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Sophomore I: Joining the Conversation
THE DEBATE/CONVERSATION:
WHY DOES THE SAT ENDURE?
INTRODUCTION OF DEBATE:
Twenty students in New York have been accused of cheating on the SAT.
Meanwhile, courses, books and tutoring to help students improve their scores on
college-entrance exams are more popular than ever.
If, as critics claim, the test can be gamed, why are the scores still so meaningful to
college admissions officials, and does the SAT put students who can’t afford to take
prep classes at a disadvantage?
DEBATER #1:
Alan T. Paynter is an assistant director of admissions and
the coordinator of multicultural recruitment for Dickinson
College in Carlisle, Penn., which makes test score
submissions optional.
One Piece in the Process
December 4, 2011
Test scores are merely one piece of a student’s record that college admissions
officers consider when reviewing applications. For some students, the focus and
pressure placed on them to perform well on the test is so great that they miss out on
highlighting the other areas we consider -- the things that help build our campus
communities and not just our profile.
Highlight those aspects of your record in which you are not at a disadvantage, like
extracurricular activities and class performance.
Students should not have to feel at a disadvantage because they cannot afford test
prep services and therefore drive themselves crazy trying to figure out how they will
ace this test that appears to be holding their dreams hostage. Or worse, these students
choose to not apply to the colleges at the top of their list because of test scores alone.
I’ve even seen some students not apply to colleges at all, which is truly
heartbreaking.
I would much rather see students highlight those aspects of their record in which they
are not at a disadvantage, like their extracurricular activities and performances in
class. They also should focus on protecting their grade point average. In as much as
students try to impress a college or university, they also want to distinguish
themselves in the pool of applicants.
Twenty years ago, it was rare to find a low-income student or a student of color with
an 1100+ SAT score (out of 1600). Today, it’s common to find sharp students from
those same backgrounds with middle 1200's and higher. This process is about
highlighting your strengths and finding your right fit. So what else are you bringing
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to the table? Or as a colleague of mine always says, “show us the person you are, and
will be, not just the test taker you were, and don’t need to be.”
DEBATER:
________________________________________________________________________________________
DEBATER’S CLAIM: (PARAPHRASE)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
DEBATER #2:
David Z. Hambrick is an associate professor of psychology at Michigan State
University. His research concerns individual differences in cognitive abilities and
complex skills.
A Good Intelligence Test
UPDATED DECEMBER 16, 2011, 2:31 PM
The SAT works for its intended purpose — predicting success in college. This isn’t
to say that the SAT is perfect. You can probably think of someone who did poorly on
the SAT and yet graduated summa cum laude from college. You can probably also
think of someone who did spectacularly well on the SAT but who flunked out of
college after a semester. Many factors not captured by the SAT — like personality,
motivation and discipline — contribute to success in college. But, relatively
speaking, the SAT works well.
SAT preparation courses appear to work, but the gains are small — on average, no
more than about 20 points per section.
The SAT captures more than a narrow range of skills, important only in the first year
or two of college. Large-scale meta-analyses by researchers at the University of
Minnesota have found that SAT performance is as good of a predictor of overall
college grade point average as it is of freshman grade point average, and Vanderbilt
researchers David Lubinski and Camilla Benbow have documented that the SAT
predicts life outcomes well beyond the college years, including income and
occupational achievements.
Furthermore, the SAT is largely a measure of general intelligence. Scores on the SAT
correlate very highly with scores on standardized tests of intelligence, and like IQ
scores, are stable across time and not easily increased through training, coaching or
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practice. SAT preparation courses appear to work, but the gains are small — on
average, no more than about 20 points per section.
This debate is ultimately about intelligence and its modifiability — and the question
of whether it is fair to use people’s scores on what is essentially an intelligence test to
make decisions that profoundly affect their lives. If that makes us all uncomfortable,
that’s just too bad.
DEBATER:
______________________________________________________________________________________
DEBATER’S CLAIM: (PARAPHRASE)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
____________
DEBATER #3:
Paul Siemens is the director of Advantage Testing of Los Angeles. He has tutored
hundreds of students in New York City and Los Angeles in many academic subjects
and standardized tests.
