The author claims that the dignity and self-esteem of minority group children in particular are effectively destroyed in schools. Racial and ethnic prejudices create the vicious cycle of low expectations -- low achievement -- lower expectations. Abilities are further undermined by the emphasis in schools on verbal skills and reading as opposed to non-verbal skills. Ability tests, standardized with middle class white children and geared to their value system, are used to classify all children for the rest of their lives; however, most minority group members cannot do well because of the test's irrelevance or senselessness. Because these children's backgrounds and experiences are so diverse, standardized tests provide little help in achieving the goal of equal educational opportunity when used for grouping children. However, if they are used to develop recommendations for individualized instruction, to provide experiences appropriate to the development of each child, they have value. Several examples of intelligent test items which are potentially unintelligible or likely to be misinterpreted, are cited. (KS)