My book was 18 Best Stories by Edgar Allen Poe. Since it was a compilation of many different, short stories, I can't really summarize the book itself. Throughout the book though, the themes are pretty consistent. Edgar Allen Poe wrote a lot of scary, dark stories and some that were just interesting. This book was mostly the scary ones, with a few that were extremely confusing and just meant to make the reader think.
My favorite of the scary stories was "The Black Cat." It follows the life of a man who loved animals his whole life, and they loved him back. But as he gets older, he slowly gets disgusted with them. He gets a black cat that follows him around all day and is very friendly toward him, and it makes him hate the cat more and more every day. He ends up killing it, but then soon after another very similar cat finds him. This one lives with him for a while and he hates it just the same. When he tries to kill it, his wife gets in the way and he ends up killing her. It is a very dark, depressing story, but also extremely interesting and fun to read.
There aren't a lot of the not so dark stories in this book. But one very short story, "The Sphinx" confused me greatly, but was very interesting. It follows a man who goes into the woods with his friend on a camping trip. And in the nearby town, people are dying quickly of mysterious causes. Then, one day the man sees an enormous creature going down the face of a hill in the distance. He explains what he saw to his companion who finds an accurate description of what he saw in a book. It turns out that the creature was a sphinx. But when his companion looks, he realizes that it was only an optical illusion and something completely different.
In my opinion, this was a great book choice, I would highly reccomend it to anyone looking for an interesting read and doesn't mind a few dark, scary stories. Every story in the book kept me well amused throughout my reading of it, and while some are a bit gruesome, they are still enjoyable to read and should be for most people. The language is a bit sophisticated and hard to understand at times, so that would be the worst part of the book in my opinion. Otherwise, it was excellent.
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Works Cited
Works Cited
Thomas S. Dee, Brian A. Jacob "Do High School Exit Exams Influence Educational Attainment or Labor Market Performance?" May 2006, web. October 13, 2010.
Peter D. Hart. "Why Graduation Tests/Exit Exams Fail to Add Value to High School Diplomas". Fair Test. May 2nd, 2008.
Ryan Blackburn, "Graduation test scores reveal 'gaps'" Online Athens. May 29, 2010, N.p., n.d. Web. October 12, 2010.
Rutledge, Kay. "Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT)" Georgia Department
James Haug. "Graduation test trips up 800. " Las Vegas
Michael Birnbaum. "Facing Md.
Eleanor Chute. "MORE STATE TESTING ON HORIZON FOR STUDENTS THIS YEAR. " Pittsburgh
Chen, Grace. "Pros and Cons of Public School Exit Exams." Public School Review.
N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2008.
N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2008.
Graduation Tests - Final
A Very Interesting, Critically Acclaimed Research Paper Regarding Graduation Tests
“Very interesting. I look forward to reading…more.” –April Fitcher
“Really interesting…A lot of good information…Nice job!” –Molly Castelvecchi
Graduation tests, normally the concept would scare the average high school student. It adds another obstacle to the race out of high school, and you could be stopped from graduating when you are so close to the end. But, if you look further you’ll find that graduation tests are actually a highly beneficial system of academic encouragement. The benefits of adding an end of senior year exam, or graduation test, far outweigh the negative side. In short, the test would strongly benefit the student body in many ways, but the pros don’t stop there. Adding graduation tests would also be highly beneficial to the school faculty, the teachers in particular. And, a graduation test would be an excellent way for the people behind the schools to see the statistics on them and easily get a snapshot of how that school is doing. The graduation test would give benefits to all aspects of the schooling system and thus, would be a great addition to schools.
