15. April 2010 by student.

Each year students across Florida sit down to for a week’s worth of standardized testing.  These tests are known collectively as the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test). The outcomes of these tests affect the overall school’s grade and whether or not the child passes their grade level. But is there too much riding on those results and are Florida teachers spending too much time teaching test material rather than including other aspects of the subjects being tested or providing skills that will help to solve those questions in different ways? The FCAT has become the main focus of schools all across Florida and teaching that adheres to its guidelines has severely hindered the learning potential of Florida’s children, thus preventing them from true success in college or a future career.The Fcat isn’t just any kind of test, so what exactly is it? According to the definition given by the Florida Board of Education, “The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) is part of Florida’s overall plan to increase student achievement by implementing higher standards. The FCAT, administered to students in Grades 3-11, consists of criterion-referenced tests (CRT) measuring selected benchmarks in mathematics, reading, science, and writing from the Sunshine State Standards (SSS) (Frequently).” There are two specific grade levels at which students are required to pass the FCAT in order to advance. Third graders must pass the reading FCAT with at least a 2 on the 1-5 scale in order for them to move on to fourth grade; high school tenth graders are required to pass the tenth grade reading and math sections in order to graduate (Frequently). The problem here is that the educational future of these students is reliant upon passing one test. If the student has failed the FCAT imagine the implications that could cause for not only their future college selections, but what they are allowed to have taught to them from then on. For example, in high school if you have not passed the reading section of the FCAT you are forced into a remedial reading class, which takes up the space of an elective that the student may have been interested in. How can teachers and administrators be sure that the right kids are ending up in those classes without looking at their GPA or class history? Many students could have good grades in their English and math classes, but when it comes to test day all that knowledge is forgotten. Can the FCAT distinguish a smart student who has a bad test day from a student who really struggles with the material? It can’t; the same goes for other forms of standardized testing, such as the ACT and the SAT. Standardized tests can’t distinguish bad testers from good testers and that’s a big problem.So what is the most important problem with teaching to the test? The problem is that students have been taught material that will only help them succeed on the test, rather than broadening their minds to all aspects of a subject. This problem isn’t strictly the teacher’s fault; it comes mostly out of the pressure from the state, from the district and from the principals that is put on them to make sure that kids get good grades on the FCAT. Based on FCAT score outcomes, Florida schools, as in any other states, receive a grade of A, B, C, D, or F. A lot rides on these tests, especially when a school getting a good grade meant huge funding rewards before the economy’s downfall. If schools do poorly, it could mean potential closure or being “subjected to various indignities” (What’s). These pressures are what cause teachers to devote all their time to teaching the Sunshine State Standards (SSS) which really only apply to FCAT test material. The tests are not only there to see the students progress, but to measure the teacher’s ability to teach the material. Thus meaning it is testing to the curriculum (What’s), which is what education should be, but there is still something missing. Another issue is that teaching for FCAT success limits the ability of a student to attack a problem that requires more time and attention than the simple questions given on the FCAT. Questions on the test are meant to only take one –two minutes if they are multiple-choice. “If the intellectual processes required to solve a really complicated problem are not essentially the same as those required to solve these simpler problems, then a student prepared only to solve standardized test problems could well lack the mental preparation required to attack really hard problems  (What’s).” Children need the ability to solve hard problems in the future, especially since colleges aren’t run by the state, meaning their curriculum isn’t based on those Sunshine State Standards. Children won’t be prepared do to the mental work once they get to college, nor will they have the mental capacity to learn more than just the standard basic English and Math. By then they may have lost interest in learning all together.  That is a huge problem, especially since America’s standards for individual intelligence are constantly being pushed to expand, making it more difficult for Florida’s children to keep up. The lack of ability to solve hard problems could mean the loss of a future career.That is the real catch with the FCAT, along with other standardized tests. From elementary on children are working to get into college, to eventually have a career. In high school getting into the college of their choice becomes increasingly more important as the child’s ideals expand with their education. When they get to college, is where the trouble starts. By now, they have no idea how to do the work that is required of them, because even with all the “preparation” high school offers, they will never fully be ready to take on twelve pages of math homework or having to do research for two different classes where the answers aren’t laid out before them in multiple-choice form. So what we have now is an influx of kids that have spent their entire elementary through high school life answering only multiple-choice questions, getting into college and having no idea how to handle the work load. In essence they have to completely relearn how to study, answer questions, and think about the information that is presented to them.

