{"id":40,"date":"2026-05-21T19:39:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prorelocationteam.com\/?p=40"},"modified":"2026-05-21T19:39:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:39:22","slug":"oklahoma-tried-out-a-test-to-woke-proof-the-classroom-it-was-short-lived-but-could-still-leave-a-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prorelocationteam.com\/?p=40","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma tried out a test to \u2018woke\u2011proof\u2019 the classroom. It was short\u2011lived, but could still leave a\u00a0mark"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Oklahoma has become a testing ground for reshaping public school curriculum to reflect conservative viewpoints, Make America Great Again priorities and a push for Christian nationalism in the classroom. <\/p>\n

Read more America\u2019s teachers are being priced out of their communities \u2212 these cities are building subsidized housing to lure them\u00a0back<\/a><\/p>\n

Oklahoma\u2019s former state education Superintendent Ryan Walters oversaw several controversial education policies in recent years, including mandating in 2024 that all Oklahoma public teachers incorporate the Bible into their lesson plans.<\/p>\n

Walters resigned from his position in September 2025 to lead Teacher Freedom Alliance, a conservative advocacy group that opposes teachers unions. <\/p>\n

One unprecedented move Walters made was adopting a teacher assessment called The America-First Assessment, designed by PragerU, a conservative nonprofit media company. Walters said the purpose of this exam, which went live in August 2025, was to screen out \u201cwoke indoctrination.\u201d<\/p>\n

By authorizing this assessment, Walters signed off on a conservative and far-right political organization having a say in which prospective teachers from out of state receive their Oklahoma teaching licenses.<\/p>\n

The exam was short-lived. Walters\u2019 replacement, Lindel Fields, announced at the end of October 2025 that Oklahoma would no longer use this assessment. Fields also rescinded the Bible mandate for Oklahoma schools. <\/p>\n

But other states could still adopt the exam, free of charge. The exam and its controversy offers a window into the current politicization of state education systems, this time with respect to the licensing of teachers.<\/p>\n

As an education researcher, I have written about other teacher assessments and some of the issues surrounding them, such as screening out Black teachers.<\/p>\n

Walter\u2019s \u201canti-woke\u201d teacher exam is a unique kind of experiment. The test was not made by a professional assessment company and does not legitimately assess professional knowledge related to the subjects teachers teach. <\/p>\n

A politicized test for teachers<\/h2>\n

The America-First exam consists of 34 multiple-choice questions that ask about the U.S. Constitution, government, religious liberty, history and Supreme Court cases. One question asks, \u201cWhat are the first three words of the Constitution?\u201d Another question asks, \u201cWhat does the Second Amendment protect?\u201d Other questions inquire about gender and sex, with questions like, \u201cWhat is the fundamental biological distinction between males and females?\u201d and \u201cWhich chromosome pair determines biological sex in humans?\u201d <\/p>\n

Walters made the political purpose of the exam clear. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to make sure that the teachers in our classrooms, as we\u2019re recruiting these individuals, aren\u2019t a bunch of woke, Marxist activists,\u201d Walters said in August 2025. <\/p>\n

Walters has also said the exam was designed to specifically root out liberal teacher applicants who might fill teacher vacancies in Oklahoma and bring progressive training on race and gender with them, or what Walters called \u201cblue state indoctrination.\u201d <\/p>\n

When the test went live in August, it expanded to all teachers from other states trying to get a license to teach in Oklahoma. <\/p>\n

An exam you cannot fail<\/h2>\n

The America-First Assessment is not like the typical licensure exams made by professional assessment companies. These other exams cover the specific subject matter teachers should know to do their job: math for math teachers, science for science teachers, and so on. <\/p>\n

Instead of a subject-specific focus, the America-First Assessment is mostly aligned with President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cAmerica first\u201d talking points, particularly through its focus on gender and sex. <\/p>\n

Read more Trump is changing student loan forgiveness rules \u2013 barring some public workers from getting relief, but resuming it for\u00a0others<\/a><\/p>\n

The most striking aspect of the exam, however, is that it is impossible to fail. If you don\u2019t know the first three words of the U.S. Constitution, you can guess answers until you get it right. In fact, the test will advance to the next question only after you register a correct answer. Everyone who finishes the test will get 100% correct.<\/p>\n

As a result, as some observers have pointed out, the exam resembles a political ideology test and not a legitimate assessment of professional knowledge. <\/p>\n

Unlike the SAT, which considers its content proprietary, legally protected information, many of the America-First Assessment questions are publicly available. <\/p>\n

Further, unlike established exams such as the SAT and GRE, the America-First exam has no technical information about how it was designed or what the questions are supposed to measure. As a result, the exam resembles a \u201cMAGA loyalty test,\u201d according to American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. <\/p>\n

A conservative media company expands into teacher assessment<\/h2>\n

The America-First Assessment\u2019s unique format and political content reflect the priorities of PragerU, the conservative media company that created it. <\/p>\n

Conservative radio host Dennis Prager founded PragerU in 2009. The company produces educational and entertainment videos rooted in conservative ideology. <\/p>\n

PragerU\u2019s more than 5,000 online videos include short segments such as \u201cMake Men Masculine Again,\u201d \u201cHow Many Radical Islam Sleepers are in the United States?\u201d and \u201cAmerica Was Founded on Freedom Not Slavery.\u201d Prominent far-right influencers including Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens and Charlie Kirk have appeared in videos.<\/p>\n

PragerU\u2019s primary YouTube page has more than 3.4 million subscribers.<\/p>\n

Scholarly analysis of PragerU videos have found the content minimizes the impact of slavery and promotes misinformation on topics including climate change. <\/p>\n

In its children\u2019s video \u201cFrederick Douglass: The Outspoken Abolitionist,\u201d the fictionalized cartoon of Douglass warns children to \u201cstay away from radicals\u201d who want to change the American system rather than work within it. \u201cOur system is wonderful, and our Constitution is a glorious liberty document. We just need to convince enough Americans to be true to it,\u201d he concludes. <\/p>\n

In 2021, the company launched PragerU Kids, an offshoot targeting school-age children and educators with lesson plans, worksheets and other learning materials tied to its videos. Some other states, including Florida, New Hampshire and Montana, have approved PragerU\u2019s videos as curriculum for their public schools to consider using since 2023. <\/p>\n

The company\u2019s move into teacher assessments in 2025 expands its influence beyond curriculum into who can earn a teaching license. <\/p>\n

A possible strategy for other states<\/h2>\n

Both Walters and PragerU CEO Marissa Streit pitched the exam as an option for all \u201cpro-America\u201d states at its launch in August 2025. Some conservative policy analysts have also praised this strategy\u2019s goals of ridding public schools of all \u201cwoke\u201d teachers. <\/p>\n

As a result, it is unlikely this is the last people will hear of PragerU or other private media companies trying to screen teachers.<\/p>\n

Read more Larry Summers\u2019 sexism is jeopardizing his power and privilege, but the entire economics profession hinders progress for\u00a0women<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oklahoma announced in October 2025 it would no longer assess out-of-state teachers with a controversial test developed by a conservative media company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[141,142,145,144,138,140,143,28,139,146],"class_list":["post-40","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-anti-woke","tag-charlie-kirk","tag-conservative-media","tag-elementary-education","tag-state-politics","tag-teacher-bias","tag-teacher-licensing","tag-trump-administration","tag-us-education","tag-wokeism"],"yoast_head":"\nOklahoma tried out a test to \u2018woke\u2011proof\u2019 the classroom. 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