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Perspectives
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Sarah Kickler
EDITORIAL EDITOR
Mike Schmierbach
NIGHT EDITOR
Doug Irving
Universal testing could reveal
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unequal scnoonng
AN EMERALD EDITORIAL
Standardized testing could
be a valuable tool for
improving the education
system, but only if properly
implemented
ton’s latest bold education pro
posal is dead. The Republicans
seem to have ground standard
ized testing out of existence.
We aren’t sure what to think. Clear
ly, standardized testing had the po
tential to be a useful indicator of how
well America’s schools were educat
ing students. It also had the potential
to justify a lot of bad education policy.
If used correctly, standardized test
ing would have been a source of valu
able data. Few efforts have been made
to measure the performance of every
school in every region of the country
by one standard scale.
Currently, the closest thing to a uni
versal gauge of student performance
is the SAT. Obviously, a standardized
college entrance exam is not a good
measure of how the average student is
doing.
o, it appears President Clin
Not only do many students not take
the SAT, but it also measures only the
performance of one age group. That
group has already received whatever
benefit or harm it will get from the
school system; the data will serve lit
tle purpose now.
Additionally, standardized tests
like the SAT don’t measure the most
important skills. The SAT is designed
to measure reasoning ability and
scholastic potential more than litera
cy or basic math ability. It is also ar
gued by many groups that the SAT
contains a certain cultural bias that
would make a similar test ineffective
at comparing minority performance
to the national average.
Unfortunately, the Republican
leaders who opposed the idea of a na
tional test have suggested that by sim
ply modifying existing private tests
like the SAT, the objectives a stan
dardized test would fulfill could be
met. This would be standardized test
ing of the worst sort.
In addition, if a standardized test
was simply used as a way to gauge
student performance without
consideration of the many fac
tors that go into education, it
could prove dangerous. The
results could easily be used to
condemn certain schools or
systems without considering
the community in which the
school functions.
For example, inner-city
schools would likely score
lower on the test despite
spending more money on their
students. This doesn’t mean
the money is wasted or that the
schools need to be stream
lined; rather, it is a reminder
that students in dense urban
areas often face more educa
tional obstacles than those in
suburbs.
More dangerous, if a stan
dardized test were used as a
sort of universal exam to de
cide whether students pass,
many children would be dis
couraged and even driven
from the school system. The
idea of the test would be to en
sure students had certain nec
essary skills, but without ac
A
companying changes in the
school system itself, the effect
of the exam would be to lower
the educational level of many
underprivileged students.
Nevertheless, a standard
ized test could also prove to be
a tremendously valuable tool
in reforming the education
system. The Republicans fear a stan
dardized test would put schools one
step closer to federal control, some
thing they oppose.
In reality, federal restrictions on
school programs and standards could
prove beneficial. Currently, the local
control communities have over their
schools leads to dangerous inequali
ties in education.
We certainly don’t want communi
ties to lose control of their children’s
education. Different communities
have different goals and different
needs, and the variety of systems in
place allows for increased experimen
tation.
What we would like people to rec
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ognize is that a system that relies en
tirely on community funding and
standards inevitably fails those stu
dents who grow up in poor, badly ed
ucated areas. Standardized testing
could point out these inequalities and
force states to boost funding of urban
schools.
It isn’t enough to ensure that each
district gets the same amount of mon
ey per student, as is currently the case
in Oregon. Rather, districts with stu
dents who have fewer opportunities
at home or greater educational needs
should receive increased funding,
something standardized testing could
help bring about.
The very fact that Republicans op
pose standardized testing is a good in
dicator that it could benefit students
who are at a current educational dis
advantage. Those students and then
parents aren’t the voters who picked
Republican candidates or who donat
ed thousands of dollars to the Repub
lican causes.
Instead of abandoning voters who
can’t afford to buy federal support, we
should break with history and begin
to reform schools in a way that would
allow students to break out of the cy
cle of poverty in which they are cur
rently trapped.
This editorial represents the opinion of
the Emerald editorial board. Responses
may be sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
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TOANEWYORK
MAN:
A New Yorker is
accused of delib
erately infecting
more than a
dozen women
with HIV. Such a
crime has prece
dent, but it is no
less horrific. The
fact that AIDS has
linked death and
sex in people’s
minds is sadden
ing; people who
deliberately wors
en this associa
tion by using sex
as a deadly
weapon are nau
seating.
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TO THE HOUSE:
AU.S. House
committee inves
tigating cases of
so-called “Gulf
War Syndrome”
recently de
nounced Penta
gon investigators
and called for an
independent re
view. The com
mittee claimed
the military was
covering up or ig
noring the possi
bility that soldiers
who have com
plained about a
variety of symp
toms since re
turning from the
Persian Gulf con
flict might have
come into contact
with chemical or
biological
weapons. The
panel felt this was
a likely possibility
and, because of
the reluctance of
the military to in
vestigate, the
possible link be
tween chemical
weapons and ill
ness should be
independently ex
amined. Because
we have almost
no trust in the
military’s ability
to protect its sol
diers, we think an
independent ex
amination is a
good idea.