How the Test Was Won/References

References/Trivia

Cultural references

The episode title is a pun on the film and TV series How the West Was Won.
When Bart, Nelson, Jimbo, Kearney, Dolph, and Ralph go to the "helicopter", "Gonna Fly Now", the theme song from Rocky, plays.
There is also a Kid vs. Kat episode called "How the Test Was Won".
Homer's premonition of the massive accident in his house is similar to the premonitions seen in the Final Destination franchise.
At the end, when Principal Skinner says dancing is allowed again, everyone starts dancing to the song "Footloose" from the 1984 film Footloose.

When Bart skateboards over Barney during the opening sequence, Barney says "Hey!" instead of belching.
According to Homer the entire series of scenes showing him getting hurt took place over a week. This is odd, considering that one of the flashbacks was from "Treehouse of Horror XIII". This could, however, be a sign that Homer is not good at keeping track of time -- or reality, since the THOH flashback is non-canon.
When Homer mentions that if they let one injury happen, they'll end up in the Poorhouse, Marge corrects him by saying "you mean 'back to the poorhouse'", referring to the events of "No Loan Again, Naturally". But this episode aired before that.

The school bus passes the exiting Springfield sign, then Otto seems to be flying the school bus over Springfield, the power plant in sight.
Ralph hasn't got his trousers down when he goes to the toilet.
People were already staring at Lisa before she screamed.
In one scene, Lisa is shown sitting next to Milhouse, however in an earlier scene, she is shown sitting at the edge of the table.