Y3K Tutor In Your Home

Lower Standards in Boston

September 4, 2019 By Y3K

90%-100% of graduates at most high schools throughout Massachusetts meet the minimum number of courses in English, math, science and other core subjects that state guidelines call for. However the Boston public school system has ignored those guidelines, called MassCore. MassCore standards include four years of English and math, three years of science and social studies, and two years of foreign language.

Instead Boston Public Schools have opted to keep lower standards for earning a diploma than the rest of Massachusetts. For example, Boston requires only three years of math instead of the four required at schools following MassCore. The reason for the lower standards is so they can increase high school graduation rates. Many claim that these lower standards de-value their diploma compared to most other communities that have significantly higher standards.

Lower Boston standards have some major consequences. In 2017 only 31% of Boston high school graduates met the state’s MassCore guidelines according to state data, putting the rest behind their peers at other Massachusetts schools. 50% of Boston high school graduates who enroll in college fail to earn degrees within six years, according to a report by the Boston Private Industry Council. Many of these students that have earned a high school diploma with lower standards, felt academically unprepared for college. A state report showed that nearly 75% of Boston graduates who went on to community college required at least one remedial course.

Imagination

September 3, 2019 By Y3K

Imagination can be just as important and sometimes even more important than knowledge.

SAT Cancels Adversity Score

August 27, 2019 By Y3K

The College Board has walked back plans to add an “adversity score” for students taking the SAT college admissions test, an idea of creating a score using a combination of factors including their socioeconomic background.

College Board said in a statement on its website Tuesday that it would no longer display a single “score” that combined high school and neighborhood information about students taking the SAT, an exam used to grant admission by many colleges and universities.

The company that administers the SAT had plans to expand a pilot program called the Environmental Context Dashboard to 150 additional schools by the end of this year, up from a test run at 50 schools. The change came at a time of increased criticism about the role of wealth and race in college admissions and education.

The plan to assign a single score faced backlash from some parents, students and educators. The new tool in its place has been renamed Landscape.

“We listened to thoughtful criticism and made Landscape better and more transparent,” David Coleman, the CEO of College Board, said in a statement announcing the change. “Landscape provides admissions officers more consistent background information so they can fairly consider every student, no matter where they live and learn.”

The tool looks at such factors as whether the student’s school is in a city, suburb or rural area, senior class size at the high school, percentage of children eligible for free and reduced priced lunches, average SAT scores, as well as participation and performance in Advanced Placement courses.

The tool will also take into consideration neighborhood and high school factors, such as college attendance, household structure, median family income, housing stability, education level and crime.

College Board said that the tool is meant to provide “consistent information about a student’s neighborhood and high school, helping colleges consider context in the application review process.”

The adversity score, called Environmental Context Dashboard, previously took into consideration a student’s neighborhood, family and school, and then assigned the student a number based on those factors.

The score would fall on a scale between 1 and 100, with an average score of 50 — anything above that would show hardship.