Category: RCL

I really liked the templates that were included in WIX. As someone who is not very good at coming up with templates myself, I think that that feature will definitely be helpful for me in developing the aesthetic of my e-portfolio. According to the comparison website, WIX is probably my best bet because it is so beginner-friendly and I am certainly not a tech-savvy type of person. I also just really liked the portfolio examples that used WIX. I decided that I didn’t want to use WordPress because of the problem with the website going away after graduating. That’s especially important to me because I see my portfolio as career-oriented so it might be nice to have in the long run. On that note, I’ve decided to use WIX for my portfolio.

Right now, I think my purpose and audience might have to do with applying to internships in the field of education or child psychology.

For my tabs, I’m thinking of including a home where I talk about my educational and personal background. I also liked the idea of including my résumé because I think it makes sense for my audience. In the other example we looked at, I also liked the use of an extracurricular tab where I could lay out things that I am currently involved in and passionate about.

I’ve been thinking of which artifacts to include in my portfolio, and so far I have a few in mind. Education equity has been a big theme across the work I’ve done this year so I think that those pieces connect well (deliberation, civic issues blog, issue brief, advocacy project). Those artifacts would also fit in with my purpose and audience pretty nicely.

Hi everyone! I’ve attached my advocacy project on removing standardized testing in case anyone is interested in checking it out because I know we’re all really passionate about education equity. Feel free to reach out with any comments or questions!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZXKtE2JeWE4LaDvKbc3_vAtf3FVPOFS408klTsx93UQ/edit?usp=sharing

 

For my advocacy campaign, I am really interested in taking my civic issues blog topic to a local level for the Penn State or State College community. However, I am still sort of in between a few ideas in terms of how I want to frame it. I was really interested in my last civic issues post where I explored the problems of standardized testing in the classroom and the long-term effects they can have on students and teachers. I am probably going to inform the audience that they should be encouraging their districts to improve these programs, or even take on an entirely different evaluation program (but not get rid of them altogether). As we learned from the videos, I don’t want to accidentally encourage getting rid of these evaluation programs altogether and accidentally encourage not holding under-performing district responsible. In terms of delivery, I am compelled to either make an infographic encouraging the audience to take action.

In the Photographer as Witness: A Portrait of Abuse piece, I was at first startled by how the photographer was taking the photos without intervening in the situation. However, when I continued to read, I understood the photographer’s decision when she explained how she confirmed that the police had already been called and how the police agreed that intervening would have only made the situation worse. After learning this information, I can now see how this piece could be seen as ethical as it is used to inform the audience. Like we talked about in terms of permission in the class video, I think that this piece is especially ethical because Maggie encouraged the photographer to share her story to help others in the future. One question from the Ethics piece I’d like to consider is “Is it okay to withhold information from someone that they will find painful or upsetting?” I think that people need to have the opportunity to access painful information if it has the potential to inform and improve their perspective in the future. However, I think that the audience also has to consent to see that information and decide for themself that they want to access that upsetting content. Because of the purpose of this collection to inform, and the consent Maggie gave to have these photos published, I think that this piece is an ethical work of advocacy.

Evolving Past The Score: Removing Standardized Test Requirements for Public Colleges

Public colleges are meant to be an accessible way for students to receive an education after high school. They provide a more affordable and convenient way for in-state students to further their education. Currently, many of these public institutions require their applicants to submit standardized test scores. In the past, standardized test scores have been used as the official scale to compare applicants from a variety of backgrounds. 1.1 million students in the high school class of 2020 took the SAT, one of two official standardized tests for college admissions.1 However, the mechanisms of standardized testing have become all too biased at the expense of equity and accessibility. The influence of test preparation and retake costs have led tests like the SAT and ACT to no longer be fair measurements of all students’ performance.  As of December 2020, 1,600 colleges across the country have dropped their standardized testing policies, most for the first time, to account for the uncertainties of the pandemic.2 These temporary policies give public colleges the opportunity to recognize that standardized testing is no longer a fair way to measure students’ future performance and inforces educational inequities, therefore allowing them to permanently remove this requirement for all applicants in the future.

