An Examination of Standardized Testing Essay -- Standardized Testing Es

Do standardized tests really improve the quality of public education? For years they have been used to judge schools' academic performance and assess the needs of students. No longer can illiterates be graduated from high school. No longer can teachers pass a student from one grade to another without having taught that student anything (Spellings). While these advances are beneficial, standardized exams often hurt already disadvantaged schools, promote states to lower their standards of education, and cause schools to focus more on the exams themselves rather than on their students' actual learning (Karp). One of the major foundations of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, a national law requiring public schools to distribute standardized tests at least once a year, is that schools may be sanctioned by the federal government as a result of poor test grades. Obviously, this threat places an extraordinary amount of stress on schools to do well on their exams and holds teachers and administrators more accountable. However, it also causes teachers to teach the test rather than their curriculum, allowing students to perform better on exams without actually understanding the tested material (Karp). Test-teaching has become so common that students may actually take classes helping them to improve test scores, and whole days of public school are spent teaching kids better and faster ways to eliminate wrong answers (Gallagher). Such usage of classroom time and faculty effort is by no means useful to any child?s education, and its pervasiveness is unacceptable. Indeed, the pervasiveness of test-teaching is now remarkable. Former president of the National Urban League Hugh Price urges parents to ??make certain your children can pass?a... ...on Gale. Cedar Park High School Lib., Cedar Park, TX. 11 December 2007 . Spellings, Margaret. ?Is Standardized Testing the Correct Answer? YES.? ED.gov. 14 October 2005. U.S. Department of Education. 9 December 2007 . Path: Press Room, Fact Sheets, Op-Eds, Op-Eds & Letters to the Editor, "Is Standardized Testing the Correct Answer? YES" appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ?Standardized Tests.? PVCC Assessment Initiative. 20 October 2003. Maricopa Community Colleges. 9 December 2007 . Path: Employees, Assessment Initiative, General Assessment Resources, Standardized/National Exams. Whitaker, Mark. ?Byline.? Newsweek 2 June 2003: 6. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Thompson Gale. Cedar Park High School Lib., Cedar Park, TX. 6 December 2007 .

Life After College

In high school and college we have guidance counselors, course requirements and teachers. But the minute we graduate into adulthood, it seems we are immediately expected to understand where to go, what to do, and how to get wherever we’re going next. Once we do land a decent job, we’re expected to know how to do whatever it is our boss asks us to do. Once the first paycheck comes, we’re supposed to know about taxes and healthcare and direct deposits and investing and saving for retirement. We go from being surrounded by our friends all the time in college to being surrounded by a scattered few once we graduate. With graduation fast approaching, I must now embark on the next phase of my life. I’d love to work at a small e-Learning company, which means I’d play lots of different roles. I’ve heard about it from a very good friend of mine. My job title would be Manager of Instructional Design. I will write the fact sheets. The website copy. I will work on the demos. The content, not the graphics. In the area of Project Management I’ll just manage the project. Check in with the development team. See how we're doing on the schedule, communicate with our clients, write all the design documents, project plans, change orders, etc. This is a new area for me. Untested waters. And I'm really excited about the project I'm working on. We've got a gig to help an organization with a large membership craft an e-Learning strategy. Such an opportunity! This will be my job. I hope! Like any other girl I hope I’ll have a very nice family. A good husband, brave children and a big house, of course.

How To Read Literature Like A Professor Essay - 1020 Words

Julia Hunnell Mrs. Mary Smith AP Literature 6 21 September 2017 What Are You Alluding To? In Thomas Foster’s book, â€Å"How to Read Literature Like a Professor,† readers learn how to look past the surface of a literary work to find a deeper or hidden meaning. Writers use devices, such as symbolism, imagery, foreshadowing, irony and allusion to reveal these meanings. If these are overlooked, important aspects of the story can be lost. One literary device that Foster emphasizes in his book is allusion. Every story has elements of another story, and Foster devotes Chapters Four through Seven explaining the meaning of allusion in works by Shakespeare, the Bible, and fairy tales. In Chapter Four, Foster introduces the idea of allusion.†¦show more content†¦This connection to other works makes â€Å"our understanding of both works [become] richer and deeper.† Probably one of the most well-known books in the Western world is the Bible. There is a copy in many hotel drawers and almost every person has a general understanding of what the Bible says. The allusions that can come from the Bible, mentioned in Chapter Six, are almost endless, such as the garden, the devil, a Christ figure, great flood, seven days, 40 years, a betrayal, resurrection. Literary characters are given biblical names like Rebecca, Esther, and Jacob. Names are important in literature. They need to â€Å"carry whatever message the writer want[s] to convey about the character or the story.† If you come across a biblical name, pay close attention because it could be pointing you to something bigger. Foster also says that if a story is trying to allude to the Bible, it will â€Å"seem to be beyond the scope of the story’s or poem’s immediate dimensions.† In the story â€Å"Sonny’s Blues,† a character has a cup, like the cup o f God’s fury. This is meant in the context of Sonny, who has been to jail and has had drug problems. The cup that he drinks from is representative of him straying from the straight and narrow path and possibly going back into his addictive behaviors. The cup also represents that the whole of America has drunk from the cup and couldShow MoreRelatedHow I Read Literature Like A Professor Essay1141 Words   |  5 PagesBrylan Beard Mrs. Mary Smith Ap Literature 20 September 2017 How to Read Literature like a Professor Essay This essay will be about the analyzing of literary devices that are discussed in this book. The professor in the book thoroughly describes these devices and the allusions and symbols that are involved in literature over the centuries. I will be discussing the specifics of the allusions and symbols of the bible and the Christ like figures in literature. The first device I will be describingRead MoreEssay about How to Read Literature Like a Professor1562 Words   |  7 PagesHow to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. 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If you don’t comprehendRead MoreHow to Read Literature Like a Professor Outline Essay3160 Words   |  13 PagesHow To Read Literature Like a Professor Outline Chapter 1 – Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It’s Not) Main Ideas: To have a quest, a novel must have A knight A dangerous path A holy grail An evil knight A dragon A princess The quest is always educational and provides knowledge of ones self Chapter 2 – Nice To Eat With You: Acts of Communion Main Ideas: It is a communion â€Å"Whenever people eat or drink together...† Breaking bread together is an act of sharing and peace Read MoreHow to Read Literature Like a Professor Chapter Analysis Essay1767 Words   |  8 PagesHow To Read Literature Like a Professor Chapter 1: Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It’s Not) In Chapter 1 the author explains the symbolic reasoning of why a character takes a trip. They dont just take a trip they take a quest. 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Before this course I knew only one style of essay, because in high school, I wrote essay only for Literature classes. In this class I found that writing could be structured in many ways. Moreover, all reading that I have helped me to think critically and analyze all information that I get. A large number of examples in these readings and my own experience in this course introduced me that sometimes people are getting mislead, because ofRead MoreOn Becoming Educated By Jay Castro1237 Words   |  5 PagesIn her essay â€Å"On Becoming Educated† Jay Castro discusses her first experience and with, thoughts on, feminism. She continues to contribute feminism throughout her essay as she talks about her life during school and during her teaching years. As I read this I can relate to some of the events she talks about but I also came to disagree with some parts. First off, feminism is a diverse collection of social, political, legal and economic right for women equal of those of men such as equal pay. In the