The Team Pennsylvania Foundation (2011) reported that statewide results of the Keystone exam given to all students revealed that 61% of all students taking the Keystone Algebra 1 assessment scored either below basic or basic, 64% of all students taking the Biology Keystone exam scored basic or below basic, and 49.7% of all students taking the Literature Keystone exam did not meet the state expectation for proficiency. In Pennsylvania, the Keystone exam is the final measure in a series of exams that measure how students progress as measured against state expectations. The simple fact is they are not measuring up (Team Pennsylvania Foundation, 2011). Schools need to develop a system to meet students where they are and provide quality instruction
To indroduce, "the government of Canada granted approval for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project to proceed with 157 conditions (NEB)." The project includes a lot of infomation for operating. "The project proposes to expand the existing Trans Mountain pipeline system between Edmonton, AB and Burnaby, BC ,and this project includes approximately 987 km of new pipeline ,and there is new and modified facilities such as pump stations and tanks and reactivate 193 km of existing pipeline (NEB)." Moreover, this project increases the capacity of shipping from 300,000 barrels per day to 980,000 barrels per day, which brings a lot of benefits to Canadian economy (NEB). Therefore, the approval of this project not only contains many economic benefits
Keystone XL is a oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, this system was commissioned in 2010 and now owned by TransCanada Corporation. An increased amount of oil from Canada would mean a decreased dependency on Middle Eastern supplies. According to market principles, if availability of oil is increased, that means lower price for consumers. This will create almost 28,000 more construction jobs. The prospect of the Keystone XL pipeline being approved by the incoming Donald Trump administration will have little effect on Justin Trudeau's plans to get the oil to market. Keystone XL is a controversial issue because the different political parties have different opinions, the Conservatives and the Liberals both agree that yes, Keystone
Almost 95 million barrels of oil and fuel are produced each day in order to provide energy and fuel to people the world over. A major component of the oil industry is the transportation of oil through various means including oil pipelines. These pipelines are capable of transporting thousands of barrels of oil thousands of miles per day. In the United States one possible pipeline has caused a lot of controversy and discussion on the impact it will have on the United States. The difficulty in deciding if the Keystone XL Pipeline should be built is in whether the possibility of economic growth outweighs the possibility of environmental destruction. In order to make a decision, one must first look into the history of oil pipelines. It is crucial
This bill is very well written, and I find no major issue that would cause me not to support it. Our country needs the Keystone XL Pipeline, and so the sooner, the better. While some people may argue that the Keystone XL will be used to transport Canadian oil to the United States to only then be exported to China and other countries. In fact, it’s really a supply line to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries, which will refine the received oil into gasoline, aviation fuels, and diesel fuels for U.S. consumption. The fact of the matter is, our country will still need to import oil to meet our own domestic demand for years in the future, despite its growing oil production. Using Canadian Oil will displace more expensive crude oils that are coming from less
One of the most controversial issues faced nowadays is the way we deal with the transport of oil. One of the proposed methods is The Keystone XL Pipeline. Although there are some pros associated with building the pipeline, the risk outweighs the benefits by far. Building the Keystone XL pipeline would negatively affect the environment, jeopardize the public health and is to no benefit to the American people.
Only recently with the addition of the Common Core Standardized Tests, students are being faced with more tests than ever. A typical student takes 112 mandated standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and 12th grade (Study says standardized...). In my opinion, the complexities of these tests are inclining to a degree where they are unreachable to the average student. These tests are an unreliable measure of performance with unfair instruction time. Student anxiety and stress has become so awful that the Standford-9 exam comes with instructions on what to do in case a student vomits on the test. While the tests are there for students skill-measurement scores, they aren’t the only one’s who need to prepare for the exam. Teachers are equally pressured by their overhead figures to insure student’s score well. Just like the students, standardized tests are an imprecise measure of teacher performance, yet they are used to reward and punish teachers. Teachers are being required to a more progressive teaching style with emphasize on reflective learning. The effects of this are being nicknamed “drill and kill” test prep. Developing a corresponding curriculum prior to these assessments can be tricky because of the ambiguous content the Common Core requires. A considerable majority of these tests are given to students online. These already pricey tests come at an expensive cost for schools. An underlining problem people are concerned about is declining student scores being used as an excuse to close public schools that already can’t afford for the computers to take the test, and open more voucher
After the implementation of the “No Child Left Behind Act” high risk standardized testing has become a pressure cooker of corruption in the United States due to often unrealistic expectations, abundant incentives, and harsh punishments placed upon educators and administrators, overall resulting in the essential need for reform. The concept that every student’s academic ability can be assessed by a single universal exam is a misguided notion.
