cB News____issue #3, August 2005 Options

[cBNewsStaff]

Members, please do not post any comments in this thread. Any questions/comments/suggestions, may either be PMed to one of our editors, listed in the editors' notes for both your convenience and ours, or posted in the issue 3 discussion thread; we will respond to your comments accordingly. Again, please do not post any comments in this thread; they will be deleted and you will either receive a verbal warning or a raise in your warning level - you may even face suspension.

Editors’ Notes

As always, we would like to take this time to thank our readers that encourage us to keep this newspaper consistent, by PM, viewing regularly, and applying. We hope all our readers understand how hard we are working to bring cB News to createBlog. Even with school starting, a few of our team members gave extra effort to write more than one article required of them to bring you all this excellent third issue. Though we've pulled through in the past two publications together, this issue truly says a lot about our team work.

If you are interested in joining our news team, feel free to apply; we always welcome more help! If you enjoy journalism and want to become more involved in the createBlog community, please fill out an an application form; if you feel uncomfortable with your application open to the public, please PM your application to either Fae (uninspiredfae) or James (Marchhare2UrAlice). Please note that we are currently not looking for editors; other than that, we welcome all applicants!

If you would like to be featured in future issues, feel free to send us a letter to the editor; please PM the letter, no more than 250 words, to this account (cBNewsStaff). We will consider all for publication in a new "letters to the editor" section, and we reserve the right to edit for content and clarity. Your cB username will be included if your letter is chosen for publication, so be careful who you offend! In any case, please enjoy our third issue of the createBlog news!

- The cB News Team

Administrators: Fae [uninspiredfae], James [MarchHare2UrAlice]
Editors: Anna [Azarel], Justin [CrackedRearView], Ruth [suddenly she]
Runners: Kiera [mzkandi], Sidney [ItzOnlySydney]

(Note: Recent additions to the cB News Team are not listed.)

Table of Contents
01 Editors' Notes
02 Unveiling: krnxswat- cB News Staff
03 The Push for a News Archive - cB News Staff
04 The First cB Debate Competition - cB News Staff
05 Xanga of the Month: July 2005 - Ruth [suddenly she]
06 Unneccessary Rap Battles - Radhika [not_your_average]
07 YOU'RE Hosted? - Sammi [headphones]
08 The Celebration Has Been Cancelled - Justin [CrackedRearView]
09 School of Thought Scores - Justin [sadolakced acid]
10 College Tips - Fae & Anna [uninspiredfae & Azarel]
11 Not Your Parents' Rock 'n' Roll - Ashley [antix10_kos]
12 Summer Concerts: Warped Tour, Ozzfest, & Sounds of the Underground - Brie [Despise]
13 Album Review: In Between Dreams - Anna [Azarel]
14 Featured Films - Anna [Azarel]
15 Featured Poem- cB News Staff
16 Advice Abby - "Abby"

[cBNewsStaff]

School of Thought Scores
Justin [sadolakced acid]
August 2005

School of Thought Scores

One of the greatest benefits of living in the United States of America is its public school system. Now, it's rare to find an adult who cannot read or write; most the nation graduates from high school, and more people are going on to college (and beyond). The United States has a seemingly first rate education system. But a monster lurks within.

Meet Mr. Standardized–Testing; he can supposedly accurately measure aptitude, academic success, and intelligence – he can sift the wheat from the chaff. With his help, education has been changed; a teacher's success can be based directly on before and after tests scores, where, in the past, student opinions would have done. Standardized tests can see how to improve students, teachers, and schools. Standardized–Testing is a god–sent for analysts, who want to see the state of students. Mr. Standardized–Testing is extremely skilled in turning a person with wit and humor and intelligence into a social security number with a score beside it. Apparently, this is progress for education.

Meet Mr. Standardized–Testing: he gives a concrete number on which pupils can be compared – there is no more ambiguity about who is smarter; Mr. Standardized–Testing sorts this out. Mr. Standardized–Testing can also sort out which race is truly more intelligent; Mr. Standardized–Testing can sort out which students need more help – he can sort out who needs "special treatment."

The United States is growing increasingly reliant on test scores. Such test scores determine which schools pass or fail. Which students pass or fail. Scores determine what colleges a student can get into, which teachers need to be fired; they mean everything now. They come with Mr. Standardized–Testing, in all his gilded glory. Tests scores decide futures. And people want to control their futures.

Meet Student A. Student A must get a perfect score on the SATs. In order to do so, he studies for a test that the creators say measures inherent ability. He buys 500 dollars' worth of test prep books. Ironically, one of them is sold by the very creators of the SAT –the College Board. So much for "measuring inherent ability." He spends his nights taking practice tests. Not yet satisfied, he spends another thousand dollars enrolling in a top-notch prep class. It doesn't matter what the number on the bill is; what matters is the number on the score sheet. Because, if it's high enough, he'll earn back thousands more in scholarships than what he spent on the test preparation. Intellectual though? Forget it. There's no time for that – it's all spent memorizing SAT vocabulary word lists or test strategies. Student A doesn't need to learn knowledge. Student A needs to learn how to best take the SATs; student A is a slave to the score.

Meet Teacher B. Teacher B teaches 3rd grade. For 2 years, his class has failed to reach the minimum score; if they fail again this year, he's fired. Teacher B does all he can, short of teaching the children – because even if they learn, it won't help because it's about beating the test. Teacher B spends hours educating his pupils on how to bubble in each problem, about how to eat before the test, and how to sleep before the exam. Teacher B teaches his pupils nothing of knowledge – teacher B teaches his pupils how best to take a standardized test. Teacher B, and all his pupils, is a slave to the score.

They are all slaves to the score. Education isn't about learning the philosophy of Plato or the poetry of Homer; wisdom can't be measured in a test. The ultimate truth of standardized testing is that it doesn't measure intelligence (ironically, IQ tests are standardized tests). It doesn't measure how far someone will go in life, or how successful they will be in college. The only thing a standardized test measures is the ability to take that test. And it is this veneer, this hollow stone that has become the foundation of American education. And it is only a matter of time before it crumbles.

School of Thought Scores ©2005 by sadolakced acid