Test Preparation Expenses and Inequities

Financial Costs

College admissions have become increasingly competitive, which has led many students to turn to methods to improve their scores on standardized tests like the SAT or ACT. Unfortunately, these mechanisms come at an expense, therefore making it inaccessible to many students and in turn sacrifices the equity of these examinations.

The expenses of test preparation are incredibly high. Some private tutors cost as much as $1,000 for an hour consultation session, which is an incredibly high price that few can afford. 

While this is an extreme example, even the most popular testing programs, like those provided by Princeton Review and Kaplan, cost upwards of $1,000 for a regular group preparation session.3 While Khan Academy is leading the industry of free test preparation programming, it still does not reach enough students to counter the inequities of costly preparation courses.4 Studies have shown that family income and a student’s ultimate score on the college admission standardized tests are strongly correlated.5

Until recently, the College Board denied that test preparation could significantly impact a students’ score on their exams. However, after the launch of their partnership with Khan Academy, the College Board has recognized that more hours spent practicing leads to greater overall point gains on their exams. 7 While the College Board is encouraging students to use their free platform for test preparation, they are still neglecting the time commitment that test preparation requires. Students are already spending so much time on their schoolwork both in and out of the classroom. These students should not also be expected to spend additional hours preparing for one exam so that they may keep up with the increasing competition of their peers across the country.

Besides test preparation courses, the cost of these exams also unfairly benefits students of higher socioeconomic backgrounds. (Insert statistic about how many times students on average take the SAT and ACT. Insert information about what the fee waiver from the college board covers and what the requirements to qualify are) While fee waivers are available for students from these backgrounds, they are still not available to a large enough extent. If a student wishes to attend a public college in their state, they should not be required to pay to take (and retake) the required standardized examination just one considered in the first place.

 

Costs Beyond Finances

Financial costs are also not the only expenses to consider in the realm of inequitable test preparation. The time commitment that students spend preparing for these tests also is a source of concern. One source sites that students spend an average of 10 to 20 hours a week on practice exams, in tutoring sessions, or going over problems in preparation for either the SAT or ACT.6 This time commitment is simply not feasible for many students who have other responsibilities outside of school, like having an after-school job to support their family or watching their siblings while their parents work. 

Moving Past The Test

Effectiveness of Predicting Student Performance

For many years, standardized tests like the SAT and ACT have been seen as the pillar of college admissions. They have been deemed the most accurate way to predict a student’s future success beyond high school. However, college admissions standardized tests have been proven ineffective in predicting students’ success beyond their first year in college. For those reasons, removing the standardized testing requirements for these public colleges would improve student retention and graduation rates. Public colleges that heavily rely on standardized test scores in the admission process may be accepting students that perform differently in school than on tests. High standardized test scoring students may find themselves greatly struggling beyond their first year of college while lower scoring students might find themself under-challenged. (Include statistics about transfer and graduation rates in test-optional public colleges versus test-required public colleges).

 

Improving Campus Diversity

As more and more colleges dismiss their standardized testing requirements, they begin to notice an increasing diversity in their incoming classes. Colleges that identify as “test optional” have reported more diverse student bodies, including demographics, income, interests, and parental education backgrounds.8 27 out of 28 studied colleges reported increased minority, low-income, and first-generation student populations after removing their standardized testing requirement.9 When college admissions offices are forced to look beyond the test scores, they are able to select students on an individual basis that will contribute to the campus community.

Figure 1: Percentage of Student of Color and First-Generation Students Of Hampshire University

Retrieved From: Talula Cedar James, More colleges are taking an anti-test stance for admissions,https://www.shsoutherner.net/features/2019/11/27/more-colleges-are-taking-an-anti-test-stance-for-admissions/

(Nov. 27, 2019)

 

Improving A College’s Ranking

According to recent studies, colleges that identify as test-optional institutes received more applications than institutions that did require these scores.10 For some rankings, such as the US News College Rankings, a factor that is highly considered when ranking colleges in the United States is acceptance rates.11 Based on that information, if a college has more applicants, they can expect to have a lower acceptance rate and then ultimately a higher ranking. While a lower acceptance rate does not ensure a higher ranking for colleges, when paired with the higher success of students accepted without test scores and higher graduation rates, going test optional may prove to be very good for a college’s reputation. For those reasons, it is in the best interest of the colleges of America to adopt test optional policies in the future.

