dudes tilting at, i don’t even know, something less of a presence in real life than windmills
first two paragraphs: ‘oh i’m not talking about: literally every valid complaint about standardized testing—i’m talking about people (fucking WHO??) insisting the very concept of tests are invalid’
and then all this hogwash to disprove these definitely real ‘liberals’—which seems mostly to consist of explaining what and how assessments are. i’m sure a descriptive argument would get you very far with someone philosophically opposed to the idea lol
Right? He painstakingly goes over the minutia of how test are made, then at the very end admits that
[tests show] deep inequality along racial and class lines
but he has no broader analysis. He’d rather take apart the most vapid 150-character tweets than generously consider why people feel so negatively about tests.
Like, yes, test show racial and class inequality, and they have done for a very long time. But we’ve never done anything with that insight. Instead, the test are used to dole out grants and resources to the highest performing schools and students. We could use the tests as a tool for measuring and iterating on our institutions of education. But we don’t. We just use them to decide who gets full ride scholarships. Most people understand that, even if they can’t articulate it well. Even he understands that! He just isn’t interested in that conversation.
i kind of get it, when you know the subject and people talk about it in ignorant ways it can stick in your craw. but before you pen a 30 page screed you gotta step back and think whether you’re dealing with some clumsy rhetoric or deeply held conviction. maybe ‘tests’ is generally implied to mean ‘standardized tests’ and it isn’t spelled out every time? use some context clues instead of fabricating a mass anti-intellectual movement?
