Standardized test
Standardized testing has been a part of American education since the 1800s, but the widespread reliance on standardized is largely a 20th-century phenomenon. For instance the College Entrance Examination Board did not begin standardized testing in connection to higher education until 1900. The College Entrance Examination Board was established and in 1901, the first examinations were administered around the country in nine subjects. This test was implemented with the idea of creating standardized admissions for the United States in northeastern elite universities. Originally, the test was also meant for top boarding school in order to standardize curriculum. With origins in World War I the Army Alpha and Beta tests developed by Robert Yerkes and colleagues. Before then, immigration in the mid-19th century contributed to the growth of standardized tests in the United States. Standardized tests were used in immigration when people first came over to test social roles and find social power and status.
Structural inequality in education
Standardized tests were developed by eugenicists to determine who would best fill societal roles and professions. Tests were originally designed to verify the intellectuals of British society. This original intent unconsciously began the sorting dynamic. Tests were used to assist societies to fill important roles. In America, standardized tests were designed to sort students based on responses to test questions that were and are racially biased. These tests do not factor in the experiential and cultural knowledge or general ability of the students. Students are placed in vocational, general, or academic tracks based on test scores. Students' futures are determined by tracks and they are viewed and treated differently according to their individual track. Tracks are hierarchical in nature and create, consciously for some and unconsciously for others, the damaging effects of labeling students as fast or slow; bright or special education; average or below average.