First and foremost, the graduation test would give many benefits to the student body, and not just those at the top of their class. The test would be a superb way to merit the great students for their years of hard work throughout their high school career. Students who have been going above and beyond the required work and classes should get some sort of recognition for that, and scoring perfectly on the graduation test would be a perfect way for them to see how all their hard work has paid off. The test would also help to encourage the students that may be struggling to try harder in order to pass the test. Grace Chen posted a graph showing that 4.1% more students are passing the graduation tests in California
As stated previously, the benefits of adding one final test at graduation don’t stop at the student body. They expand across all parts of the schooling system, including the teachers. Although I myself have never designed a curriculum for a high school class, I do understand the stress and problems that come with it. What do the students need to know? How should I teach this? Should I teach this? If there were to be a test that would be the end of the line for high school student knowledge, teachers would know exactly what the students need to know in every subject. It would be like having the class final written for you, and in knowing what is going to be on the final, a teacher would know exactly what to teach and how to teach it to best prepare the students for the test. Additionally, students in need of more individual attention in specific subject areas would be easier to help, because they also know what they are going to need to learn. Also, a graduation test would help teachers in specific subject areas. For instance, if the math portion of the graduation test is being failed by a large number of students, the math teachers and school administration need to correct the math education being provided. So, a graduation test would be a monumental landmark on the road to providing the perfect education.
Of course, there are also many people behind the schooling system that keep it moving, and all of those people would benefit as well. The addition of graduation tests would assist the government in making the big decisions about any school that reported their students’ scores. If the government knew which schools were passing a majority of their students on the tests, and which schools were doing badly on the tests, they would know how much funding to provide those schools. A school that is doing particularly well should be awarded more money for that, and schools that are struggling clearly need more money to fund the programs to help those kids in need. But, there are many people outside the government who are interested in how good schools are. Many parents would benefit from knowing the scores of schools in the area, because every parent wants their child to go to the best school possible. Everyone, even those people not directly in the schooling system would benefit from graduation tests.
However, as with all incredibly brilliant ideas, there are those who are skeptical as to the benefits of the addition of a graduation test. Peter D Hart writes in an internet article: “the tests would be a bad idea to implement.” Some people believe that graduation tests would discourage those students who are falling behind and won’t perform very well on the test. Furthermore, they might say that failing the test would cause the student to lose hope and drop out of school entirely. However, the tests are put in place to do just the opposite, a student who is falling behind will be compelled to study hard in order to pass the test and not have to undergo another year of high school. Skeptics might also say that the test would be expensive to implement and cause financial deficit to the schools that choose to use them. However, the test is designed to get schools more funding through either doing well and earning it, or doing poorly and needing it. So, although there may be some costs associated with the initial setup of the testing program, the end result would be more money for the school every year. Therefore, a graduation test would be a fantastic idea to add to schools all across America
In short, a graduation test would be extremely helpful if implemented. Students all across America
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Do High School Exit Exams Influence Educational Attainment or Labor Market Performance?
Thomas S. Dee, Brian A. Jacob "Do High School Exit Exams Influence Educational Attainment or Labor Market Performance?" May 2006, web. October 13, 2010.
http://www.nber.org/papers/w12199
State requirements that high school graduates pass exit exams were the leading edge of the movement towards standards-based reform and continue to be adopted and refined by states today. In this study, we present new empirical evidence on how exit exams influenced educational attainment and labor market experiences using data from the 2000 Census and the National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of Data (CCD). Our results suggest that the effects of these reforms have been heterogeneous. For example, our analysis of the Census data suggests that exit exams significantly reduced the probability of completing high school, particularly for black students. Similarly, our analysis of grade-level dropout data from the CCD indicates that Minnesota's recent exit exam increased the dropout rate in urban and high-poverty school districts as well as in those with a relatively large concentration of minority students. This increased risk of dropping out was concentrated among 12th grade students. However, we also found that Minnesota's exit exam lowered the dropout rate in low-poverty and suburban school districts, particularly among students in the 10th and 11th grades. These results suggest that exit exams have the capacity to improve student and school performance but also appear to have exacerbated the inequality in educational attainment.
