Oklahoma has transform a trying out flooring for reshaping public college curriculum to replicate conservative viewpoints, Make The us Nice Once more priorities and a push for Christian nationalism in the school room.
Oklahoma’s former state training Superintendent Ryan Walters oversaw a number of arguable training insurance policies lately, together with mandating in 2024 that each one Oklahoma public lecturers incorporate the Bible into their lesson plans.
Walters resigned from his place in September 2025 to steer Instructor Freedom Alliance, a conservative advocacy staff that opposes lecturers unions.
One extraordinary transfer Walters made used to be adopting a trainer overview known as The The us-First Evaluate, designed by means of PragerU, a conservative nonprofit media corporate. Walters mentioned the aim of this examination, which went are living in August 2025, used to be to display out “woke indoctrination.”
By means of authorizing this overview, Walters signed off on a conservative and far-right political group having a say during which potential lecturers from out of state obtain their Oklahoma instructing licenses.
The examination used to be short-lived. Walters’ alternative, Lindel Fields, introduced on the finish of October 2025 that Oklahoma would not use this overview. Fields additionally rescinded the Bible mandate for Oklahoma faculties.
However different states may nonetheless undertake the examination, without spending a dime. The examination and its controversy gives a window into the present politicization of state training methods, this time with recognize to the licensing of lecturers.
As an training researcher, I’ve written about different trainer checks and one of the problems surrounding them, similar to screening out Black lecturers.
Walter’s “anti-woke” trainer examination is a novel roughly experiment. The check used to be now not made by means of a certified overview corporate and does now not legitimately assess skilled wisdom associated with the themes lecturers train.
Ryan Walters bows his head in prayer along the state’s Board of Training individuals in April 2023, all through his time as Oklahoma’s training superintendent.
Sue Ogrocki/Related Press
A politicized check for lecturers
The The us-First examination is composed of 34 multiple-choice questions that ask concerning the U.S. Charter, executive, spiritual liberty, historical past and Ideally suited Court docket circumstances. One query asks, “What are the first three words of the Constitution?” Every other query asks, “What does the Second Amendment protect?” Different questions inquire about gender and intercourse, with questions like, “What is the fundamental biological distinction between males and females?” and “Which chromosome pair determines biological sex in humans?”
Walters made the political goal of the examination transparent.
“We have to make sure that the teachers in our classrooms, as we’re recruiting these individuals, aren’t a bunch of woke, Marxist activists,” Walters mentioned in August 2025.
Walters has additionally mentioned the examination used to be designed to particularly root out liberal trainer candidates who would possibly fill trainer vacancies in Oklahoma and convey innovative coaching on race and gender with them, or what Walters known as “blue state indoctrination.”
When the check went are living in August, it expanded to all lecturers from different states seeking to get a license to show in Oklahoma.
An examination you can’t fail
The The us-First Evaluate isn’t like the standard licensure checks made by means of skilled overview corporations. Those different checks quilt the particular material lecturers will have to know to do their activity: math for math lecturers, science for science lecturers, and so forth.
As a substitute of a subject-specific focal point, the The us-First Evaluate is most commonly aligned with President Donald Trump’s “America first” speaking issues, in particular thru its focal point on gender and intercourse.
Probably the most putting facet of the examination, on the other hand, is that it’s unimaginable to fail. In case you don’t know the primary 3 phrases of the U.S. Charter, you’ll wager solutions till you get it appropriate. Actually, the check will advance to the following query most effective after you check in a right kind resolution. Everybody who finishes the check gets 100% right kind.
Because of this, as some observers have identified, the examination resembles a political ideology check and now not a sound overview {of professional} wisdom.
Not like the SAT, which considers its content material proprietary, legally safe knowledge, lots of the The us-First Evaluate questions are publicly to be had.
Additional, in contrast to established checks such because the SAT and GRE, the The us-First examination has no technical details about the way it used to be designed or what the questions are meant to measure. Because of this, the examination resembles a “MAGA loyalty test,” consistent with American Federation of Academics President Randi Weingarten.
A conservative media corporate expands into trainer overview
The The us-First Evaluate’s distinctive structure and political content material replicate the priorities of PragerU, the conservative media corporate that created it.
Conservative radio host Dennis Prager based PragerU in 2009. The corporate produces tutorial and leisure movies rooted in conservative ideology.
PragerU’s greater than 5,000 on-line movies come with quick segments similar to “Make Men Masculine Again,” “How Many Radical Islam Sleepers are in the United States?” and “America Was Founded on Freedom Not Slavery.” Distinguished far-right influencers together with Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens and Charlie Kirk have gave the impression in movies.
PragerU’s number one YouTube web page has greater than 3.4 million subscribers.
Scholarly research of PragerU movies have discovered the content material minimizes the have an effect on of slavery and promotes incorrect information on subjects together with local weather trade.
In its youngsters’s video “Frederick Douglass: The Outspoken Abolitionist,” the fictionalized caricature of Douglass warns youngsters to “stay away from radicals” who wish to trade the American device somewhat than paintings inside of it. “Our system is wonderful, and our Constitution is a glorious liberty document. We just need to convince enough Americans to be true to it,” he concludes.
In 2021, the corporate introduced PragerU Children, an offshoot focused on school-age youngsters and educators with lesson plans, worksheets and different studying fabrics tied to its movies. Any other states, together with Florida, New Hampshire and Montana, have authorized PragerU’s movies as curriculum for his or her public faculties to believe the usage of since 2023.
The corporate’s transfer into trainer checks in 2025 expands its affect past curriculum into who can earn a instructing license.
Copies of the Bible are displayed in August 2024 on the Bixby Top Faculty library in Bixby, Okla.
Joey Johnson/Related Press
A conceivable technique for different states
Each Walters and PragerU CEO Marissa Streit pitched the examination as an possibility for all “pro-America” states at its release in August 2025. Some conservative coverage analysts have additionally praised this technique’s objectives of ridding public faculties of all “woke” lecturers.
Because of this, it’s not likely that is the final other folks will listen of PragerU or different personal media corporations seeking to display lecturers.
