High School Credits and Graduation Requirements Free Essays

Noemi Robles English 101 Arguing a Position Rough Draft High School Credits and Graduation Requirements â€Å"In 1997, Chicago raised its graduation standards to well above what Illinois then requires, asking all students to complete all of the courses necessary for entry to competitive state universities†(1). Many people believed that this may cause many students to drop out, but in reality, the graduation rates improved. Now, we are currently facing a nationwide dilemma. We will write a custom essay sample on High School Credits and Graduation Requirements or any similar topic only for you Order Now Many high schools are cutting graduation requirements and taking away classes that are important to both the students and teachers. I propose that every high school nationwide should have at least seven courses to take and that every student will graduate with a minimum of twenty-six credits. The most credits a student can obtain is twenty-eight which will be applied in the system. Some schools such as a high school in Santa Ana, California have their students graduate with at least two-hundred and forty credits essay writer reviews. In 2009, the district wanted to reduce the credits to two-hundred and twenty so more students will graduate. â€Å"By lowering them its just like saying we don’t want to put our students to their full potential†(2). Although two-hundred and forty seems like a lot, a course is worth a lot of credits as well which averages out neatly. It would be easier to have every school change the number to twenty-eight and twenty-six so there isn’t any confusion. The state of Texas already has this standard and in the past, the graduation requirements have changed many times. Reducing graduation credits will not make things easier for students, but it will affect their performance when they are preparing for college. This issue should be addressed to everyone so every generation can prepare for their futures and be successful. Many schools want to lower their graduation requirements so more students will finish school and so others won’t have the urge to dropout. Another reason why lowering these requirements could benefit us is because it will cost less money if some courses are taken out which means fewer teachers as well. â€Å"Twenty-five percent of all students, nearly forty-percent of Black and Hispanic kids fail to graduate†(3). This could also help schools raise their attendance and raise the graduation rates. Since many believe that lowering the graduation requirements is a good thing, they don’t realize how much it could actually affect the students who are taking fewer courses. The reason we have schools is to prepare us for college and to prepare for adulthood. Schools benefit us mentally, physically, and emotionally. We learn to interact with others, we learn about ourselves, and we learn different materials to help us understand the way things work and why we do them. Lowering the amount of credits needed to graduate isn’t going to make us smarter or help us prepare for our futures. There are many hardworking students who want to learn and taking away a few courses can affect many especially if it was a course students wanted to take. One disadvantage of lowering the graduation requirements is not being prepared for college and it could be harder to be accepted into a good college or university. â€Å"According to a recent national survey, an overwhelming eighty-one percent of high school students expect to attend college†(4). Now a high school diploma isn’t enough to find a good job and live on your own. A college graduate will have a better chance of obtaining that job which will make finding a job a lot more difficult, which is the second disadvantage. Students need those extra classes that are being taken away to prepare them for college. â€Å"Because too many students are not learning the basic skills needed to succeed in college or work while they are in high school, the nation loses more than $3. 7 billion a year†(4). A higher education can help lead to a rewarding career and a happier life. Students attending any high school should have many opportunities to succeed therefore we shouldn’t even consider taking away any courses or lowering the amount of credits needed to graduation. Another reason why we shouldn’t lower the credits, is because many classes that students want to take as an elective may not be in the curriculum therefore, they won’t have the opportunity to learn something they were looking forward to. Although there should be a number of required courses students should take, electives help students feel more excited to attend school and that elective could be something that they want to study in the future. Some AP courses may also be taken away if they were to lower the graduation requirements. Lastly, lowering the requirements will cause students to slack off in school because they will find it easier to graduate especially incoming freshmen who don’t fully understand the importance the first year of high school, and can influence colleges and universities to decline their admission. â€Å"Another high school in Scott County in Kentucky realized that they needed to make reforms after analyzing statistics that showed that forty-five percent of their incoming freshmen were likely to fail at least one ninth-grade class†(5). Students should be inspired to achieve and if we lower their credits they won’t have the opportunity to go as far as they are willing to go. Most public high schools in California get their money to pay for teachers and programs through the state. The state pays for schools through revenue, funds, and grants. The money comes directly from 21. 8% state revenue, 38. 4% state general purpose revenue, 1. 6% state lottery revenue, 9. 2% federal, 21. 4% local property taxes and fees, and 7. 6% from other local revenue. The funds that are used are unrestricted funds which can be used for any purposes and earmarked funds which can be used for specific purposes. The grants that are given to schools consist of the base grant (funding for ordinary classroom operations), special education grant (additional flexibility in the use of special education funds), opportunity to learn grant (funding for compensatory instructional services for disadvantage students), instructional improvement grant (funding for staff development and instructional services such as arts and technology programs), and charities (6). Money shouldn’t be a big issue because schools can receive money in many ways. â€Å"Morton High School District 201 officials have cut the number of credits students need to graduate and lengthened class periods in what the board president calls ‘the most effective and practical way to save the district money’†(7). Even though they are lengthening the school day, the graduation requirements have dropped which means students will be taking less classes then before. Since money seems to be the biggest issue, schools should encourage students to improve their attendance and get better grades because the school can receive more money from that. This obstacle can be solved with just a little hard work and dedication. â€Å"Most children who attend public and private schools in the U. S. Spend between 175 to 185 days in the classroom a year and enjoy a summer break between the months of June and September. The average length of the school day is six hours. U. S. Students spend approximately 30% less time in school than students in other industrialized nations, putting them at a disadvantage as they compete in the global arena†(8). This is extremely important because we as a nation constantly want to become the best but yet the next generation is having a hard time competing in ‘the global arena’ because America isn’t providing longer school days and more classes for our students. High school shouldn’t be as long as six hours because many students work and others are in extra-curricular activities. Students need that gap in order to complete any assignments and to get enough sleep for the next day. Summer vacation is also a benefit to students because students can relax, be with family, and do many other activities that they wouldn’t be able to do if they were attending school. We believe that schools should not be lengthened but in order to prevent students from forgetting what they learned before school ends, they should complete some summer work, especially for math. AP courses give summer work to prepare students, but the work they receive will not be as much, so students won’t become stressed. Students will still be able to enjoy their long break from school but have the opportunity to learn as well. If we lowered our graduation rates, there would be less high school dropouts, less classes being failed, more high school graduates, and school districts will be able to save more money if they cut classes that they thought weren’t important. If the requirements were made easier for students, they may be inspired to try more challenging courses as well. Although there are several key points to the opposing argument, students can still be challenged by having more courses to choose from. If the requirements are higher to graduate, they will try harder to achieve and students who enjoy participating in sports will be motivated to achieve because they have to be passing a certain amount of classes to be eligible. Overall, keeping the credits to at least twenty-six can benefit students in many ways. We should support students to try their best and to achieve their goals. Bibliography 1. Will Raising High School Graduation Requirements Cause More Students To Drop Out?. 25 March 2013. ;http://www. achieve. org/files/ImproveGradRates. pdf;. 2. Barboza, Tony. â€Å"Santa Ana seeks to ease high school graduation requirement. † Los Angeles Times. 08 Feb. 2009:1-2. 27 March 2013. ;http://articles. latimes. com/2009/feb/08/local;. 3. Downey, Maureen. 26 March 2013. ;http://blogs. ajc. com/get-schooled-blog/2010/06/02;. 4. Paying Double: Inadequate High Schools and Community College Remediation. 27 March 2013. ;http://www. allyed. org/files/archive;. 5. McCallumore, Kyle M. , and Ervin F. Sparapani. â€Å"The importance of the ninth grade on high school graduation rates and student success in high school. Gale Student Resources in Context. Web. 29 March 2013. 6. How California Schools Get Their Money. 29 March 2013. ;http://www. cbp. org/pdfs;. 7. Ruzich, Joseph. â€Å"Morton High Schools Cut Graduation Requirements to Save Money. † Chicago Tribune. 10 June 2010. Web. 28 March 2013. ;http://articles. chicagotribune. com/2010-06- 10/news/ct-met-0611-morton-bells-20100610_1_president-jeffry-pesek-number-of-credits;. 8. ProQuest Staff. â€Å"At Issue: School Schedule. † ProQuest LLC. 2012: n. pag. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 29 March 2013. How to cite High School Credits and Graduation Requirements, Papers

