In 1926 Carl Campbell Brigham, professor of psychology at Princeton University and chair of the College Board, administered for the first time the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), which he developed based on a series of tests designed for the army. Since that time, the SAT has been administered to millions of students every year in order for them to begin their college educations. The SAT is only the first of a long list of standardized tests that have been designed according to the Jeffersonian principle of providing equal opportunity in education to all United States’ inhabitants. Standard-based education reforms, which by 2000 had forced almost every state to implement academic benchmarks for their students, expanded in scope when the No Child Left Behind Act proposed by President George W. Bush was signed into law in 2002. Over the last few years, we have all witnessed heated discussions regarding this matter.

Effective implementation of standardized tests has required the orchestration of a series of steps as well as the development of technology that prints, distributes, and more importantly, scores students answers. On the one hand, pedagogues and statisticians have devoted their efforts to design batteries of tests establishing measurable goals with the hope to improve individual outcomes. On the other hand, companies and research institutes have competed to patent more efficient turnkey solutions, seeking to accurately correct more tests more quickly. Moreover, supporters of standardized education have legislated new models, while critics have proposed contra-measures; both with the aim to better educate everyone.

A year ago, as part of a commission for Art in General in New York, I produced an exhibition titled Prep Materials that departed from archival research within three institutions involved in the production and grading of standard tests. For that project, I looked closely at the moment when IBM, the Educational Test Service (ETS), and the Measurement Research Center (originally part of Iowa University) designed their first electronic test-scoring machines, which eventually facilitated the invention of the ballot machine in the 1970s, as well as our contemporary desktop scanners. My installation consisted on a slide projection, a wall-drawing, and a series of pictures (prints from large format negatives and prints from scanned materials). My project looked closely at the design and fabrication of so-called “efficient” technologies, such as the test-scoring machines that are used to realize the principles of democracy.

Following my interest in continuing this project on the West Coast, I am submitting this proposal to organize an exhibition and a series of conversations based on the role of creativity in processes that pair standardization and democracy. During the three months of my residency at 18h Street Arts Center, I will create a space promoting the discussion among many of the sectors involved in the design and implementation of standardized education. I will install the materials that constituted the exhibition at Art in General, which will be further enhanced with a platform that will facilitate dialogue. I will invite various groups, institutions and people whose opinions about the impact of federal laws regarding education, such as the NCLB, might differ. These dialogues, open to the public, will focus on the creative effort of each of these sectors, all interested in enhancing education at every level.

This is a preliminary list of the sectors and/or people that I am interested in inviting to be part of these conversations. This list will be revisited pending budget, availability and further research.
- Test builders (from institutions such as ETS, Department of Education at UCLA)
- Editors of books and material published to prepare students for various test (The College Board, Barron’s Editions, The Princeton Review)
- Representative of institutions preparing students for tests (Sylvan Test Prep Course, Kaplan Test Prep, located in LA)
- Designers of test-scoring machines (John V. McMillin II, a former engineer at Iowa University who helped develop the earliest test-scoring machine; designers of Scantron, a company located in Irvine)
- Designers of printed materials and tools (such as the answering sheets, blue books, etc.)
- Local policy makers supporting standardized education, and policy revisionists who have proposed alternatives (members of The Joint Organizational Statement on No Child Left Behind or The Forum on Educational Accountability).
- Local principal and teachers who have lived the consequences of the standards-based pedagogic transformation, receiving bonuses or being fired according to their efforts/resistance to implement different legislations.

The conversations will be video-documented. Their outcome will be gradually integrated into the installation.