Not an I.Q. Test
UPDATED DECEMBER 5, 2011, 11:46 AM
Thoughtfully constructed tests represent powerful opportunities for learning. Any
test, by definition, asks students to demonstrate what they know. College entrance
examinations are no different. By asking applicants to take these tests, colleges and
universities encourage prospective students to prepare themselves more fully for the
college experience.
Students of means continue to have greater access to educational resources and
opportunities, but that is a societal issue.
Both the SAT and ACT assess knowledge of vocabulary, grammar and math, while
exercising a student’s reading and problem-solving abilities. Such skills are not
merely helpful in high school academics but critical for success in college and in life.
There are no "tricks" or "shortcuts" a tutor can impart that will circumvent the
difficulty of the questions. The only way to prepare successfully for these tests is to
apply the hard work that is at root in any successful academic endeavor.
In the case of college entrance exams, such long-term rigorous preparation includes
expanding vocabulary; understanding sentence structure; mastering fundamental
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arithmetic, geometric and algebraic concepts and definitions; and becoming a more
critical reader and a more creative problem-solver. A student who fully engages in
this process will undoubtedly improve her test scores and gain invaluable, practical
knowledge that will make her a better college student.
University-level entrance exams are not intended as intelligence tests, and for good
reason: to the extent it can be measured, intelligence is a limited predictor of
academic success at that level. Colleges aren’t simply looking to enroll the smartest
students; rather they are seeking mature, talented, well-rounded, motivated, serviceoriented and accomplished students of every background. Standardized tests provide
a reasonably reliable barometer of the extent to which a student has been able to
master the general high school curriculum in a way that will prepare her well for
college.
It is true that students of means continue to have greater access to educational
resources and opportunities. That is a societal issue. In response, college admissions
departments have always sought to evaluate a student’s credentials and achievements
against that student's perceived opportunities. They maintain rigorous expectations of
a student who has grown up with many privileges, and reasonably modified
expectations of students who have overcome perceived disadvantages. At Advantage
Testing, we are committed to providing financial aid and pro-bono tutoring to
economically disadvantaged students and those who have historically been
underrepresented in fields of higher learning.
DEBATER:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
DEBATER’S CLAIM: (PARAPHRASE)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
____
THE DEBATE/CONVERSATION: SHOULD THE SCHOOL DAY BE
LONGER?
INTRODUCTION OF DEBATE:
A student in the Bronx takes a nap before the start of the school day earlier this
month.
Many education reform advocates are pushing to lengthen the school day, not only as
a way to increase teaching time and offer extra instruction and enrichment, but also to
accommodate working parents. Charter programs like the KIPP schools have
promoted the longer day, and it is being accepted by some urban public schools,
notably in Chicago.
When and where does it make sense to institute a longer school day, and how should
it be designed? While this change may benefit children from disadvantaged
backgrounds, providing a social support system, would it help other American
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students if they had to spend more time in school, given what we know about how
they learn?
DEBATER #1:
Geoffrey Canada is president and chief executive officer of the Harlem Children’s
Zone and president of the Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy Charter
Schools.
Help for Parents and Society
UPDATED JANUARY 4, 2013, 1:51 PM
The evidence keeps mounting that America is no longer a leader when it comes to
educating its children. The perilous situation is exposed with each new report on the
data. The National Assessment of Educational Progress shows little improvement
over the decades. The black-white achievement gap is as wide as ever. SAT scores
are declining. I am convinced that one of the reasons is that the school day and year
are too short. Without additional time, it is virtually impossible for students behind
grade level -- particularly poor and minority students -- to catch up.
Longer school days can lead to fewer crimes committed by young people and a
decline in teen pregnancy.
An extended school day gives administrators the ability to ensure children get a wellrounded education. Many schools today are sacrificing social studies, the arts and
physical education so children can cover basic subjects like math, English and
science. This is hurting children across America, depriving them of the chance to find
discipline and self-expression through the arts; and we should be ashamed to cut
physical education while our children face an obesity epidemic.
Extending the school day would also help families. In two-parent households, women
have increasingly entered the workplace, and in single-parent households, there is
even more of a need for the adults to work. That means parents do not fully control
their own schedule and have to scramble to find high-quality after-school options.