http://www.nber.org/papers/w12199
State requirements that high school graduates pass exit exams were the leading edge of the movement towards standards-based reform and continue to be adopted and refined by states today. In this study, we present new empirical evidence on how exit exams influenced educational attainment and labor market experiences using data from the 2000 Census and the National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of Data (CCD). Our results suggest that the effects of these reforms have been heterogeneous. For example, our analysis of the Census data suggests that exit exams significantly reduced the probability of completing high school, particularly for black students. Similarly, our analysis of grade-level dropout data from the CCD indicates that Minnesota's recent exit exam increased the dropout rate in urban and high-poverty school districts as well as in those with a relatively large concentration of minority students. This increased risk of dropping out was concentrated among 12th grade students. However, we also found that Minnesota's exit exam lowered the dropout rate in low-poverty and suburban school districts, particularly among students in the 10th and 11th grades. These results suggest that exit exams have the capacity to improve student and school performance but also appear to have exacerbated the inequality in educational attainment.
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Why Graduation Tests/Exit Exams Fail to Add Value to High School Diplomas
Peter D. Hart. "Why Graduation Tests/Exit Exams Fail to Add Value to High School Diplomas". Fair Test. May 2nd, 2008.
http://www.fairtest.org/gradtestfactmay08
Graduation tests do not promote the knowledge, skills and habits needed for success in college or skilled work. According to college professors and employers, high school graduates must be able to analyze conflicting explanations, support arguments with evidence, solve complex problems that have no obvious answer, reach conclusions, conduct research, and engage in the give-and-take of ideas (National Research Council, 2002). Also needed are attributes such as good study skills, time management, awareness of one’s performance and persistence. Since exit exams do not measure most of these important attributes, test scores have little value for colleges or employers. (Peter D. Hart, 2008).
Graduation tests do not make high school diplomas more valuable to employers. There is no evidence that exit exams make diplomas more meaningful in the labor market. In fact, recent research found no positive impact on employment status or wages in states with high school exit exams. There was also no impact on numbers of high school graduates going to college (Warren et al., 2007).
Most state standards-based high school tests are not aligned with college-level work or employment. Most tests just try to measure basic academic skills. They rely primarily on multiple-choice questions, some adding a few short written pieces. They rarely require students to apply their learning or engage in higher-level thinking. According to Stanford Professor Linda Darling-Hammond, “Most jobs in today's knowledge-based economy require that we find, assemble and analyze information, write and speak clearly and persuasively; and work with others to solve messy problems,” none of which are measured by multiple choice exams (Darling-Hammond, 2005). College requires similar skills.
This article made many strong arguments to prove that graduation tests are a bad idea to implement them into schools. They said that graduation tests do not promote the knowledge, skills and habits needed for success in college or skilled work. Also that according to college professors and employers, high school graduates must be able to analyze conflicting explanations, solve complex problems that have no obvious answer, reach conclusions, and engage in the give-and-take of ideas. Also needed are attributes such as good study skills, time management, and persistence. Since exit exams do not measure most of these important attributes, test scores have little value for colleges or employers.
http://www.fairtest.org/gradtestfactmay08
Graduation tests do not promote the knowledge, skills and habits needed for success in college or skilled work. According to college professors and employers, high school graduates must be able to analyze conflicting explanations, support arguments with evidence, solve complex problems that have no obvious answer, reach conclusions, conduct research, and engage in the give-and-take of ideas (National Research Council, 2002). Also needed are attributes such as good study skills, time management, awareness of one’s performance and persistence. Since exit exams do not measure most of these important attributes, test scores have little value for colleges or employers. (Peter D. Hart, 2008).
Graduation tests do not make high school diplomas more valuable to employers. There is no evidence that exit exams make diplomas more meaningful in the labor market. In fact, recent research found no positive impact on employment status or wages in states with high school exit exams. There was also no impact on numbers of high school graduates going to college (Warren et al., 2007).
Most state standards-based high school tests are not aligned with college-level work or employment. Most tests just try to measure basic academic skills. They rely primarily on multiple-choice questions, some adding a few short written pieces. They rarely require students to apply their learning or engage in higher-level thinking. According to Stanford Professor Linda Darling-Hammond, “Most jobs in today's knowledge-based economy require that we find, assemble and analyze information, write and speak clearly and persuasively; and work with others to solve messy problems,” none of which are measured by multiple choice exams (Darling-Hammond, 2005). College requires similar skills.
