Season 20, Episode 11--"How The Test Was Won"

Having never really watched "The Simpsons" before, I think that this was a great episode to start with. Aside from the fact that this episode was hysterical, I can already see how the Simpson family can be so easily related to so many people.
In this episode, Lisa and Bart are taking a standardized test at their school. They are told that the test scores will determine how much money the school will receive from the government. Lisa the brainiac is ecstatic about the test, while Bart, on the other hand, is dreading it. It is with this that Bart ironically receives a score of 100% on the practice test by spelling out “Slurp My Shot” in the bubbles of the answer sheet. We later find out that the school gave Bart and other students like him such a score simply to “remove underperformers for test days…and hide them in capital city for the day so that they won’t drag down the scores of the children of our future.” The school in Springfield, like many others, places such a ridiculous amount of emphasis on these tests that I’m glad the creators of “The Simpsons” decided to poke fun at it.
While Bart is with the other “slower” kids, Lisa is at school about to take the test. While the students are in the classroom stressing about the test, a teacher tells them that if they get a question wrong, “a baby chick dies.” He also tells them to “Get down on your knees and pray to your God he will give you the right answer.” Lisa, though normally prided on what a brilliant student she is, doesn’t even get through the first question before the time is up. She suffers from the same anxiety that many real students face and can relate to.
My favorite part of this episode was the ending. I loved that the principal came to realize how foolish he had been in stressing the kids out about a single test. What’s more, Bart was able to show him that students need to be taught in a way that they can relate to. I think that it’s important for educators to see things like this and realize the impact that they have on kids. Schools should not be focused on test scores, but rather, the education that they are giving their students.