One other flaw is standardized testing’s tie to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. NCLB is, “An act to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice so that no child is left behind (Public).” It works by focusing all school reform off the results of standardized testing.

Before the passing of the NCLB, all standardized testing had received much left emphasis in the classroom. Once it came into law, is when the FCAT, and many other state tests, began to lose its supporters. The program originally offered money incentives to schools and districts across the country that did well on their test results. The act caused education to become a competition where it was every school and district for itself and in essence it left all children behind along with their hope of a good education.

These tests can’t accurately determine whether or not a school’s students have been taught well. There are so many more factors the go into doing well on a test than just knowing the material. Test taking requires focus, confidence, comfort, low stress environments, and knowledge. Most of those are thrown out the window for an over structured, high stress environment when test time rolls around. Standardized testing causes that. The students know the pressure that is on them if they don’t pass, and that pressure is often reflected in their results. But how can we relieve that pressure, offer them the education they should’ve had and still manage to test what they have learned?

Since the recent election of Barack Obama there have been many questions raised about what will happen to standardized testing now the former President George W. Bush is out of office. His decisions will not only affect America’s children as a whole, but Florida’s children as well. The president has said, “Creativity has been drained from classrooms, as too many teachers are forced to teach to fill-in-the-bubble tests (Barack).” There is so much focus on testing that creative projects have been thrown out and replaced with FCAT question drills. The President believes that standardized testing “can’t dominate the curriculum to an extent where we are pushing aside those things that will actually allow children to improve and accurately assess the quality of the teaching that is taking place in the classroom (Barack).”

The most important thing coming out of a classroom is a child who has been taught on several planes of thinking and is able to use his or her own creativity and problem solving. Standardized testing and standardized learning prevents that and it is time for change, especially in Florida, where man children have been held back and under educated. New reform of classroom education in Florida that relies less on standardized learning will definitely prove to be a big help in changing the education system for the better. The change won’t be immediate, but one is coming. It’ll be one that will let teachers teach again instead of becoming androids in front of a black board, and children that will enjoy learning again.

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15. April 2010 by student.

