Educational Success (and Failure) is Predetermined From the Start
Schools aren't designed to educate. They're designed to determine kids' futures.
My transition from middle school to high school could have ended in disaster.
The summer of my transition, I took a test that would determine my future. It was a hot summer day as I approached the prison-like high school building. A large bulldog mascot statue stared ominously into the distance as if avoiding eye contact with the process I was about to experience.
The scene is familiar. A classroom with grid-locked chairs, a single lanyard-wearing teacher, a tub of state-approved #2 pencils, and a stack of infamous standardized tests. The test was about to begin.
I remember how unprepared I was. That summer I did nothing other than swim on my local swim team, play video games, and hang out with friends. My mind was empty of math, science, literature, and more. But, that’s what I was about to be tested on.
For a few hours, I tilted my head downward in intense focus. For such a mundane activity, I was stressed beyond belief. This test would determine whether or not I would get into Advanced Placement classes at my new high school. If I didn’t pass I would receive a subpar education that would surely alter my life path forever.
After the test was over, I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing I had tried my best. But still, there was uncertainty. There was no knowing where this would take me.
Months later, I received the results of the test and I had passed! Upon entering 9th grade I would be able to attend Advanced Placement classes that would challenge me and open up frontiers that would be impossible without it.
This isn’t the case for every kid
Not all kids are so lucky.
Some kids don’t pass standardized tests and end up in “general population” classes. These classes are run by dead-eyed teachers who hand out busy work so they can collect their paychecks. Kids do the work, but never are truly challenged and therefore don’t really ever receive an education. School is more like daycare.
Kids who need better education are the ones who don’t pass the tests. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. The kids who don’t pass get put into classes that reinforce what type of kid the test has told them they are. They have no choice in the matter.
Their path is predetermined from a start.