This article made many strong arguments to prove that graduation tests are a bad idea to implement them into schools. They said that graduation tests do not promote the knowledge, skills and habits needed for success in college or skilled work. Also that according to college professors and employers, high school graduates must be able to analyze conflicting explanations, solve complex problems that have no obvious answer, reach conclusions, and engage in the give-and-take of ideas. Also needed are attributes such as good study skills, time management, and persistence. Since exit exams do not measure most of these important attributes, test scores have little value for colleges or employers.
Graduation test scores reveal 'gaps'
Ryan Blackburn, "Graduation test scores reveal 'gaps'" Online Athens. May 29, 2010, N.p., n.d. Web. October 12, 2010.
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/052910/new_646134207.shtml
Athens-area students' science and English pass rates remained strong, with more passing the science portion of the exam than had in previous years, mirroring a statewide trend, the test results show.
Across the state, 90 percent of students passed the science and English components of the exam.
The state requires high school students to pass all four components of the graduation test, as well a written exam that's scored separately, to receive a diploma and count toward a school's graduation rate.
Juniors taking the test for the first time get three additional chances to pass before the end of their senior year, and may retake the test this summer.
First-time test-takers this year passed the tests at the highest rates and surpassed state averages in every subject in the Oconee County, Jefferson City and Commerce City school systems. The percentage of students who passed the tests was lowest in Clarke, Oglethorpe and Barrow county schools.
In Oconee County, more students passed in every subject except social studies this year compared to students last year, while in Clarke and Barrow County, more students failed than last year.
In Oconee County, 89 percent of students passed all four tests, while in neighboring Clarke County, 58 percent of students passed them.
"The results show the gaps we need to address in our high schools and as a system," said Superintendent Philip Lanoue. "We had 100 more students take the test as first-time test-takers this year, and we encourage all students to attempt the graduation test in their third year, as this is a very valuable tool in helping us identify and address gaps."
Each year about 62 percent of the students retaking the test are able to pass, Lanoue said.
Across the state, more students failed the social studies section than any other component of the test, likely because it was the first year the questions were based on a new social studies curriculum, state school officials said.
This year, 78 percent of students passed social studies, down from 87 percent last year.
Officials expected social studies scores to dip.
Math scores didn't drop as severely - from 94 percent passing last year to 91 this year - a decline also attributed to curriculum changes.
"The results of the 2010 (graduation test) are a mixed bag, but they definitely show that the (curriculum) is working in English/language arts and science as more students are performing at higher levels," state schools Superintendent Kathy Cox said.
Since 2005, the state has been implementing a series of new curricula, called the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS), in the core areas of mathematics, English/language arts, social studies and science. As each curriculum is phased in, the test is being revised to better match the curriculum.
The science and English/language arts tests were aligned to the GPS for the first time in 2008 and social studies this year. Next year, students will transition to a new mathematics exam.
The states should release test results from individual high schools early next month.
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/052910/new_646134207.shtml
Athens-area students' science and English pass rates remained strong, with more passing the science portion of the exam than had in previous years, mirroring a statewide trend, the test results show.
Across the state, 90 percent of students passed the science and English components of the exam.
The state requires high school students to pass all four components of the graduation test, as well a written exam that's scored separately, to receive a diploma and count toward a school's graduation rate.
Juniors taking the test for the first time get three additional chances to pass before the end of their senior year, and may retake the test this summer.
First-time test-takers this year passed the tests at the highest rates and surpassed state averages in every subject in the Oconee County, Jefferson City and Commerce City school systems. The percentage of students who passed the tests was lowest in Clarke, Oglethorpe and Barrow county schools.
In Oconee County, more students passed in every subject except social studies this year compared to students last year, while in Clarke and Barrow County, more students failed than last year.