 

Conclusion

While colleges eventually move past the pandemic, it is the responsibility of public colleges to continue to work as test-optional institutions to ensure equity is instilled throughout the application process. Removing these standardized testing requirements at the public school level will encourage colleges in the future to abolish the examinations in the future entirely. Until then, public colleges have a duty to set an example. From this example, colleges can expect to see more diverse incoming classes, higher rates of student success, and less overall bias in the college application process. 

 

Bibliography

1.https://newsroom.collegeboard.org/nearly-22-million-students-class-2020-took-sat-least-once#:~:text=Nearly%201.1%20million%20students%20in,of%20the%20class%20of%202019.

2.https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/12/29/sat-act-score-test-optional-covid-college-application/3992269001/

3.https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/29/your-money/another-college-expense-preparing-for-the-sat-and-act-.html

4. https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/practice/khan-academy

5.https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2019/05/17/students-need-more-than-an-sat-adversity-score-they-need-a-boost-in-wealth/

6.https://www.kaptest.com/study/sat/how-long-should-i-study-for-the-sat/#:~:text=Generally%2C%20students%20put%20in%2010,to%20put%20into%20your%20prep.

7.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/05/09/can-coaching-truly-boost-sat-scores-for-years-the-college-board-said-no-now-it-says-yes/

8. https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/04/26/604875394/study-colleges-that-ditch-the-sat-and-act-can-enhance-diversity

9. https://tower.mastersny.org/4900/features/privilege-sat/

10. https://www.studyinternational.com/news/universities-us-test-optional/

11.https://www.liberalartscolleges.com/college-acceptance-rates/#:~:text=Colleges%20also%20care%20about%20their,subsequently%20lower%20their%20acceptance%20rate.

 

Notes

• I still think my introduction could be a little more informative 
• I think I need to better incorporate the idea of “public colleges” more specifically throughout the piece to stay on-topic
• I think my conclusion could definitely be stronger or more impactful
• I was having a hard time bringing information about standardized testing in relation to the pandemic into the piece beyond the introduction and conclusion
• I want to make sure my subcategories and heading make sense and are in the appropriate order (they can definitely be worded better) 
• Obviously have to find/make the rest of my infographics but I wanted to make sure they are as relevant as possible (new data should actually be coming out in the next few days now that most college decisions are coming out for high school seniors)
• For some reason when I copy and pasted from my Google Doc the superscripts got messed up so my in-text citation numbers look a little weird

Title: Removing Standardized Test Requirements for Public Colleges

Public colleges are meant to be an accessible way for students to receive an education after high school. They provide a more affordable and convenient way for in-state students to further their education. Currently, many of these public institutions require their applicants to submit standardized test scores. In the past, standardized test scores have been used as the official scale to compare applicants from a variety of backgrounds. However, the mechanisms of standardized testing have become all too biased at the expense of equity and accessibility. The influence of test preparation and retake costs have led tests like the SAT and ACT to no longer be fair measurements of all students’ performance.  As of 2020, hundreds of colleges across the country have dropped their standardized testing policies for the first time to account for the uncertainties of the pandemic. These temporary policies give public colleges the opportunity to recognize that standardized testing is no longer a fair way to measure students’ future performance and allow them to permanently remove this requirement for all applicants.

Questions:

• I think my title might be a little awkward so if you have any suggestions about that in particular I’d love to hear them!
• I’m not sure if my first 2 sentences flow that well with the rest of the paragraph because I want to set up the idea of public colleges as accessible and how standardized tests make them less accessible, so any comments about improving clarity would be really helpful!

