• TillieNeuen [she/her]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I once worked on this standardized test that was administered to kids at about 5th grade, I think? Anyway, there was this creative writing exercise where the kids were supposed to do some writing about what they would do if they won a vacation to the moon. I tell you, it was crazy how many kids would just reply something like, "vacation is too expensive, I can't go." Like, the prompt tells you that you won it, but being able to go on an expensive vacation was something they couldn't even allow themselves to imagine for the sake of that dumb test. I reported it as possible bias, since tests are supposed to be equally accessible no matter your income bracket, race, gender, etc. but I never heard if anything came of it. It was already through development and being administered, so it was probably too late to do anything about it (besides starting over, which would be expensive, so I doubt anything was done.)

      • TillieNeuen [she/her]
        ·
        4 years ago

        It was seriously jarring. You'd read several about kids bouncing around and seeing how high they could jump, eating weird astronaut food, and driving around on moon rovers, and then there'd be a kid saying that they can't afford to go. Like, they're already so beaten down they can't even afford an imagination. It really was a gut punch every time.