Standardized Testing

It was that time again; time to begin the standardized testing. I could feel the anxiety overflow the room as the teacher passed out the test booklets. It was time for innocent individuals to be transformed into hypnotized robots.

I could see the look of panic was in their eyes. I could almost hear their excuses. "If only I got more sleep last night." "If I had eaten breakfast." "I'll never finish in time." I felt sorry for them. I knew that it wouldn't have made a lump of difference if they ate enough food to fill the Grand Canyon or got more sleep than a grizzly bear during the long months of hibernation. THESE TESTS WERE OVER-RATED. Am I the only one who can see this bold reality?

There are more effective ways to analyze our knowledge. For instance they could send us to a deserted island in the middle of a scorching desert without water and train us to fend for ourselves. Or possibly drop us in the middle of Iraq with nothing but a whistle and an egg-beater.

It is ridiculous how their whole education up to this point is based on the next 60 minutes. If they could recall a time when schools were thought of as places to learn instead of institutions in a contest to fail as many students as possible. If the purpose of these tests are to weed out the students who have learned to utilize tools such as the dictionary, thesaurus, and the idea that practice makes perfect, then they have succeeded. BUT IN A WORLD OF ROUGH DRAFTS AND EDITING THESE TESTS FAIL WITH A CAPTIAL LETTER Z! Surely Michelangelo did not paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in 60 minutes. Nor did Beethoven compose his 5^th symphony within the pressure of a time limit.

Our whole lives they have taught us to accept others for who they are and to think outside the box. We are forced to write inside the box and therefore think inside the box. But if we are to write outside the box then we are excluded for doing so. Our paper is discarded. And it is the same thing when applied to society. If you wander outside of the lines you too are discarded from society. I wonder if it would make more sense if you applied it to life in general. Should we "discard" anyone who steps out of bounds? Think of al the millions of people who would be eliminated for hackneyed things such as jaywalking.

And another fixation-the whole idea of being an individual; society feeds us lies from the very start. You get so mixed up in the idea of being an individual that you don't really recognize yourself. While you're on this wonderful search of meaning they lure you into their own cookie cutter shape and mask you with the idea that indeed you are unique. We are given a bar code as soon as we plop into this world, crying and wailing because we know we are in for a ride.

But as soon as you stray from the traditional thoughts or appearances that are the standard, you are an outcast. Is this why they call them Standardized Tests, because they are in fact for the "standard" person? Such a person who can be fooled into accepting this pattern of individuality that they secretly force on him or her from birth. A person who is foolish enough to buy into their pre-packaged individuality. How could anyone belittle him or herself so and not even realize it?

Palms sweaty from the minute they grasped the pencil in their tight fists. HOW COULD ANYONE THINK IN SUCH AN ENVIRONMENT? Let alone prove their entire knowledge throughout the span of their total existence. I for one would not give in to their absurd reasoning. I would not let them grade my entire knowledge on these few lines. I would not wear the mask of pre-packaged individuality.

I suggest that you either fight against standardized testing or grab an egg-beater.