February_2015

Page 1

BETH’S BURGERS

IS COLLEGE NECESSARY?

Writer reviews local burger restaurant [ REVIEW, page 14

hilights Volume 63 ß Issue 4

STUDENT DEVOTED TO DANCE

Two writers argue whether high school grads need to attend college or not

Junior Isabel Beard has been a dancer since the age of five [ SPORTS, page 13

[ OPINION, page 3

for students, by students

William R. Boone High School ß 1000 E. Kaley St. ß Orlando, Fl. 32806

Friday, February 6, 2015 ß hilights.org

ßtoptweets

End of year TESTING WOES By CONOR KVATEK Yearly testing is commonplace for students of all grade levels. But this year is different with the new state mandated, locally created exams, commonly known as “End of Year” testing, that has forced students and teachers alike to somewhat blindly prepare for them. To fulfill the state mandate, all counties had to create an EOY test for kindergarten to 12th grade for all courses offered. Advanced Placement classes will not have an EOY, as they already have the College Board test. High school tests are 50 multiple choice How did you feel about the questions. For students, the most annoying part of state mandated locally created the new testing method is how unprepared exams? they felt. Being a standards based test, rather than skills based – like the FCAT, neither the students nor the teachers are completely clear on what the tests will entail. The testing is “Teachers are forbidden from seeing the excessive and actual test, so there is a fair bit of guesswork stresses students involved. For example, if the outline for a out. We didn’t law class says something like ‘the test will prepare for tests cover police interactions with citizens,’ what well due to the exactly does that mean? I, as a teacher, might changing of the teachers. focus on interrogations while test-makers Camden Parrish, senior thought searches were more important. So, the students are dealing a bit with the fear of the unknown,” Court Procedures teacher John Dempsey said. I felt that it was a Students’ biggest concern is that they no fairly easy test. At longer have a semester exam counting for first I was nervous, 10 percent of each semester grade. Now, thinking it was there is only one test at the end of the year going to be hard. that accounts for 20 percent of the final But when I actually grade. This means that if a student does not do well on the end of year test, he may not took it, I thought it was easy. pass the class. Having two tests worth 10 Henry Nguyen, junior percent allowed students a second chance at improving their grade. “For a rushed pilot year, 20 percent may In class we got a be a bit much. Perhaps 10 percent this year. study guide but it When the issues have been worked out didn’t help at all. I maybe 20 percent then,” anthropology and philosophy teacher Alyssa Goss said. felt unprepared. Because teachers do not precisely know Mekayla Hudak, what is on the test, it brings stress upon senior them to infer what the standards mean in order to teach the information a student needs to know. “[The EOY] is the same [as semester exams] because it’s still a test, but it’s not one the teacher made up. They didn’t know what was going to be on the test so they didn’t know what to review,” senior Karla Rivera, who took the economics EOY, said. Even if a student were to spend every week pouring over textbooks and notes the highest one can achieve on the test is a 95 percent. This is problematic for students who need a higher score to be bumped up a letter grade. However, any student who takes the exam will not score below a 59, which could be a relief for those worried about failing. When it all comes down to it, the only advice students and teachers can give is to study notes and hit the books so that one might feel better prepared for the test. Regardless, students and teachers alike are worried about the impending tests.

ßyourthoughts

@boonepubs Check page 8 to find the Taylor Swift song that fits your relationship

ßrandomfact Norway once knighted a penguin.

INDEX opinion campus & local special

2 4 8

features sports restaurant review entertainment

11 12 14 16

GET INVOLVED Check us out on facebook follow us on Twitter @boonepubs

SEE AND HEAR MORE go to hilights.org for photo galleries, soundslides featuring students and weekly sports’ beats


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
February_2015 by Boone Publications - Issuu