In Oconee County, 89 percent of students passed all four tests, while in neighboring Clarke County, 58 percent of students passed them.
"The results show the gaps we need to address in our high schools and as a system," said Superintendent Philip Lanoue. "We had 100 more students take the test as first-time test-takers this year, and we encourage all students to attempt the graduation test in their third year, as this is a very valuable tool in helping us identify and address gaps."
Each year about 62 percent of the students retaking the test are able to pass, Lanoue said.
Across the state, more students failed the social studies section than any other component of the test, likely because it was the first year the questions were based on a new social studies curriculum, state school officials said.
This year, 78 percent of students passed social studies, down from 87 percent last year.
Officials expected social studies scores to dip.
Math scores didn't drop as severely - from 94 percent passing last year to 91 this year - a decline also attributed to curriculum changes.
"The results of the 2010 (graduation test) are a mixed bag, but they definitely show that the (curriculum) is working in English/language arts and science as more students are performing at higher levels," state schools Superintendent Kathy Cox said.
Since 2005, the state has been implementing a series of new curricula, called the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS), in the core areas of mathematics, English/language arts, social studies and science. As each curriculum is phased in, the test is being revised to better match the curriculum.
The science and English/language arts tests were aligned to the GPS for the first time in 2008 and social studies this year. Next year, students will transition to a new mathematics exam.
The states should release test results from individual high schools early next month.
Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT)
Rutledge, Kay. "Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT)" Georgia Department Of Education, 2010. Web. Oct 12, 2010.
http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ci_testing.aspx?PageReq=CI_TESTING_GHSGT
Georgia’s graduation tests provide valuable information for students, educators, and parents about student strengths and areas for improvement. The tests identify students who may need additional instruction in the concepts and skills required for a diploma. Since 2004, the English Language Arts and Mathematics high school graduation tests have been used to measure Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind legislation.
All students seeking a Georgia high school diploma must pass the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) in four content areas as well as the Georgia High School Writing Assessment. These assessments ensure that students qualifying for a diploma have mastered essential core academic content and skills. Students with disabilities and English Language Learners may receive appropriate standard accommodations based on their needs and the specifications of their Individualized Education Program, their Individual Accommodation Plan, or their ELL Testing Participation Committee Plan. Students with disabilities unable to participate in the state testing program, even with accommodations, are assessed with the Georgia Alternate Assessment.
Students take the graduation tests for the first time in the eleventh grade. The Writing Assessment takes place in the fall, and the GHSGT in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies occur in the spring of the eleventh grade. Students who do not pass on the first attempt of the tests have multiple opportunities to receive additional instruction, retest, and qualify for graduation before the spring of the twelfth grade.
Students who do not pass all the required tests but have met all other graduation requirements may be eligible for a Certificate of Performance or a Special Education Diploma. Students who have left school with a Certificate of Performance or a Special Education Certificate may return to attempt the graduation test(s) again, as often as necessary to qualify for a high school diploma.
When students enter high school, they are informed of the specific test requirements to meet graduation eligibility by their senior year. This information provides them adequate notice before they will be taking the standardized assessments that comprise one portion of the graduation eligibility criteria.
http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ci_testing.aspx?PageReq=CI_TESTING_GHSGT
Georgia’s graduation tests provide valuable information for students, educators, and parents about student strengths and areas for improvement. The tests identify students who may need additional instruction in the concepts and skills required for a diploma. Since 2004, the English Language Arts and Mathematics high school graduation tests have been used to measure Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind legislation.
All students seeking a Georgia high school diploma must pass the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) in four content areas as well as the Georgia High School Writing Assessment. These assessments ensure that students qualifying for a diploma have mastered essential core academic content and skills. Students with disabilities and English Language Learners may receive appropriate standard accommodations based on their needs and the specifications of their Individualized Education Program, their Individual Accommodation Plan, or their ELL Testing Participation Committee Plan. Students with disabilities unable to participate in the state testing program, even with accommodations, are assessed with the Georgia Alternate Assessment.
