John Oliver vs. Big Testing

By: Connor Lenahan

If you are not yet familiar with the fact that John Oliver is the absolute man, then do I have a treat for you. I have talked about testing in the recent past here on Unbreakable. The cliff notes version of my stance is that testing should be more focused on better making sure kids comprehend the material and can actually use it rather than simply teaching them the right buttons to push for singular exams. While not entirely following this point, John Oliver tackled the problems that plague standardized testing in 2015 on Last Week Tonight last evening.

Oliver’s points are genuinely fascinating and, frankly, alarming. As someone who lived through an onslaught of crazy tests when I was a kid – I would have just entered kindergarten when No Child Left Behind was enacted – I found myself angry at the very tests that used to cause me as much stress as it still does to the kids in Oliver’s piece. I don’t want to steal his points, as he is better researched that I. Watch the below, and join me in thinking “we need to fix this, right now.”