Life is more clear-cut when you believe in testing. You either make the grade or you don’t, and that’s all that’s needed to keep a meritocracy going. I bought into that theory when I went to Stuyvesant, the elite New York City public high school where entrance is determined entirely by the score you get on one test. Reflecting on the makeup of my graduating class of some 900 teens, the fact there were only a handful of black and Latinx students and a near majority of Asian American students validated the stereotypes many Americans have of who is talented and intelligent. Standardized testing plays into those stereotypes, and that's where those tests fail us.
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Contact MeA smart and relatable broadcast journalist, Nayyera hosts talk radio on SiriusXM. She also hosted a nightly newscast and was a foreign affairs correspondent for the Black News Channel.