"Making Sure That Schools Measure Up." Education Week, vol. 36, no. 16, 4 Jan. 2017, pp. 18-20. EBSCOhost. PDF. In this periodical article, Alyson Klein, reporter for Education Week, reflects on Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), an update to the K-12 education law, in the one year since it was passed in 2016. Klein discusses how the ESSA was designed to improve shortcomings of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the previous version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Klein also examines concerns over greater flexibility given to states and districts regarding issues such as standardized test, school choice, marginalized students. The Obama administration wrote how the accountability portion of the law would work, allowing states to pick their own goals, both a long term goal and short term goals. These goals must address students’ proficiency on tests, English-language proficiency, and graduation
You wake up one day but everything seems odd. Its freezing cold in your house and you wonder what happened to the heat. You go to the kitchen and try to find something to eat and there is no food anywhere. Suddenly you hear scattering and banging in your parents bathroom.Your mom is looking for medicine because she is extremely sick but there is no medicine that she can find to help her. Do you know why, it’s because this is how our future will look like if we have nothing efficient enough to transport the oil that we use in almost everything to us.Therefore we believe the U.S should build the Keystone Pipeline XL because doing so will provide more jobs and increase tax revenue, oil is extremely essential for daily life and the keystone will help to transport our oil easier and safer.
PSSAs spend a ridiculous amount of money on these tests. About $1.7 billion are spent on standardized tests every year. In Pennsylvania, we spent $30 million for PSSAs, $39 per student test, and $27 million for the Keystones in 2014 -2015. These funds could be going to something other than tests that are not even beneficial to students. Also, if schools want to give students additional practice for the PSSAs, the books that are provided for them don’t include everything. Then these schools might have to go out and buy better materials so
The Department of Education concludes that high-stakes testing and statewide standards puts too strain on both the teacher and student. Multiple studies show evidence of miscalculation of scores, teachers being blamed for low test score, and too much time spent on preparation for the tests. The purpose of this policy brief is to elaborate on the non-beneficial components of high-stakes testing and statewide standards. Thus, peer-reviewed research articles and evidential articles are reviewed on high-stakes testing and statewide standards. In addition, the state of Florida has shown the greatest amount of dissatisfied outcomes. The information provided in this policy brief will precisely indicate why high-stakes testing and statewide standards should be abandoned from the school system. I request the action of Congress to outlaw high-stakes testing and statewide standards for the betterment of all National citizens by passing a new law to force states away from standardized testing.
To many students standardized testing has become another part of schooling that is dreaded. Standardized testing has been a part of school since the nineteen-thirties; in those days it was used as a way to measure students that had special needs. Since the time that standardized test have been in American schools there has been many programs that have placed an importance on the idea of standardized testing such as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Evans 1). Over the years the importance of standardized testing has increased tremendously and so has the stakes, not only for teachers but also students. All states in the United States of America have state test in order to measure how much students learn, and help tell how well the
Although legislatives assumption was that high stakes testing would enhance understudy inspiration, and raise understudy accomplishment, that supposition was completely incorrect. The effect of standardized testing (high-stakes testing) has not been positive throughout the United States at all. Due to the lack of motivation, the high retention rate, and notable change in dropout rate, it may be a while until many states recover, especially for states like Louisiana. According to Nola, Louisiana is tied with Florida for having one of the country’s fifth lowest graduation rates, and one of the highest dropout rates. Our society needs to come together and think of a plan that will help students, and prevent the increasing number of kids who decide to give up on school. A system that will benefit both students, and teachers should be created; making it better for both, students and teachers to work together properly. With a new system student motivation may improve, the number of over aged students sitting in the wrong grade will decrease, and the notable dropout rate will actually
What once began as a simple test administered to students yearly to measure understanding of a particular subject has, as Kohn (2000) has stated, “Mutated, like a creature in one of those old horror movies, to the point that it now threatens to swallow our schools whole” (p.1). Today’s students are tested to an extent that is unparalleled in not only the history of our schools, but to the rest of the world as well. Step into any public school classroom across the United States and it will seem as if standardized testing has taken over the curriculum. Day after day teachers stress the importance of being prepared for the upcoming test. Schools spend millions of dollars purchasing the best test preparation materials, sometimes comes at the cost of other important material. Although test
The No Child Left Behind Act should tremendously be re-examined and amended because the focus on the standardized tests decrease the quality of other subjects not on the tests, the tests are not an efficient tool to make certain that a student is receiving an excellent education and the tests create unnecessary stress for the students, teachers and administrators. The purpose of No Child Left Behind is to provide every student with the opportunity to receive a top-grade education. This is a great proposal to strive towards but, legislation plans on achieving this proposal by making schools responsible for their students’ proficiency and to measure their proficiency with the use of standardized tests. After the students take the