Students take the graduation tests for the first time in the eleventh grade. The Writing Assessment takes place in the fall, and the GHSGT in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies occur in the spring of the eleventh grade. Students who do not pass on the first attempt of the tests have multiple opportunities to receive additional instruction, retest, and qualify for graduation before the spring of the twelfth grade.
Students who do not pass all the required tests but have met all other graduation requirements may be eligible for a Certificate of Performance or a Special Education Diploma. Students who have left school with a Certificate of Performance or a Special Education Certificate may return to attempt the graduation test(s) again, as often as necessary to qualify for a high school diploma.
When students enter high school, they are informed of the specific test requirements to meet graduation eligibility by their senior year. This information provides them adequate notice before they will be taking the standardized assessments that comprise one portion of the graduation eligibility criteria.
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Graduation test trips up 800
James Haug. "Graduation test trips up 800. " Las Vegas Review - Journal 30 May 2009,US & Midwestern Newspapers, ProQuest. Web. 7 Oct. 2010. |
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=10&did=1736983611&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1286472735&clientId=16548
A diploma, of course, is the key to getting into college or joining the military. Because of the high stakes involved, teachers this week questioned some disappointing results of a state-required exam needed for graduation and asked state officials to double-check the test itself to make sure it was not given in error. A minimum of 14,000 students are expected to march in cap and gown, but as many as 800 students might only get a "certificate of attendance" when they walk across the graduation stage.Joe Piela, a math teacher at Foothill High School in Henderson, wondered whether the wrong answer sheet was given to students.Only three of his 27 seniors who took the test this month passed.Unfortunately for students, no errors were found with the exam itself, said Henry King, a program administrator for the Nevada Department of Education.The test was quadruple-checked.Sue Daellenbach, director of testing and accountability for the School District, knew that many students just missed passing the test by a point or two.
Students will be given another opportunity to pass the test in July and to be counted as graduating with their class. Adults can also earn GED or an equivalency diploma by passing five subject tests.All students who are credit-sufficient, meaning they have passed their core classes such as English, math and science, can "walk" in the graduation ceremonies even if they haven't passed the exam.There are 16,830 enrolled seniors this year in the county school system.Daellenbach expects a minimum of 85 percent will be able to participate in graduation this year with 800 getting certificates of attendance.
Facing Md. graduation tests, more choose Option B
Michael Birnbaum. "Facing Md. graduation tests, more choose Option B. " The Washington Post 7 Oct. 2010,US & Midwestern Newspapers, ProQuest. Web. 7 Oct. 2010. |
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=2155837401&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1286472265&clientId=16548
Maryland's high school testing requirements were designed to increase rigor and the value of the state's diplomas, but only a tiny fraction of seniors this year failed to graduate because of their exam results, and an increasing number of students are using alternative assessments because they have difficulty passing the regular tests, according to data released Wednesday by the State Department of Education. The tests have been criticized by some educators as not being sufficiently rigorous to determine whether a student is truly ready to graduate. But state officials say the tests - in algebra, English, biology and government - are an important minimum requirement and have improved high school education.
This year, 0.06 percent of seniors failed to receive their diplomas because of the tests and 8.6 percent of the senior class graduated only after completing the alternative projects, an increase of 2.3 percentage points from 2009. And some students received waivers exempting them from the requirements altogether. In my opinion, there should be no alternative projects, the point of the test is to see if the students have the skills on the test in order to graduate. There is no point in testing students on essential skills if some students can choose to do other assignments.
Even though the tests are holding relatively few students back, data show that the requirements are requiring many students to work harder. In Prince George's County, 16.5 percent of seniors had to complete the alternative projects to pass, and at some schools the figure was more than 40 percent. In 2009, 13.1 percent of Prince George's high school seniors needed to do the projects to get a diploma.
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
MORE STATE TESTING ON HORIZON FOR STUDENTS THIS YEAR
Eleanor Chute. "MORE STATE TESTING ON HORIZON FOR STUDENTS THIS YEAR. " Pittsburgh Post - Gazette 20 Sep. 2010,US & Midwestern Newspapers, ProQuest. Web. 6 Oct. 2010.