What happens when children are not engaged in enriching activities is welldocumented: crimes committed by youth in the hours immediately after school soar,
as do teen pregnancies. These hours can either provide an opportunity for children to
grow or to get bored and drift into self-destructive behavior.
Meanwhile, our global competitors are keeping students in school longer, giving
them a better shot at success. Failing to do our best to educate all of America’s
DEBATER:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
DEBATER’S CLAIM: (PARAPHRASE)
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children is a mistake that will hurt this country for years to come.
DEBATER #2:
Vicki Abeles is a filmmaker, lawyer and mother of three. She is the co-director and
producer of the documentary “Race to Nowhere: The Dark Side of America’s
Achievement Culture.”
Quality vs. Time in the Classroom
UPDATED SEPTEMBER 27, 2011, 1:51 PM
High school students heading to classes in Louisa County, Va.
Many of our children are already stretched to unhealthy breaking points, loaded
down with excessive homework, extracurricular activities and outside tutoring
because they’re led to believe high test scores, a slew of Advanced Placement
classes and a packed résumé are their ticket to college and success. This has led to
an epidemic of anxious, unhealthy, sleep-deprived, burned-out, disengaged,
unprepared children -- and overwhelmed and discouraged teachers.
I have found no compelling research that supports the proposition that a longer
school day improves educational outcomes. One only has to look at countries like
Finland, where students achieve higher test scores with less instruction time and less
homework than in our country. The real issue is the quality of the education we’re
providing, not the amount of hours spent in a classroom.
We need healthier, more balanced, more engaging and effective school days, not
longer ones.
Young people need time outside of school to develop as whole people. They need
time to grow creatively, physically, socially and emotionally, not just academically.
A large part of a child’s learning occurs outside the classroom, through play,
reading, family dinnertime interaction, community participation, volunteering and
working part-time jobs. Instead of lengthening the school day, we should invest
resources so that children in every community have access to opportunities for afterschool programs offering arts, sports and other activities that support the growth of
the whole child, as well as working parents.
Further, by ensuring that school work is completed at school where there are
teachers to support learning -- alleviating the “second shift” for children and
working parents created by homework -- we can enhance the education of our
children and the well-being of children and families. The key is creating a healthier,
more balanced, more engaging and effective school day, not a longer one.
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DEBATER:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
DEBATER’S CLAIM: (PARAPHRASE)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
THE DEBATE/CONVERSATION: DOES TENURE PROTECT BAD
TEACHERS OR GOOD SCHOOLS?
INTRODUCTION TO THE DEBATE:
Teacher tenure laws deprive public school students of their right to an education by
making it difficult to remove bad teachers, a California judge ruled on Tuesday. The
case, Vergara v. California, pressed by parents backed by a Silicon Valley
millionaire, David Welch, is expected to be the first of many around the country to
take on tenure.
Do tenure’s job protections prevent bad teachers from being fired or do they provide
for greater stability for low-paid faculty?
DEBATER #1: Eric Hanushek is an economist and senior
fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. He is
co-author of "Endangering Prosperity: A Global View of the
American School." He testified for the plaintiffs in the
Vergarra case.
Ending Tenure to More Easily Fire Bad Teachers Helps Everyone
JUNE 11, 2014
Teacher tenure discussions often suggest that what is in the best interest of teachers is
also in the best interest of students. But the groundbreaking decision in the Vergara
case makes it clear that early, and effectively irreversible, decisions about teacher
tenure have real costs for students and ultimately all of society.
Teacher tenure, and the related onerous and costly requirements for dismissing an
ineffective teacher, have evolved into a system that almost completely insulates
teachers from review, evaluation, or personnel decisions that would threaten their
lifetime employment. Research shows that this results in serious harm both to
individual students and to society, because a small number of grossly ineffective
teachers are retained in our schools.
The California court, noting that education is a fundamental right of California youth,
struck down the law that requires administrators to make essentially lifetime
decisions after a teacher has been in the classroom for just 16 months and has yet to
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complete an induction program. Similarly rejected were statutes that make
requirements for removing a tenured teacher so onerous and costly that it is seldom
attempted.
Legislatures will likely respond to the court decision by lessening (but not
eliminating completely) the burden of dismissing an ineffective teacher. The teachers
unions will undoubtedly claim that is an attack on teachers. It is not. It is simply an
attempt to restore some balance in the system.
