We argue that any standardized exam inherently holds cultural and language biases, which adversely affect the success rate of minority students and pre-service teachers. Not only do the exams discriminate toward minorities, they help to maintain institutional racism by reinforcing the status quo of a dominant cultural force, the white middle to upper class. "Most placements tests and intelligence tests are biased toward a predominantly while, middle-class population" (Ledger, 1997). In the case of the New York State teacher certification exams, the tests are only given in English and are timed. For a native English speaker, the exams provide a relative amount of challenge, however for a non-native speakers, minority populations, or immigrants, the exams not only tests specific subject matter but they are more so a test of English fluency. "Unless the students taking the test are proficient in the language of the test, their performance will only represent a modest sample of their true knowledge. Even when standardized tests are translated, they will still not represent a holistic picture of what these students really know" (Basterra, 1999). .
Although it could be argued that in order to teacher in the United States it is necessary and practical to have a fluency in Standardized (essay) English and to have a mastery of the language in order to teach and model its use. There is no guarantee that 1.) success on the certification exam ensures the quality of the teacher or 2.) that the exams even demonstrate a teacher's (or student's) proficiency with the language. "Every assessment is an assessment of language. It follows that if a student is not proficient in the language of the test he/she is presented with, his/her performance on the test will be affected by construct-irrelevant variance that is, his/her test scores will likely underestimate his/her knowledge of the subjects being tested" (Basterra, 1999).
