refusal to grant waivers for standardized testing is WRONG.”
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Bowman campaigned on “A New Deal for Education” in 2020, calling for an end to “educational apartheid” that leaves behind “African-American, Latinx, immigrant, and poor and working-class children of all races.”
“As a principal I helped lead the fight against standardized testing,” he vowed. “As a Member of Congress, I will sponsor and champion legislation to end the federal annual testing requirement from grades three to eight, to dramatically reduce the amount of time students spend taking standardized tests, and to eliminate all high-stakes consequences that have been tied to testing for students, educators, and schools.”