A small percentage of teachers inflicts disproportionate harm on children. Each year
a grossly ineffective teacher continues in the classroom reduces the future earnings
of the class by thousands of dollars by dramatically lowering the college chances and
employment opportunities of students. There is also a national impact. The future
economic well being of the United States is entirely dependent on the skills of our
population. Replacing the poorest performing 5 to 8 percent of teachers with an
average teacher would, by my calculations, yield improved productivity and growth
that amounts to trillions of dollars.The teachers unions have an opportunity to
participate in crafting a more balanced system that promotes world-class schools. By
not collaborating, they face the very real possibility that courts and state legislatures
will continue to disregard their voices in attempting to improve schooling
opportunities. The stakes in getting it right are extraordinarily high.
DEBATER:
_______________________________________________________________________________________
DEBATER’S CLAIM: (PARAPHRASE)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
DEBATER #2: Brian Jones, a former New York City public school teacher, is the
Green Party's candidate for lieutenant governor of New
York. He blogs at "No Struggle, No Progress." He is on
Twitter.
UPDATED JUNE 12, 2014, 12:55 PM
America is the land of misdirected anger. This time, teachers
in California are on the receiving end.
That is not to say that public school parents in the state
shouldn't be angry. In the last decade, billions have been cut from California’s K-12
budget. A public school system that used to be the envy of the nation has been
starved to death. Budget cuts have meant canceled after-school and summer
programs. It has meant rising student-teacher ratios, and in some Los Angeles
classrooms, for example, overcrowding that has forced students to find seats atop file
cabinets.
Now, thanks to the super-sized bank account of Silicon Valley mogul David Welch,
who founded the parent group behind the Vergara case and funded the legal team,
the court has come to see that students’ rights were not violated by overcrowded
classes or budget cuts, but by the rights afforded to the teachers.
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The court is wrong — and so is Welch. If teacher tenure is an important obstacle to
achievement, Mississippi (with no teacher tenure) should have stellar schools and
Massachusetts (with teacher tenure) should have failing ones. Instead, it’s the other
way around. Correlation is not causation, of course, but across the country the states
without tenure are at the bottom of performance rankings. States with the highestachieving public schools have tenure (and teacher unions).
K-12 teachers with tenure do not have a job for life. What “tenure” means, for them,
is due-process procedures for dismissals with cause, instead of capricious or at-will
dismissal from their duties. I've spoken to countless teachers from Southern states
who are afraid to do the things that New York City teachers do all the time – write
blogs, write letters to the editor, even show up to a rally – because they could lose
their jobs for speaking out. All working people should have such protections.
If anything, teacher tenure laws need to be strengthened because the country is
bleeding teachers — especially in large urban districts. Between 40 and 50 percent of
teachers nationwide leave the job within five years. If 40 percent of all doctors or
lawyers quit within five years, I’m guessing we wouldn’t be asking why they have it
so good. We certainly wouldn’t be trying to figure out what we can do to make their
terms of employment less favorable.
Can we do a better job of training and developing teachers? Sure, but removing
tenure doesn’t do anything to get us closer to that goal. In the meantime, teachers’
rights are a convenient scapegoat.
It goes something like this: Angry at the conditions in your local public school?
Don’t ask how they got that way. Don’t ask who set the budget priorities. Don’t ask
who is in charge of hiring teachers and guiding their development. Don’t ask who’s
in charge of making sure the conditions of school are optimal for teaching and for
learning. Whatever you do, do not look at the million-dollar man behind the curtain
of the lawsuit.
Just blame the teacher.
DEBATER:
_______________________________________________________________________________________
DEBATER’S CLAIM: (PARAPHRASE)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
THE DEBATE/CONVERSATION: Are Charter Schools Cherry-Picking
Students?
INTRODUCTION OF DEBATE: Many charter schools have embraced strict
disciplinary measures that lead to much higher rates of suspensions and expulsions
than traditional public schools. Critics say this lets charter schools siphon off the best
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students and, in the process, inflate their test scores.
What does this trend mean for students and public education?
