ERIC Number: EJ1255413
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Jul
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1245
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Standardized Entrance/Aptitude Testing in the Era of Foucault's Panopticon: The Bilingual Student and the Minority Student
Khan, Shana Sanam
Education and Urban Society, v52 n6 p847-871 Jul 2020
Standardized testing is an applauded system of testing due to the uniformity that it offers. The idea is that in standardized testing, because every student is being asked exactly the same question and each question has only one specific answer, standardized examinations are neutral, value free, and exonerated from the subjectivity that an examiner or teacher may inhibit. The reality is far from it. Using a Foucauldian panoptic perspective and focusing on what is known as the aptitude or entrance examination, I argue that standardized examinations are designed in such a way that bilingual and minority students shall not score on par with their monolingual majority counterparts. The questions are designed in such a way that those students who code switch (due to bilingualism) are placed at a disadvantage. Similarly, the culture represented in the examination is White middle class, hence making the examination relatively more difficult for minority students.
Descriptors: Standardized Tests, Aptitude Tests, Bilingual Students, Minority Group Students, Multicultural Education, Educational Change, Code Switching (Language), College Entrance Examinations, College Students, Testing Problems, Power Structure
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2814
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A