The United States prison population is one of the highest in the world.  Many believe this is due to the high rate of drug offenders in our prisons.  The “war on drugs” has been going on for about 40 years now, after Richard Nixon first used the term in 1969.  In the most current statistic drug offenders in the United States occupy as much as 53% of the Federal prison population.  The recidivism (repeat offense) rate of drug offenders has been recorded to be as much as 61%, well over half the population.  This means that 1 in 2 people incarcerated for drugs will return to prison for drug use or drug related crimes.  So why is there such a high rate of recidivism and what can we do to prevent it?A very common trend in people with severe mental disorders, especially those suffering from personality disorders is self-medication.  Many people who suffer from mental disorders use drugs or alcohol as a way of medicating their disorder.  When a person self medicates, many times they become addicted and can no longer hold a job, keep a house or a family, and begin to withdraw from society.  They become homeless and end up in prison for committing robbery, burglary, or some other felonious offense related to their drug use.  After they are released from prison, they will continue to use drugs and continue their addiction cycle because they were not properly treated for the root cause of their behavior and drug use: their mental disorder.For those who are incarcerated and are serving a short term in prison, it may do more harm than good.  Prisons are meant to keep criminals off the streets and to serve as means of punishment.  However, the sad truth is that prisons breed better criminals.  Anyone who spends time in prison, no matter how long their incarceration, will learn a lifestyle that further disposes them to criminality.  Prisoners have many hours a day on their hands with very little to do except talk to their cell mates and other prisoners.  They learn from others how to become a ‘better criminal’ by exchanging stories and brainstorming of ways to cheat the system while still in prison.  They make criminal contacts that may serve them once on the outside and end up in a ‘criminal network’ of sorts.  Also, they will forever have a felonious record that serves as a deterrent for employers anytime a convicted felon tries to get a job.  Not to mention that prison society also serves to teach anti-social behavior and learned helplessness.  Every prisoner is told to mind their own business and if a ‘snitch’ is found out they will be executed by their fellow prisoners.  Many prisoners are serving life and have nothing to lose by any actions they may perform.  Also, learned helplessness is key to the way prisons are run.  Prisoners are made to feel like they have no control over what happens to them and after years of this they are then released and expected to lead normal lives in which they need to have positive attitudes about their future.  When this does not happen they go back to the only place they know how to behave: a life of crime, and consequently prison.It’s a sad truth that those who would otherwise learn from being rehabilitated or helped properly are put in prison and forget any hope they had of leading a normal life in the future.  The only way to end the cycle of recidivism in drug offenders is to offer them the proper programs and treatment methods to give them a chance at leading a normal life.  Not everyone should be able to have this luxury, but those who are first time, nonviolent offenders who wish to enter into treatment for their drug use and mental disorder should be given the chance to be rehabilitated.  Drug courts are a perfect example of this second chance system and should be used as a normality rather than an exception.

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15. April 2010 by student.

I recently got a serious speeding ticket and along with that ticket i was sentenced to two 8 hour driving classes. One driving class was at the lee memorial trauma center it was a high risk drivers class. During this class I learned a lot, one of the most interesting things that i found out what how easy it was to get a drivers licence in United States. In the US you can start driving with an adult when your 15 and if you pass your driving test a year after you you have your driving permit you get your licence. In Finland you must be 18 to have a drivers licence and you must go through some driving intensive courses such as driving on a skid pad, driving across water exc. So why is it so easy to get a driver licence in the US? Is it because of the government? Is it because of pressure from auto makers? Or is it all of the above? Nowadays the norms that our society is filled with are you get your drivers licence and a car when your 16 years old. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers across the United States. For both men and women, drivers aged 16 to 19 years of age have the highest average annual crash and traffic violation rates of any other age group. So dosen’t it seem like we should put more emphasis on driving techniques or maybe push back the age limit of driving? But because the auto makers pressure the government to keep the age limit at 16, multiple industries are dependent on people buying cars. If the driving age was raised the auto manufactures would be selling less cars, people would be out of jobs. It would change the norms of our society. This is why i think driving in the united states is one of the most dangerous places to drive.  

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 2 Comments »

15. April 2010 by student.

Lowering the drinking age to 18 is a battle that has been raging in the US for nearly a century. The classic argument typically involves the simple fact that 18 is America’s legal standard to becoming an adult. With that title 18 year olds can vote, marry, and go to war. So, basically, in fewer words than National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 can offer you, the U.S. government is saying that your  adult enough to die for your country and procreate, but there’s no way your under developed mind could handle the pressures of joining them for a beer at your local pub. Fantastic.

I must admit, 18 year olds at FGCU aren’t known for their delicate wine sipping techniques. My guess: none of them enjoy conversation over cocktails with their peers. Yet I can’t help but wonder if maybe the novelty of a keg-stand would start to dissipate if it weren’t so forbidden. Binge drinking is a serious problem for many college students. Not only is it a significant contributing factor to the freshmen 15 (gasp) it also accounts for absences, low GPA’s, and in extreme cases even fatalities. Although these alcohol related deaths are tragic– they still happen every day, among people both under and over the current legal drinking age of 21. The forbidden air our government has lent alcohol consumption has made its allure that much more intriguing to youth. Alcohol represents complete adulthood, maturity if you will, which is a desirable trait. Did they (the powers at be) learn nothing from Prohibition? How about Eve? Human kind always wants what they can’t have.

