Vol. 52 » Issue 7

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volume 52, Issue 7 March 20,2014

Walt whitman High school

7100 whittier boulevard

Bethesda, maryland 20817

theblackandwhite.net

photo by NICK ANDERSON

New SAT could change prep strategies

Boys basketball finishes miraculous year as state runner-up (From left) Seniors Ben Castagnetti, Max Steinhorn and Adam Lowet hoist the state finalist trophy following the 4A championship game. See page 16 for full coverage on the boys’ playoff run to the state title game at the Comcast Center.

Broken copiers send teachers scrambling for classroom prep Antiquated machines to be replaced this spring By Adam Simon The halls of Whitman on a Sunday are somewhat of a ghost town. But listen carefully and you can hear the sighs of three frustrated teachers in search of an operating copying machine. This year, frequent breakdowns and jams have plagued the three main copying machines and subsequently caused the county to advance the date for replacing the main copiers. The same machines have been at Whitman for decades, but this year their functionality has reached a new low, principal Alan Goodwin said. “The copiers are way past their expiration date,” math teacher Meg Thatcher said. “They were supposed to be replaced three years ago, but nothing has happened.” On Tuesday, March 11, a Montgomery County technician came to fix the printer on the first

floor and diagnosed the real issue: the average lifespan of this type of copier is 10 million pages— the Whitman copier has done 11 million. “At this point, our copiers break down far too often,” Goodwin said. “It’s starting to really take away from teachers’ ability to teach.” As an alternative to in-school copying, the county provides a service called Copy-Plus, where teachers submit documents to be photocopied and delivered in about two weeks. “CopyPlus is only sometimes effective,” social studies teacher Wendy Eagan said. “For example, when I want to give students unplanned readings that are relevant to the curriculum—such as the crisis in Crimea—I’m unable to do so.” Another option for teachers is to upload their material onto the

Inside Look

internet via Edline. However, this strategy doesn’t come without problems. “If the copier is acting up and I need to give homework, I’ll scan it and put it online,” Thatcher said. “This has limitations, though, because often times students are less likely to keep track of the work and struggle to get access.” While it may seem feasible to have teachers print multiple copies of short documents using the standard printers, the school has discouraged them from doing so because of the high cost of printing toner. “It’s a cost that has crept on us recently and we spend several thousands of dollars a year on toner,” business manager Eddy Campbell said. “Printers should be used for exceptions, not class sets.”

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meteorology

EDITORIAL: New A look inside SAT emphasizes March Madness merit over money

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Winter weather sparks students’ passion for

by Ben Titlebaum and Rebecca Meron Lost amid the noise of freshmen rejoicing at their good fortune and upperclassmen bemoaning hours spent memorizing ‘archaic’ vocabulary, test-prep companies are thinking about how to adapt to the justannounced changes to the SAT that will debut in 2016, which will pose challenges to the $4.5 billion-a-year industry. On March 5, the College Board’s president and CEO David Coleman announced a revamped SAT that they say will more accurately reflect the work students do in high school and level the playing field for all students, privately tutored or not. The new test will be available to this year’s freshmen. Students will be able to take the test on a computer at some sites, according to Coleman’s announcement. In a reversal of the 2005 policy change, scoring will switch back to a 1600-point scale with just two 800-point sections: a combined reading and writing section and a refocused math section. The essay question, which will be optional and document-based, will be scored separately. Sample questions for the new SAT will be released next month. Leveling the playing field The College Board is partnering up with Khan Academy to produce free prep videos, which may reduce reliance on prep courses by providing a alternative to the expensive tutoring offered by companies like Kaplan, PrepMatters and Princeton Review. And by reducing the difficulty of vocabulary, the College Board aims to reduce the need to use tutors. Coleman was quoted in the New York Times as calling the changes “a bad day” for test-prep companies. With this change, the College Board hopes to increase opportunity for all students and reduce the current correlation between income and scores. According to data released by the organization in 2012, the average score out of 2400 for students from families making between $40,000 and $60,000 was 1458, while students from families making over $200,000 averaged a 1722. Despite the many changes, local tutors don’t think their business will decline. “People are going to be coming in just as much, if not more,” said Harriet Broder, owner of Potomac’s Breakthrough Test Prep. She also noted that test prep companies have known that the SAT would be revised since Feb. 13. English teacher Cheryl Essers, who teaches reading and writing for Whitman’s SAT prep class, said that in 2005, when the SAT was last revised, there was no increase in private test prep services because students thought the test would be easier. But in the years after the change, demand for private services went up, she said. Ned Johnson, president of PrepMatters, said he places more value in one-on-one instruction. “A lot of the reason people work with a tutor or take a class is there’s real motivation in human connection,” he said. “We don’t go to school and just sit in front of a computer. We go to school and sit in front of a teacher because we count on that person to communicate with us and inspire us and to pay attention to how we learn,” he said. Broder plans to change her practice tests, but not her procedures. “The bottom line is—my teaching doesn’t change,” Broder said. “I teach students how to improve their speed, comprehension and focus. The skills and the techniques are not going to change dramatically.” Essers said the strategies she teaches now can still be applied to the new test.

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Robotics prepares for tournaments Page 12

Sports scouting key to Vikings’ successes Page 14


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