This is what you need to know…
You have the right to remain silent. Everything you decline to say will never be heard. You have the right to remain hidden. Everything you refuse to do will never be realized. You have the right to sit back and relax, and let others run your world. You have the right to adhere to broken principles and guidelines that are anything but constructive.
You have the right to change. You have the right to redress. You have the right to assemble. You have the right to speak. You have the right to act out against a government that does not fully understand the high school environment and the education process.
How do you have all these rights? Even as a minor, you are a
Among these Amendments, all twenty-seven of them, is the First Amendment. If you are at all familiar with this Amendment, you may recognize it as the freedom of speech. However, it expands well beyond that. Specifically, (and for the purposes of this article) the document also states that the government, “shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech… or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” That government includes school districts, and thus we arrive at my dilemma.
I don’t know if any of you have tried to access “It’s Our Education” (IOE) from any of the Westerly Public Schools computers. What I do know is that no one has successfully done so. How do I know this? This blog is filtered – along with all other “blogs and messageboards” – by the district’s new security software system for its server. (Regardless of whether or not the blocks can be overridden by someone with the correct knowledge, it is the principle that is of importance here.)
In discovering this, I was understandably appalled. Surprisingly though, my grounds for indignation were by no means exclusively self-centered. As you may or may not be aware, some teachers at
As for my rights (if you were concerned), they are in fact being violated, as the school is technically and extension of the government. Furthermore, I am actively pursuing an immediate solution, just as we are collectively here. Assuming that I am successful, you should be able to access the blog at school in the near future. However, this is but a small challenge, and many more will follow.
The struggle will undoubtedly trudge on indefinitely.
Remember, you have the right to remain silent. Whether or not you exercise that right is up to you.
6 comments:
The filtering software installed on the server at school uses specific IP's and IP ranges to filter out content. This blog and any other blog on Blogger has the same IP as it is merely a subdomain of Blogger. By unblocking this one, every other blog is also unblocked in the process. The school board and administration will use this in their defense to "prohibit students from accessing inappropriate materials". Might I suggest also moving to a different server? I have a block of space on Mihopa that is currently not in use and would be glad to donate it to the cause. But I'm pretty sure the same case occur with no access allowed. I can see about a permanent proxy/mirror for this. ~Shippee
By this time, the graduation portfolio system is in full stride, and incapable of collapse. However, even though the war cannot be won, it would be a disservice to ourselves and to the future classes if we were to not voice our opinions.
The Proficiency Based Graduation Requirements (PBGRs) have been a hassle from their institution. Students and teachers alike are unsure about what it is they are required to meet. Furthermore, students fail to see the use of these portfolios once their high school education is complete. Colleges will not look through the 24, 48, or 72 different essays, projects, and assignments in the portfolios when a student applies. Besides, how are students going to produce this portfolio to a college if it is still under construction throughout their senior year? The idea is foolish and flawed.
It is said that these new requirements are state-wide, which means that every student in the state must graduate by meeting the same requirements. What a great idea. Here’s the catch. The rubrics are all created by the individual school systems. They just follow the state mandated guidelines. This means that a senior from Chariho and a senior from Westerly could potentially graduate by proficiency, but with different rubrics. How is it proficient if the requirements are not duplicates?
Here is a greater problem. In high school, there are different levels of courses such as AP, CP, and so on. The rubrics require that every student reaches the same proficiency. However, that's not what is happening. The grading is done on a scale from 1 – 4, four being the best. How can a four in an AP class be equivalent to a four in a CP class? That is like saying that an A in an AP class is equal to an A in a CP class. We know that to be false simply because of the work load and difference in abilities.
There is a serious injustice being thrown at every student with these PBGRs. If every student in the State of Rhode Island is supposed to graduate by the same proficiencies, then that would mean every student must create the same quality work. If two students create two different essays, with the quality of one being better than the quality of the other, and they both receive fours, how is that equally proficient? This is what happens.
The following point has not been written to sound elitist or to criticize anyone for their level of education. The point is to show how unjust and artificial the PBGRs actually are.