In terms of the nature of the situation, I think that my issue brief can be tailored to consider how standardized testing requirements have been affected by the pandemic. There have been a lot of new considerations about standardized testing in the college admissions process because the pandemic has significantly limited access to tests among other factors. Schools have increasingly dropped their testing requirement, so the results of the pandemic may make it significantly easier for colleges to consider the practicality of removing their testing requirements permanently. I may also touch upon the general trend of schools getting rid of their standardized testing policies, even before the pandemic. I think that both of these rhetorical situations will work in favor of solving this issue and make my audience more willing to consider this change.

In terms of audience, I think that this issue brief would be best tailored to admissions officers at public higher-level institutions. However, as I am particularly interested in public college programs, my audience may also include members of the state government. The only problem with having the state government officials as the audience is that authority over state schools greatly varies by state so it may not be incredibly effective across the board. So, I think the best way to go about presenting this issue is by targeting the public college administration directly because they universally have the most information about admissions and policies for admissions.

For my issue brief, I want to look at standardized test requirements in the admissions process of public colleges. I’ve addressed similar topics in my previous civic issues blog posts, and I think that this issue combines aspects of the problems standardized tests include. This is an intervention in a policy discussion because the current pandemic is causing a lot of higher education institutions to remove their standardized test requirement. In recent years, the University of California schools, which are public, have announced their policy which explains the schools’ plan to permanently remove standardized tests from their admissions process in light of the biases these tests may contain. The current policy that most (but not all) public colleges have in place includes requiring standardized test scores for admission consideration. However, the pandemic is bringing light to the decreasing importance of these tests as well as the challenges they present to many students.

The problem of college admission standardized testing bias has an inadvertent cause. SAT/ACT scores submitted by students to these public schools have already faced a “filtration” by the nature of the tests including factors like cost and prep courses. When these public colleges enforce the requirements for these exams, they are inadvertently enforcing the bias that accompanies the process of these exams. While colleges do strive for a diverse student body, they may not recognize that these standardized tests may actually be a boundary for certain parts of a student body.

I believe that a system change would be the best way to propose this policy because it requires an entire change in a large aspect of the admission process across public institutions. However, a capacity builder approach may be beneficial until colleges can officially make such a large-scale change. By educating college admission officers through programs and workshops, they may be able to better advocate for change themselves or take the students’ problems into consideration when they read applications on an individual basis. The multi-pronged approach would most likely make this policy seem more sustainable and achievable for institutions.

Additional Sources: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-12/uc-should-permanently-eliminate-sat-and-all-standardized-tests-for-admissions-experts-say

 

I believe that the only way to truly overcome a fear is to confront it directly.

It all started in my dreaded 8th grade public speaking class. The bottomless pit in my stomach deepens as I drag my feet to the front of the fluorescently lit classroom with air that feeels especially cold. I’m supposed to present my instructional speech to teach the class how to braid hair. My friend, who volunteered for the demonstration, sits at the front of the class, waiting for me to start braiding her hair. My hands shake so much that the braid turns into a knot. The notes I desperately cling to are shaking, making more noise than me. Then, I’m out cold.

I can say with the utmost certainty that I avoided public speaking for quite sometime after that. Whenever I signed up for classes, I avoided any that included a presentation during the year. There were times when I did a whole project but would pretend that I hadn’t just so that I wouldn’t have to step into that spotlight at the front of the classroom. I should probably be embarrassed by how fiercely I avoided any time in the public eye, but it really did seem like the only option.

I lived like that for four years.

But then, an audition sign up list was posted for my high school’s musical. You’d think that someone with textbook-definition stage fright and no musical background might have thought against signing up, but for some reason, I was tempted to. I thought back to the things I had missed out on because of my fear—all of the karaoke nights and interesting discussion-based classes. I was sick of it. Before I could change my mind, I scribbled my name onto the back of the call sheet.

I paced the halls, waiting to be called into the choir room. In those moments, I contemplated just walking away. There wouldn’t have been any consequences. My mind tried to formulate an exit strategy, but my body would not let me leave. When my name was called, I dragged myself into the room, just as I had back in my public speaking class. This time, the room was filled with my peers and a dozen professionals all waiting for the music to start. I faked a smile and strained to hear the music over my heartbeat. Two minutes later, it was over, and I emerged with a smile from ear to ear.

