... Standardized tests are biased in favor of those whose culture and upbringing most closely resemble that of the test makers-typically, white middle-class males who live in metropolitan areas. Standardized tests tend to narrow the curriculum to what will be tested. Because teachers are pressured by the demand to produce higher test scores, they often spend a lot of time having students practice items like those that will be on the tests. For many young children, standardized tests result in "death at an early age" (Jonathan Kozol's book title)-or at least to a life sentence doing remedial practice and drill in special classes or lower "ability" groups or tracks. That is, scores on such tests result in many children's being given an inferior education that virtually ensures that they will not learn what their more advantaged peers will learn. Standardized tests tend to focus attention on what students do not know ...

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