ARROW
THE
VOLUME XXXI, ISSUE 9
Westlake High School
100 N. LAKEVIEW CANYON ROAD, WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA 91362
WHS Holds on to Distinguished Schools Award
Boys’ Golf qualified for SCGA Southern California Regionals to be held in
LISA BATTAGLIA NEWS EDITOR
A recalculation of test results that were posted early in the school year has led to five CVUSD schools losing their California Distinguished schools status. WHS is the only school that will retain the award. In April six schools in the District, including WHS, TOHS, NPHS, Redwood, Colina, and Los Cerritos, received awards for California Distinguished Schools of 2009. After recounting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and Academic Performance Index (API) test scores, five of the six schools no longer qualified for California Distinguished School recognition. As a winner of the 2009 California Distinguished School Award, WHS will receive special recognition for two of the school’s signature practices, its student support programs and its “collaborative environment,” said Mario Contini, Superintendent of Conejo Valley Unified School District in a District-wide email. In addition, Contini said, “It is extremely disheartening and inexcusable. Each of the six schools has proven their excellence in many ways,” and “has worked extremely hard and did amazing work on the application process.” The validation process that the CDE goes through focused on two signature practices and did not look at revised scores. Although one or two subgroups were not met by the five other schools, the difference was very small. Although TOHS and NPHS have been disqualified as California Distinguished Schools, they do qualify for the Career and Technical Education awards. They will get special recognition for their School-toCareer program and strong alliances with industries. Officials from the California Department of Education (CDE) have extended apologies for the embarrassment the errors have caused. They are open to suggestions as to how to avoid this problem in the future. Schools are rewarded for creating programs that close the achievement gaps between highest performing and underperforming groups. Programs, such as the Common Planning Time, have provided evidence that such collaborations among teachers and departments benefit all students.
IN THIS
MAY 29, 2009
Murrieta next week. (See full story page 15.)
SAT: Losing Its Influence ANNIE GERLACH STAFF WRITER
A quick test question for WHS students: True or false: The SAT is an optional component to applications at numerous colleges around the nation. True. This new addition (or rather, omission) to school curriculum is part of an initiative sweeping through the admissions offices of many liberal arts colleges, including Wake Forest, Bennington, Sarah Lawrence, and Bates. Dubbed the “testoptional” movement, the program does not require the submission of SAT scores when applying to college; however, a student may offer his or her scores if he or she wishes. Test-optional colleges are backed by national organizations such as the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) and the National Center for Fair and Open Testing (also known as FairTest). FairTest recently reported that 24 of the top 100 liberal arts colleges, as ranked in U.S. News and World Report, are now SAT-optional. It is a universal truth that the SAT is no walk in the park. Rather, the test is more commonly related to scaling the side of Mt. Everest or sinking into a nasty patch of quicksand: perilous, crazy, and downright life-threatening. As colleges become more selective and admissions rates rapidly drop, students face nonstop stress and anxiety about the future, barely managing to juggle superb grades and wholesome extracurricular activities. And once one factors in the hours of tutorial sessions, practice tests, and other dizzying amounts of preparation necessary for the SAT, the test that once epitomized academic achievement has quickly become yet an-
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other overrated endeavor on a college application. It is less an important measure of success and more a mandatory, legal form of torture. As Connie Sun `11 said, “I’m already stressed enough with school and extracurricular activities. I don’t need the added pressure that SATs inevitably bring.” Oddly enough, despite continuing controversy surrounding the test, participation in the SAT has reached record highs, peaking at over 1.5 million students nationwide in 2008. The College Board even reported last year’s graduating class as the most diverse ever to take the SAT. However, even though this diversity is certainly a milestone, evidence clearly demonstrates an “achievement gap” of sorts between different ethnicities, classes, and even between the sexes: rich kids consistently score better than poor kids, and men score better than women. Despite the College Board’s best efforts to administer a test that offers equal opportunity for every student, statistics prove that there is an inherent bias in the SAT itself. Michelle Bonthius `11 thinks that “it’s really unfair that colleges place so much emphasis on SAT scores. What if someone just isn’t a good test-taker? That student shouldn’t be penalized.” Nonetheless, College Board claims that the SAT is simply designed to measure “developed critical thinking and reasoning skills needed for success in college.” At its core, the SAT is considered to be a test based, according to an article by Andrew Ferguson in The Weekly Standard, “on one’s capacity to learn rather than learning itself.” And when combined with a high school GPA, the test is one of the best indicators for the overall grades a student will receive his or her freshman year. But SAT-optional colleges do not
make the SAT a voluntary submission because they believe the test is wholly redundant; rather, as Bennington dean of admissions Ken Himmelman states, a student’s score “doesn’t really tell you anything about them as a person or a student.” Himmelman believes that the hysteria over an individual’s scores “becomes so crazy it’s almost a distraction.” Similarly, Wake Forest’s president, Nathan O. Hatch, wrote in the Washington Post that “by opening doors even wider to qualified students from all backgrounds and circumstances, we believe we are sending a powerful message of inclusion” and equality. Also, a test-optional admissions policy can even give a college a boost in national ranking; because those who score high are generally the only ones who submit scores, a school’s overall average suddenly rises. However, the movement is still mainly confined to liberal arts schools, and it may take many years for other universities to join the trend. But a few schools have proposed temporary resolutions to the situation. In fact, during a University of California Academic Senate in January 2008, a few of the UC’s proposed eliminating the SAT II Subject Exams from the admissions process, since the tests “add little predictive value to the current Eligibility Index.” Nevertheless, the SAT continues to plague millions of students every year, burdening them further with difficult demands. With so much emphasis placed on an otherwise insignificant test, students quickly lose sight of ‘the big picture’ and delude themselves into exaggerating the power of the SAT. “It’s absurd that more colleges aren’t taking the SAT-optional route,” says Sam Rose `10. “Making the test optional just seems like a logical solution to an ongoing problem.”
NEWS............................1-3 OPINION.......................4-6 FEATURE.........7, 10-11,14 AROUND THE WORLD......8-9
ENTERTAINMENT.....12-13 SPORTS....................15-16
PJ Miller to retire after teaching for 37 years. See PAGE 6
Juniors Courtney Koeritz and her twin brother Jake share similar interests. See PAGE 7
Senior Jackie Brousseau placed first in CIF Finals for the 100meter breaststroke. See PAGE 15