This school year, end-of-course tests called Keystone Exams will be added to the picture for secondary students, becoming part of graduation requirements for the Class of 2015.The state plans to develop 10 Keystone Exams in math, English, social studies and science.In addition, Pennsylvania is involved in two national consortia that are working on new ways to assess what students know. Both won a total of $330 million in the federal Race to the Top competition to develop new tests.Currently, PSSA tests are given in math and reading in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 as well as writing in grades 5, 8 and 11 and science in grades 4, 8 and 11.Last year, the state Board of Education approved new graduation requirements calling for the end-of-course exams.The Board of Education just last week said it would allow school districts to use the Keystones as the local assessment without the cost of validation if they require students to be proficient, a tougher standard than using it as a portion of the grade.The state board has also approved "assessment anchors" and eligible content for all three exams. The anchors and content provide a basic outline of what students are expected to know.For example, in biology, an anchor calls for students to be able to "describe how the unique properties of water support life on Earth." The eligible content includes the freezing point, high specific heat and cohesion.Pennsylvania is among 26 states in one of the consortia, Partnership for Assessment for College and Careers -- known as PARCC -- and among 31 states in the other, called the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium.Pennsylvania's participation in the consortia does not guarantee Pennsylvania will use the tests. That choice will be made when state officials know more about what the tests look like.But he said the state needs the Keystones now. "What we can't do is sit around and wait for a national solution to the problem. We have to worry about Pennsylvania kids," he said.
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
Exit Exam Statistics
Chen, Grace. "Pros and Cons of Public School Exit Exams." Public School Review.
N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2008.
N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2008.
Document URL: http://www.publicschoolreview.com/articles/53
This article explained what exit exams are, what "end of course" exams are, and how they are similar/different. It also stated that only one state, Washington was using exit exams at the time the article was written. This was October 21, 2008, so I imagine many more states are already using exit exams by now. The article stated that 15 states planned to implement exit exams by 2015, Arkansas, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington. In addition, a number of states are also investigating new ways to incorporate graduation exams and/or graduation projects into their curriculum. More students will be required to take more difficult end-of-course exams in order to graduate, signaling that state leaders are not entirely satisfied with exit exams, which are minimum competency tests. But, many educators and school leaders are concerned about the potentially harmful impacts of such tests. The standardized tests often punish students who are dealing with personal and/or cognitive struggles, as they are designed to only assess students of “average” academic ability.
Ultimately, the testing policies were initiated in order to ensure that schools and students were performing successfully. Ideally, these tests are supposed to help school and state leaders figure out new ways to provide students with more beneficial lessons and learning opportunities. Despite these goals, however, as Pytel argues, “While demanding exit exams may sound good initially, these exams do not truly reflect the knowledge students hold. The exams don’t prepare the students for the real world where they are allowed to use manuals (and) ask questions.”
Thursday, 30 September 2010
First
I am almost positive that I want to argue for having a required test to graduate high school. It has been something that I was thinking we should have even before we were going to think about what to write for this assignment. As bad as it will sound, I always kind of thought it would be funny to see how many people wouldn't graduate high school if there was something like a test to get out. We all know the people who just should not be allowed to get out of school, they simply have too much to learn. So many people are just coasting through school and not putting in any effort, and I don't think they deserve to graduate. And, if someone is putting in the effort and still cant pass the test, they need to spend more time in school to have the knowledge to survive in the real world, or in college. Other options after high school include going into work, or the military. Personally, I don't want someone who can't pass a test to graduate high school in the workforce, they could be a danger to themselves or others if given a job that invovled complex, dangerous equipment, or other hazardous conditions. For that reason, it is fairly obvious that I don't want someone who can't get through high school being given a gun and capability of killing people in the military. Therefore, there should be a test administered before graduation to determine if a student is going to be allowed to graduate high school.
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