2 february 2004
ncssm
No Child Left Behind
Students,
schools
districts, the program in place
aggravates drop out rates and
penalizes teaehers who are try
ing to improve test scores by
directing funds for teacher
bonuses and school grants to
higher scoring areas. As one
Boston teacher said of the
problems confronting one of
his minority students, "she
might be denied a diploma
because of one test. She under
stands the funda
mentals of writ
ing, but, as a
bilingual stu
dent, she needs
more time, assis
tance, and struc
ture to work on
her skills."
Low-scoring students do
not get help, they get hell - and
so do their teachers. Even
Harcourt Brace, the publisher
of the , Stanford-9 used in
California, stated, "Another
misuse of standardized
achievement test scores is
making promotion and reten
tion decisions for individual
students solely on the basis of
these scores...national stan
dardized achievement tests are
not built to serve this pur
pose." Students, teaehers and
schools now stand together to
face judgment from a stack of
bubble sheets. The conse
quences of low scores with
"No Child Left Behind" have
created high-pressure environ-
from page one
ments for students and teach
ers, which, in New York and
Iowa, led teachers to help stu
dents cheat or alter scores in
dozens of schools in an
attempt to get funding.
Standardized testing produces
standardized students in the
long-term by forcing school
curriculums to conform to the
topics covered by national
tests, discarding individual
thought and
teachers and
now stand
together to face judment'
from a stack of bubble
sheets."
critical think
ing in favor
of conformi
ty. The cur
rent crisis lies
in the fact
that standard
ized testing augments many
existing problems in the public
school system, alienates teach
ers, and widens the gap
between high and low-income
districts, punishing both the
teachers and students in low-
income areas. The "No Child
Left Behind" edict penalizes
teachers who work with under
privileged students in the areas
that most need educational
effort and improvement and
pulls funding from the schools
that deal with our most neg
lected group of students. The
short-term affects teachers,
students, and schools; the
long-term concerns education,
society, and culture, basically,
the United States as a whole.
The Emmersonians Out there,
Running forever from the night,
Daemons of the hellish past.
To the light I run before trapped.
Sunset! Forever caught by your dark eyes.
Peace, Aaron Vallejo
3BL Girls,
I love you guys!
Be good next year
(and the remain
der of this year).
Nancy
My Three Best
Friends,
Thanks Angela, Megan
and Rany for being
there for me no mat
ter what. I'll never
forget Miranda,
Samantha, Carrie,
Charlotte, Caesar,
late night excursions,
all nighters of study
ing and talking,
movies, cab rides,
dances, xanga posts,
and our senior year
together!
Love,
Your favorite
Phagocyte L
yuan yan^,
yuan, you ma£e my £eart
yo lowzi! S7£now w/iere
you live. Gaff me!
/oooe^ your Secre!
(Tlcfmirer
Calculus A-block
Derivatives and
integrals,
Newton’s and
Euler's, too!
Calculus is the
limit
And so are you!
-Guess who?
An Update on your MFCs
Kellen Carpenter
T he Multicultural Peer
Counselors have had a
busy year. The MPC
program has undergone some
major changes this year and
enjoyed a fair
amount of suc
cess. Due to
the renovation
of Bryan, the
MPCs lost
their office but
still try to
maintain a
presence as an
available coun
seling resource
for all students
at all times.
The lack of an
office has not
at all hindered
the activities or
programs that
the MPCs have
sponsored or
provided. Collaborating with
other groups and clubs on
campus, the MPCs have
organized regular movie show
ings and tea-time discussions
of the issues that affect the
world, as well as major events
and festivals, which have
Phillip Golladay,
"Arik Sharon,
Ougadadougao, and
Mt. Kilimanjaro
When it comes to his
tory, His knowledge,
we all borrow
He knows The
Colossus at Rhodes,
and the CN Tower
For sure, there's no
one with more brain
power
From Iceland to
Greenland to Papua
New Guinea and
Cyprus
Phillip knows them
all cuz he's our
genius
He’s conquered the
world, and his mes
sage is spread
He's devoured Larry
Sprinkle between two
pieces of bread"
Phillip, You are an
incredibly talented
team member, and we
all wanted to thank
you for your contribu
tions to the team.
Go Phillip!
become a regular feature of the
NCSSM landscape.
'Teatime with Topics' has
led to many interesting discus
sions oh controversial current
events, such as gay rights and
Your friendly neighborhood MPC’s strike a pose.
the issues of religion and the
state, in an intimate, cozy set
ting, while the series of MPC-
sponsored movies provokes
thought as students respond to
viewings of films such as
Bowling for Columbine and
The Laramie Project. Diwali
Everyone (literally),
I love everyone,
even if I don't know
you.
Melanie
Pringle
.iC! ‘
and World Fest have brought a
little bit of the broader world
into the bubble of NCSSM,
exposing students to cultures
and beliefs that they may have
been unfamiliar with in a fun
and exciting
setting.
In the
spring, the
MPCs plan to
continue cur
rent activities
along with
some new
additions. The
World
Religions
Conference
will feature a
panel of repre
sentatives from
various reli
gions answer
ing and dis
cussing some
of the major
questions of faith and spiritu
ality. The MPCs will also be
conducting a seminar based on
discussion of world issues and
focusing on poverty in
America, emphasizing service
learning projects.
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3loue you
To: Morgan W.,
Morgan R., Tessa,
Pavani, Victoria, and
Guiane!
I love you all more
than words can say!
'04 Baby!
--Kristie Spellman
Oiae,
SaSs/zmi and Si/a suffer
fus/erfess Sy l/iee
- - Gnoy of /leauen !
yours
DCi/lon
i Women
"fy and men:
^ I finally got
a little face
time with
Tiger lily. She says
hi. I wanted to share
some Tigerlily words
of wisdom with you,
so she said, "Tell
them to get a life
please. The other day
I saw a woman get
ting off a bus with
only a trenchcoat on,
and I smiled, because
it was perfect. She
was doing exactly
what she wanted to
do, and wasn't afraid
of her body or what
people thought of it. I
think that's all I need
to say. Oh, and
Nothing is the new
black. " Then she
started laughing and '
ran. away in four-inch
heels. I'm a little
confused right now.
-Bryan