Exit Exams: Making Sure Students Are Prepared

The controversy of exit exams, which has been debated in my school district, points out a glaring problem with the Pennsylvania education system.

It is graduation night, everyone is taking pictures, people are crying, and diplomas are being handed out. A diploma means a high school education and the ability to succeed. Or does it? Diplomas in Pennsylvania currently have no real value. Students can graduate without having learned anything. Those students receive “empty diplomas”. They are given diplomas but the students have no skill and will not succeed in the real world. To prevent empty diplomas, equalize their value, and to properly prepare students, exit exams should be required by Pennsylvania high schools. Exit exams are not high stake tests, and they replace the final exams a student would have to take.

In Pennsylvania there are 501 different school districts. Each one of those school districts has their own different graduation requirements. Each diploma has a different meaning. To equalize the meaning of diplomas, graduation requirements should be the same all throughout the state. Exit exams would be the standard requirement for graduation. Then there would not be a diploma from Central Dauphin School District and a diploma from Central Columbia School District, both representing two different standards and levels of education. It would be a Pennsylvania diploma, not a district diploma.

Instituting Graduation Competency Assessments (GCA’s) would be extremely beneficial to the Pennsylvania education system. Graduation Competency Assessments are used to indicate whether students have mastered the skills necessary to succeed outside of high school.  The Pennsylvania Department of Education states that, “The GCA’s are a series of pass/fail exams-not one test-administered throughout high school.” The GCA’s measure the level of English, math, science, and social studies skills expected of students based on the state’s academic standards.

Students will take the GCA’s when they have completed the corresponding class.

Instead of taking a final exam, students would take the GCA’s. Then at the end of a student’s senior year there would be no need for one high pressure test.

What if a student does not pass the GCA’s? Students are allowed to take the tests an unlimited amount of times until they pass. Plus, students only have to retake the certain test(s) they failed, not the whole series again.

There is a problem with the Pennsylvania high school diploma. That problem is that diplomas have no value. There needs to be assurance that when a person is handed a Pennsylvania diploma, he or she has all the skills necessary to succeed. By adding Graduation Competency Assessments to graduation requirements, the problem can be solved. After all, “A diploma should be worth more than the paper it’s printed on.”

Writing a Resume

It seems like on my never ending quest to make this large campus small I am always doing applications for one club position or another. I’m supposed to be involved to get the most out of my Penn State experience, right? I love getting involved, I’m happiest when my planner is jam packed with meetings and activities. In getting involved, I’ve done my share of resumes and question and answer applications.

While completing these applications I’ve learned to be a more skillful rhetor in order to make myself sound as amazing and competitive as possible.

Some tips:

Details, Details, Details

      People will remember a more detailed sentence over a bland general statement. In order to be the most memorable candidate details are of the upmost importance when constructing answers to questions on an application.

Confidence is Key

      You’ve done a lot of great things in your life; don’t be afraid to admit it.  While you don’t want to come off as overzealous, you also don’t need to down play your achievements. Don’t leave out extracurricular activities because they seem unimportant. Every little thing counts. Be confident in what you’ve done and word your answers so your pride shows.

Strong Language

      As young rhetors we’ve focused on this one in class. The point of an application is to show off yourself intelligence, and if you use simple language and sentence structure, astuteness isn’t going to come across. Anyone remembering one of the many conversations we’ve had on choosing strong verbs?

Hopefully these tips can aid the rest of you on your journey to Penn State involvement.

Everyone Makes Mistakes

On Sunday I was inducted into one of Penn State’s honors societies, Phi Eta Sigma, and as is customary for important events that involve giving speeches to young people, we had a key notes speaker whose purpose, I assume, was to inspire us.

Had I read what this Penn State alum had written, I am sure I could have been better inspired, however his public speaking skills made it hard to focus on what he was actually saying. Someone should have shared with him the speech tips given to us in class and from our book.   

As a self-diagnosed air quoter, it breaks my heart to see other people making my same mistake and struggling with their own addiction. In my defense though, I am an eighteen year old girl, who grew up in the 90’s when all the cool kids used air quotes. I am not a fully grown man, with a college degree and an important accounting job.

Our keynotes speaker air quoted not once, but twice during his speech. First when he referred to the freshman induction class as “young professionals” and the second time he used air quotes was to emphasize “cup of tea.” This was a very nicely organized induction ceremony and I do not think it was an appropriate time or place for air quotes.  

Another thing he did while speaking that bothered me, was the way he phrased his sentences. It was not natural or even correct. He threw away the end of his sentences and introductory clauses, often pausing between the two. When someone stops midsentence, I tend to think about the awkward pause and phrasing they are creating instead of processing what they’ve begun to say, then when they stumble on to the rest of the sentence I have already forgotten what was said to begin with. It is very distracting for an audience and made it difficult for our speaker to hold our attention.

I finally have an appreciation for the CAS requirement at Penn State. Thank you for trying to make me a better speaker. I want to learn as much as possible so I don’t end up like this guy.

The Girl Effect

You know those pesky little advertisements that pop-up on the side of your web page? Well, sometimes I click on them depending on what it is (shoes on sale is a definite must!) I’d like to share with all of you one of the more serious ads I clicked on. Simple white words on a black background that read, “The Girl Effect.” intrigued me.  After watching this video a few years ago, I became passionate about this issue. This video expresses the effect one girl can have on a world issue; poverty.  

While I watched this video, I quickly became concerned for the safety and well-being of the little cartoon girl, who represents over 600 million girls in poverty in the world right now. This means this video achieved its goal of getting me to feel personally invested in 600 million people, in only 3 minutes.  

Because there is no narration, the music plays a key role in the audience’s feelings. The music has a sense of urgency to it. You can hear the clock running out of time within the beat. There are also two different moods; daunting and optimistic.  While our little heroine struggles to avoid all the obstacles that life has thrown her way, the music matches with a serious, almost haunting tune. Then once she receives the help she needs, the music changes. The same song is being played but in a different mood. Now the little girl has hope, reflected in the change of music. There is also a brief pause where the audience is asked, “Not the life you imagined for a 12 year old right?” This break, that only lasts a second, offers a moment to reflect on the horrors this girl has just gone through. After having a moment to let us digest, the video goes right on with the solution.

In this video, the importance in the selection of music is evident.  Although our project has to have narration, I will be keeping in mind the importance of the music that accompanies.

Interested in The Girl Effect? Check it out.