Testing is a big topic of debate in education circles these days. Tests are increasingly been used not just evaluate what students are learning in class but to make high-stake decisions such as a student advancing in school, whether teachers are given rewards or are fired, and even to justify closing entire schools! With tests being given so important, a lot of classroom time is being given over to test preparation, and a lot of money is being given over to the publishers of the tests and test prep materials.
The American History Guys at the BackStory podcast provide an interesting historical background to testing in the United States. The first written tests in American schools only date to the 1840s. But there are other types of tests, and podcast examines the tests of faith for early Puritans, the civil services tests, and the questionable scholarship behind the IQ test and the Myers Briggs test. It’s a fascinating hour of history.
Panorama of the Mountains 
I’m always looking for a new podcast so I’ll have to check this one out. My husband teaches AP history and hates standardized tests, so it should be a particularly interesting topic. Maybe I can get him to listen to it with me 😊
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It was a really illuminating episode.
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