So what do European teens have that make them so much more mature than America’s youth? Besides the fancy accents, nothing. At a young age many European counties teach their children to appreciate and respect the nature of alcohol along with the responsibility that it brings. Many patrons of keeping the US drinking age at 21 say that it would be irresponsible to move the legal age down because American teens are allowed to operate motor vehicles at a younger age than most Europeans are. I’m certainly not suggesting that at the age of 16 we give our kids a pat on the back hand over the keys and a send them to the bar, but on the same token I think it’s irrational to ask an 18 year old to serve his or her country while denying them a civil liberty. Unfortunately, after people turn 21, this subject is of little concern to them. The majority of Americans support keeping the drinking age the same, and so it shall be.  

 Drinking age procon. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://drinkingage.procon.org/#pro_con 

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15. April 2010 by student.

Medical care costs the United States approximately $2 trillion every year, dividing to about $6,600 per individual. According to the National Coordinator for Health and Technology, making health records electronic could save up to $300 billion each year. The biggest obstacle in this decision would be cost. A small hospital would have to spend a couple million to convert to digital records, while bigger hospitals could require hundreds of millions. The government’s bailout money in the stimulus plan would help, but $19 million is not nearly enough to cover the expenses.

            I believe in the long run having everything in health care electronic would be very beneficial. But as always, change is hard for most Americans to adapt to. Doctors already have a load of work after rushing around seeing patients, adding a new computer system to learn would just build the load higher. But an individual’s health past would be available with the click of a button, not to mention doctor’s notes would actually be legible. Although there are many obstacles to overcome, Dr. Ashish Jha of the Harvard School of Public Health suggests, “We do have a good place to start.”  With the cooperation and technology of Americans, the system will be a massive success.

<http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1887658,00.html>

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15. April 2010 by student.

how USA would be without immigrants?

can a country function without immigrants?

a lot of americans say that life would be easier for them if they didn’t let immigrants come in the United States. they say that it’d be more jobs for them, so immigrants come and take their jobs away from them, but they forget if their country can’t function without them. immigrants make a lot of money in the country but they work hard for it. they are the ones who work construction to build the country.

lets take an example of the guy name Carlos Nieto. he holds a degree in engineering from a university in mexico, but earns far more here, laying bricks in McMansion, than he would at home. he made his way to this southern river ports in the mid 1980s arriving in time to cash in on a construction boom that created a surplus of jobs and drew legions of his countrymen here.

Nieto has been part of the great economic expansion of the 1990s that is a good thing. we all need each other

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

15. April 2010 by student.

what do you thinkm about a world without war? some people think that the world would be more peaceful if there was no war and life would be easier. war creates violence and at the same time it creates peace. war plays a big role in the world. its hard to imagine a world without war because without war slavery would still exist. in the USA, the movement to end slavery heated up when a movement of deeply religious abolitionist cast slavery as a sin and growing numbers of American began to condemn the ownership of others of an hideous violation of our nation’s most cherished democratic principles. nevertheless, it finally took a savage civil war to end the slave system.

its the same as Haiti. without war haiti would be still in slavery they had to fight the french and killed most of them to be free. war is cruel and freedom.

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15. April 2010 by student.

person’s perception plays a big role in human society. when someone look at you what does he think about you? everybody judges you diffrently, if they don’t know nothing about you they assume. the term person perception refers to the different mental processes that we use to form impression of other people. this includes not just how we form these impressions, but the different conclusions we make about other people based unpon our impressions.

consider how often we make these kind of judgements everyday. when you meet a co worker you immediately begin to develop an initial impression of this person. when you see smeone dresses in a funny way, you immediately make some comments about that person. this whole thing calls person perception.

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15. April 2010 by student.

