Text Response Week 9

The cartoon by Daryl Cagle on page 325 portrays the negative side of standardized testing. The cartoon has a man in human resources asking a student, “So, how has high school prepared you for this job?” The artist’s main point is that high school prepares a student for standardized testing, which is not helpful in the real world. (Argument! 325)

This argument is overlooking a major point.

High school students or recent high school graduates that work must find jobs that do not require a degree. This is obviously because they do not have a degree. Popular examples include an animal shelter worker, babysitting, car wash attendant, grocery store employee, lawn care, pizza delivery, fast food, retail, tutor, etc. The cartoonist’s argument seems to be saying that standardized testing is used too much because it does not give hands-on application. However, this does not matter. This is because first jobs usually do not require education at all. Thus, “standardized testing or not” is not an applicable question at this point. The fact is that it most likely will not have prepared them for the job because it is not necessary.

College is where hands-on matters. This is the time where students will be applying for jobs where schooling is absolutely necessary; jobs will be an application of degrees. If college were mostly focused on standardized testing, it would be a problem. Would you want a neurosurgeon working on your brain that has never performed an operation? Even if he had taken tests on how to do it? No. It is completely different. College is time for hands-on, specific learning.

Colleges already do this. Inside Higher Ed in Washington D.C., states that institutions are “emphasiz[ing] the importance of internships across all majors, and some even make the experience a requirement for graduation.” In fact, Robert Shindell, director of content and resource development at Intern Bridge (“the nation’s premier college recruiting consulting and research firm”), was quoted saying:

"Even academicians 100 years ago recognized that the classroom could not be the sole provider of experiences for students to help them transition to the world of work. There had to be something more. It's like we're coming full circle and coming back to what higher education is and should be. And that is an engagement of the whole student." -Shindell

High school is important for building a foundation of knowledge. One cannot apply information without having learned the information. Standardized testing is a way to make sure the students have learned the base information. Thus, standardized testing is beneficial.

College is important for learning more in depth and, in turn, being able to apply the information in real life.

This cartoon makes a great point – high school and standardized testing does not prepare a student for jobs that require a degree. However, at that age, most students will not be applying for jobs where amount of education will matter. Thus, this cartoon is irrelevant.