If a student in an AP English class writes a paper and receives a four, they can use it for their portfolio. A student in a full year English cannot be expected to produce that same essay as the AP student. If they could, they would be in the AP class. Here is the flaw. The full year student must receive a three or better to use the essay, so the teacher will have to grade based on that student’s ability, and not on the AP student’s ability. This is what has to happen for the requirements to be met, but don’t be fooled. That is not equal proficiency! That is just like the regular grading system of A, B, etc.
The one million dollar question here is this: Why are the PBGRs here in the first place? As students, we work harder than ever before. For many, classes are rigorous and we work our butts off just to get the A. The senior exhibition/project is now a graduation requirement. Everyone must have 30 hours of community service. AP tests are in May, and for all of those taking them, an extra month worth of studying is thrown in. All final exams are now mandatory, except for seniors with an A or better, and even then, some teachers require them. Oh, and I almost forgot, there is the whole idea of passing the class with a decent grade.
What happened to just graduating with the grades that you strive for? What ever happened to using the teacher’s grade as a way to measure proficiency. After all, if you have a passing grade, you must have learned the majority of material there was to learn. Why are the grades that teachers distribute so underappreciated? Don’t they mean something anymore?
The question that should be
asked of the creators of this graduation system is this: Was the last generation really that screwed up that we must fix what doesn’t need fixing? There is so much for kids to worry about in school now. Never mind the extra curricular activities that colleges also look for. Never mind the job that students need to pay for college. Never mind the mental health of the students and their regular lives. For the sake of us students, why can’t we just go to school to learn?
Blogs like this are a great way for us students to speak about the problems of PBGRs and NCLB, but a blog is not going to change any minds in the state house. However, it is the beginning. Tell others about this injustice, including your parents. Their voice is sometimes more powerful than your own. Get the word out there and let’s change this for the better!
- The Pres -
Unlike "The Pres" I'm going to keep this short. My only comment is that this subject must be taken beyond this blog and brought to the forefront. It's time to "Act out, Speak out." It's time to do something. To use an old saying, actions speak louder than words.
I tried accessing this at school, as you stated it was blocked. Funny thing: there's a link that says "Click to view your access policy". I clicked it, "This page is blocked at all times." So, we don't even know what we can and cannot access. How helpful. Also, my server is unblocked by their new Websense system. Looks upgraded, but I have seen tutorials on that setup before. Another interesting occurance, yesterday I had administrator abilities on my account. Today I was lowered to a standard student account. Ah well, I still have one but it is harder to access depending where I am.
First of all, until today, I was not entirely impressed with the whole blog concept. But, this one has changed my mind.
I don't recognize anyone on here as a junior, so let me give you a little input. We actually didn't know about the e-portfolio until September of this year. Before that they were just a figment of some government official's imagination. Sure, some of our teachers had given us some assignments with an extra rubric attached, but what did we care? As a full-time AP student, let me tell you, we didn't. All we wanted was the grade on the front of the paper (as awful as that sounds, it's the truth). So, at the beginning of this year, we found out that not only did those rubrics mean something, but now we were going to have to "upload" (whatever that meant) them onto some unseen website for some college to look at later. So here I am panicking because someone has instilled the fear of God into me by telling me if I didn't have all these papers, I WOULDN'T GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL. There goes my dreams of Yale & Dartmouth out the window because I'm being held accountable for something half the honors teachers know nothing about, never mind the CP teachers (no offense to anyone, please).
Nearing the end of my junior year, I have taken the SAT's (twice) (and did just fine), earned A's in all 4 of my honors/AP classes last semester, oh, but wait, I even took an SAT II. (plus state testing...) But I don't have one thing "uploaded." Apparently, those letters from Brown and B.C. won't do me any good, because I potentially might not graduate. Oh, and I don't think I've gotten one piece of my Senior Project in on time due to the fact that I'm just too busy stressing about my B in AP Calculus and having my GPA and class rank drop as a result.
Welcome to my life.
So, sophomores, you have every right to complain, and I support the argument 300%, but be glad that you aren't the ones being run into the ground trying to get this show on the road.
The whole idea of the PBGR system probably looks great on paper but in reality it does nothing to help the students who are forced to use it and makes everyone equal in an environment where everyone is not.
-Mark G
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