Now a day’s technology is at our fingertips 24-7, literally. Our lives are so busy and sometimes our only “downtime” is driving in our car. This time can be spent making phone calls or catching up with family members or friends, but now that our phones include internet, text, music downloads, etc people are looking down more than they are on the road. 4 out of 5 accidents (80%) are attributed by distractive drivers. This is becoming a huge social issue. Studies found that texting while driving is about 6 times more likely to result in an accident than driving while intoxicated. The thing is that it’s not just texting anymore. Its sending emails, looking on facebook, sending pictures, downloading music and countless of other things you can do, especially on the iphone. I know I’m guilty of it and after hearing about so many accidents being caused by texting/surfing the web while driving, I’ve been banning the usage of my phone in my car unless it’s something important and can’t wait.  

About 90% of adult feel that texting and driving should be outlawed, yet 57% admit to sending a text while driving. It’s not only the teens that we should be worried about, it’s all of us. Yet, these are the people trying to get it banned. “Sociologists call it a pluralistic ignorance. It’s this concept where reality applies to everybody but me” says a sociology teacher at

California
State
University. He feels that we justify things because we think we’re better or different from other people, but really they are just as bad as the next person. Many people have acknowledged the dangers, however, their response to the situation at hand is pure ignorance. This behavior is the most hazardous distraction in today’s society. 

A 22 year old woman in
Arizona who hit a stationary emergency vehicle, with it’s lights blazing because she was texting behind the wheel. This woman is among thousands of other accidents that have been caused by not paying attention to the road. A bill introduced in July 2009 in the Senate would require all states to impose a ban on texting while driving; 19 states (including, most recently, Illinois, on Aug. 6 2009) and the District of Columbia have passed such a ban.17 states have actually banned young inexperienced drivers from using cell phones and even hands free kit while in their car. But my question is why people feel the need to be connected to the world and/or people at all times. I feel that it’s because in our today’s society, we are involved in so much that one of the biggest way of keeping in touch not only with friends and family, but also the world is really at our fingertips. For example, if I need to know what the weather is like tomorrow, I check my phone and with my busy schedule, I will admit – I usually remember while I’m driving my car.  

Bottom line, it’s dangerous and you should really think twice before picking up the phone and looking down off the road. By not paying attention the person in front of you can suddenly stop, and unfortunately it could result in a life lost. I think that as a society, we need to realize that our lives did not revolve around a cell phone like it does now. We can get to point A to point B without picking up the phone and updating our Facebook status. We need to be aware of what we are doing and what others are doing on the road.  

http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_f34d4cdc-6d21-5e61-95cb-22bcea32c086.html 

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15. April 2010 by student.

The issues on capital punishment weigh differently in certain circumstances, and I however can honestly say that I’m not one hundred percent either way. On some levels it makes sense in certain cases to have civil punishment, or the death penalty, as an option. However, on other levels it is commonly argued as cruel, unusual and not some thing that one civilized person should sentence for another.

In the classic bestseller, Native Son by Richard Wright, an earlier generation debates this exact question of life or death for a young man named Bigger, who has accidentally committed murder and lets the act define his life. In the final pages of the novel, the readers and the characters in the book are presented with this very dilemma. Should Bigger die for his crimes or not? According to the jury in Bigger’s trial, and despite the best efforts of Max, Bigger’s lawyer, it seems unfortunate that Bigger’s fate is indeed death.

But was this the right thing? To some extremists it’s was the best thing to do and then there are the polar opposites who feel that it was the complete wrong thing to do. I, however, am caught in the middle unsure of what my true feelings are on the subject. I can see both sides of the argument. The cases where the crime is unspeakable then of course the person does not deserve to live, after all having that person sit in jail is costing innocent people money in order to feed the convicts and keep a roof over their head. In other cases, I think that it is wrong for one human being to allow themselves to kill another, because after all that’s just putting them on the same level as the one who is receiving the penalty in the first place.

In defense of Bigger the reader comes to realize that yes there may have been certain factors that would lead him do what he did, but no matter what, you are always responsible for your own actions and are expected to cope with the consequences no matter how harsh they may be, death penalty or not.

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