Many politicians have stressed that all children can learn at high levels, where many liberal and civil rights advocates are too concerned about lowering the standards for these tests. Unfortunately, this movement has all to frequently been reduced to a single policy: high stakes testing. (Orfield). These tests are responsible for grade promotion, jobs for graduate students, and even promotions for teachers. President Clinton recommended in his state of the Union address that all students are supplied with materials that help them with these tests. This caused some controversy because people believed that with these materials, it undermined teachers, discriminated against minorit

Another major theme with standardized testing is how they affect minorities. Language barriers are a major factor, which causes immigrants to do poorly on tests. It is easier for an older kid to adapt to a new language easier than a kid in elementary school. A student should not be penalized for not having English as their first language. Individuals with language barriers are at a disadvantage and should not be exposed to these types of tests. Many states have different laws and regulations about their form of standardized testing, but they are basically the same. They have to put some thought into the appearance of these tests, because all students have different backgrounds and will not be able to relate to some of the questions as a student from a different background would. The authors concluded that “these tests are, and will remain for some time, an impediment to the graduation prospects of African American and Hispanic youth.(Bowers). In another study, Columbia’s Jay Heubert points out that students of color are almost always over represented among those who are denied diplomas on the basis of test scores. (Bowers).

A strong argument about national testing from supporters of federal involvement is that they are the only ones who possess the power to help the students in poor schools to do as good on these tests as studen

Some topics in this essay:
Jay Heubert, Harvard University, President Clinton, , Gary Orfield, standardized testing, American Hispanic, tests students, civil rights, federal government, political campaigns, language barriers, grade promotion, high-stakes tests, government money, easier kid,