The audition hadn’t gone well at all. I forgot most of the words and didn’t hit the notes. But I didn’t care. When the callback list came back, I didn’t even bother to check. I knew I wasn’t showtune material, but I never expected to be. I had done it. More importantly, I had chosen to do it.

I believe that the only way to overcome a fear is to confront it head-on. I still wouldn’t consider myself confident in front of an audience, but I definitely won’t drop a class because of my fear anymore. I believe that if I had been forced to go to that audition that day, I wouldn’t have overcome my fear. The biggest milestone for me was recognizing that I had a choice and still going for it. No one would ever know the difference if I didn’t do it, but I decided to throw caution to the wind. It’s not that the audition went perfectly, or even well. It is the fact that I chose to fake the confidence, just do it, and move forward.

I believe that the only way to truly overcome a fear is to confront it voluntarily.

The deep pit in my stomach deepened as I dragged my feet to the front of the fluorescently lit classroom with air that especially cold. My 8th-grade public speaking class was the one graduation requirement I dreaded weeks in advance. That day I was presenting my instructional speech where I was supposed to be teaching the class how to braid hair. I remember my friend, who volunteered for the demonstration, sitting at the front of the class waiting for me to start braiding her hair. My hands are shaking so much that the braid turns into a knot. The notes I desperately cling to are shaking too, making more noise than me. Then, I’m out cold.

I can say with the utmost certainty that I avoided public speaking for quite sometime after that. Whenever I signed up for classes, I made sure to avoid any that included a presentation during the year. There were times when I did a project and was so proud of it, but would pretend that I had forgotten it just so that I wouldn’t have to step in front of that spotlight at the front of the classroom. I probably should be embarrassed by how fiercely I avoided any time in the public eye but it really did seem like the only rational option.

I lived like that for at least 4 years. I had successfully gone without having to do a presentation or speak to an audience, or at least as little as I possibly could.

But then, an audition sign up list was posted for my high school’s musical. You’d think that someone with textbook-definition stage fright and no musical background might have thought against signing up but for some reason, I scribbled my name onto the back of the call sheet. No one told me to. The anticipation within me as I paced the halls up and down waiting to be called into the choir room rose with each step. In those moments, I seriously contemplated just walking away. There would have been no consequences. My mind raced trying to formulate an exit strategy but my legs would not let me leave. When my name was called, I dragged my legs into the room, just as I had back in my public speaking class. This time, not only were my peers there but also about a dozen professionals all waiting for the music to start. I stood up, faked a smile, and strained to hear the music over my heartbeat. Two minutes later, it was over and I emerged with a smile from ear to ear. The audition hadn’t gone well at all. I forgot most of the words and didn’t hit a lot of the notes. But I didn’t care. I had done it and it was over. More importantly, I had chosen to do it.

I believe that the only way to truly overcome a fear is to confront it heads on. I’ll be honest. I still wouldn’t consider myself confident or comfortable in front of an audience, but it definitely wouldn’t make me turn an assignment in late or drop a class. I believe that if I had been forced to go to that audition that day, I wouldn’t have overcome my fear. The biggest milestone for me was recognizing that I had a choice and still going for it. There was no grade hanging over my head, and no one would ever know the difference if I didn’t do it.  I decided to throw caution to the wind which looking back on it seems really reckless of me but it worked out. It’s not that the audition went perfectly, or even well. It is the fact that I chose to fake the confidence, just do it, and move forward.

For my Civic Issue Blog, I’ve decided to work under the umbrella of education and specifically look into equity when it comes to standardized testing. There’s definitely a lot of information out there about this topic, and there are definitely a lot of specific stats that go along with it. I want to specifically look at how well standardized testing is at accurately depicting education readiness given the rise of things like prep classes, content, and the cost of it all.

As for my passion blog, I have decided to stick to my old topic which was taking on a recipe from a different culture every week. I will continue to make the recipes at home and then write about that experience in my blog post. Something I’d like to touch on more with my blog this semester is the cultural aspect of each dish which is something I haven’t focused enough on in my past posts.