Our society is test score crazy. Our educational system is acceptable for those who are academically blessed, or have the ability to learn what is expected of them. But not everyone grasps educational expectations the same way. We have to take tests to pass into ongoing grades, then there's more. We have to take a test to graduate, another test to enter college, and more tests to pass each course. Even after college, it doesn't end. We must pass job entry exams, civil service, re-entry into the job force exams. It never ends.

Teachers now teach only for students to pass exams. Teachers can no longer use their own creative methods to teach, because they are required to stay with the curriculum. They are not teaching any more, they are "Programming" the minds of children. Nobody in authority (who no doubt can pass all the tests with high scores) takes into account if a person has the personality, or spirit of desire, to perform well in a job. Nobody weighs the test scores against the job skills themselves. It is all a big test score game that has money on the bottom line for those who set up the system.

Most jobs for example, never even use Advanced Math, yet all testing requires a 9th grade proficiency score to land a job. Many people throughout history became successful on their "natural talents" alone. Artists, writers, musicians, chefs, actors, etc., had they been forced to pass exams to show their abilities, many would had failed.

On the other hand, many people who score high on tests have little or no common sense half the time. They use their ability to pass the exams as a ticket to success, even when they are not the best person for the job.

Poverty seeps in and drowns a person who could offer excellent skills to an employer, but is continually rejected due to his or her inability to pass exams that judge them unfairly. In this dog eat dog society, test scores determine who are to be the "haves" who control society. Many of the "have nots" possess wonderful qualities to perform good work, if only they were given the chance, or opportunity to prove themselves.

Many have struggled all their lives to acquire successful employment, but due to their limited ability in math for example, they have failed time and time again to get a job, due to low test scores in math. They are confident that they would be good at what they do, and that they would outshine many who scored high in the testing part of the job. The OBSESSION with testing has pushed them into poverty, depression, physical illness, and thoughts of suicide.

Constantly training people who have trouble testing does not cure the problem. Whatever happened to allowing people to prove themselves? People who go into high-tech jobs such as engineering and medicine already know they can test well. It is insane to expect all people who go into domestic fields of work to have a brain for testing also. Just because some people cannot test well does not mean they are stupid. Some are in fact far more intelligent than those with degrees.

Half of all high school students drop out of school. The reasons may be many, but too much testing to evaluate their value, and their level of intelligence, can be viewed as denying them equality in education.

Learn more about this author, Simonne Liberty.
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