With rewards and punishments now tied to test scores, states can't afford to risk complaints about bias in their test questions, so sensitivity guidelines adopted in the 1960s to address the "culturally lopsided" view of America presented in the reading passages of standardized tests have now stretched to cover "almost everyone in almost every situation." Testing companies avoid mentioning anything that might offend or alarm any student, which means eliminating from reading passages things like kids with braces and pimples (too upsetting), backyard swimming pools (symbols of affluence), nurturing women (a stereotype), or even hurricanes (too scary for kids in some states). Hamburgers and sodas are out; if kids are eating anything, it has to be fruit and vegetables. For more, see "Exam Makers Rush to Delete Anything Offensive to Anyone," by June Kronholz, The Wall Street Journal, July 18, 2002
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