DEBATER #1: Carol Burris, a principal at South Side High School in Rockville
Centre, N.Y., is the author of "On the Same Track: How Schools Can Join the
Twenty-First-Century Struggle against Resegregation" and co-author of "Detracking
for Excellence and Equity."
Charter School Cherry-Picking From Admission to Expulsion
DECEMBER 10, 2014
Many charter schools enroll a neighborhood’s strongest and
most motivated students, making the job of the local public
school even more difficult. Families who apply to charters are
often seeking a highly disciplined learning environment, with a
longer school day and year. Few students with significant
learning, emotional or behavioral challenges, or English
language learners, even apply. As stronger students enter
charters, those who struggle are left behind in increased concentrations in the public
school.
Charter schools often cherry-pick through attrition. When students leave because the
schools are too demanding, the charters are not obligated to fill the empty seats. New
York’s Harlem Success 1 Academy had 127 first graders in 2009. When those
students arrived in grade six last year, only 82 remained. As students moved through
the grades, Success 1 lost over 35 percent of the cohort. In comparison, a nearby
neighborhood school, P.S. 191 Amsterdam, saw its 2008-09 first grade cohort
increase from 39 students to 55 by grade six. We who teach in open-enrollment
public schools must take every student that moves in – regardless of their age,
learning disability, the time of entrance or when they last attended school.
What accounts for the high attrition rates at charters? Their strict discipline codes and
higher rates of suspension, retention and expulsion are well documented. In 2013, the
SUNY Charter Institute, which authorizes charters, reported problems with
disciplinary practices, including suspensions, at several Harlem Success Academies.
When students are pushed out or leave their charter school, they enter the public
schools discouraged and further behind.
Finally, charter schools are accelerating the resegregation of our schools. A recent
A.C.L.U. complaint alleges that the charters of Wilmington, Del., have distinct
patterns of racial segregation, due in part to entrance criteria.
Charters were designed to spur innovation and competition, not to stratify our schools
or have selective student entrance. Although some students may thrive in charters,
the price of the current approach has become too high.
DEBATER #2: Tim King is the founder and chief executive of Urban
Prep Academies, a nonprofit organization operating the country’s first
network of public charter high schools for boys.
Charter Schools Can Get Results by Inspiring Students
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Sophomore I: Joining the Conversation
DECEMBER 10, 2014
At Urban Prep Academies, we have found that if we take the time to get to know the
kids in our care, instead of doling out discipline, even our most at-risk students can
succeed.
We opened Urban Prep's first school in 2006 with a single focus to increase the
number of black males that earn college degrees. We knew that this would require
more than excellent teaching; we’d also have to inculcate resilience in our students
and show them how to deal with roadblocks and obstacles placed in their paths.
As a result, all of our graduates — all African-American males and 85 percent from
low-income families — have been admitted to college. Still, because Urban Prep
operates public charter schools where students wear jackets and ties every day, we
are often accused of having zero-tolerance discipline policies and weeding-out
students. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our students succeed in part
because we promote a school culture based on respect and responsibility — not
retribution.
We rely on celebration more than punishment. When a student is admitted to college,
for example, we exchange his red uniform tie for a red and gold striped tie, in a
ceremony in front of the entire school. Weekly, students’ outstanding classroom
efforts are rewarded with gold ties, also given in front of the student body. Such
public affirmations encourage our students and counteract society's negative images
of black men.
We also have to teach our students that actions have consequences — especially
because for black males, certain decisions can mean life or death. So we do have
detentions, suspensions and even expulsions. Though our expulsion rate is low, we
can't keep students who engage in conduct that prevents the rest of our students from
learning.
Still, we believe in looking for the students’ needs in and beyond their behavior.
Last year, when we discovered an unloaded weapon in a student’s bag, the zero
tolerance response would have been to have the student arrested and expelled. But
after talking to the young man and his family, we learned that he had the weapon
because he had been threatened by gangbangers on his way to and from school. In the
end, we worked to support the student, not dismiss him.
Of course, every charter school is different, but the broad implication that charters
manufacture academic achievement, keep test scores high by cherry-picking students,
and have draconian discipline policies is wrong. Many charters, like Urban Prep,
inspire students to excel in a rigorous and rewarding culture far more often with a
carrot than a stick.
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