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6 Ways Standardized Testing Disproportionately Harms Black Students

By | Published on April 21, 2015
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standardized testing

Negatively Impacts Quality of Education at Low-Income Schools

Because standardized test results are often used to determine how funding will be allocated to schools, low-income districts face even more pressure to have their students earn high scores on such tests. According to a report titled “Racial Justice and Standardized Educational Testing,” “The law promotes teaching to the mostly multiple-choice state tests, focusing one-sidedly on rote skills and ignoring higher-level thinking. The impact is greater in schools that serve low-income youth, particularly students of color.”

Black students in urban schools

Forces Many Young Black Boys Into Special Education Programs

According to a report by the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, standardized tests are incredibly inefficient and unfairly misplace Black boys in special education classes based on such test results. Many times these young men are not in need of special education but may simply be poor test takers or have not received the same quality of education that other students have been fortunate enough to receive.

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