Why Are Mommy and Daddy Fighting free essay sample

An analysis of the tension between the gods in Homers Iliad. This paper details some of the conflicts that occur between the Olympian hosts while the battles rage below them, and how those conflict are both caused by and influence the decisions of mortal man. The battle between the gods starts in full force in book twenty-one, but it is actually precipitated by the gods entering of the Achaean/Trojan fray in the previous book. Up to that point, they had not actually battled for or against the Trojans legally, every time someone stepped in on either side, one of the higher-up gods such as Zeus or Hera would get angry. Its almost as if a huge spring of godly tension has been coiling and coiling, and Zeus releases the tension in book twenty-one when he steps up and acknowledges to Poseidon that he understands the needs of the gods to interfere with the conflict below and gives them free reign to do so. We will write a custom essay sample on Why Are Mommy and Daddy Fighting? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page

Refusal Memo free essay sample

The companys main competitors proudly featured their many onations of time and money to the community on their websites and in their other marketing materials, but your company was completely mute on the topic, even though many of its employees did community service on a personal basis. You felt that this apparent lack of community mindedness might help explain DEs downward slip on the citys list of top 100 companies while your competitors steadily held their positions. You also felt that both the employees and the city were missing out on productive partnerships. Thus, with the assistance of the marketing director, ou worked hard to organize an employee volunteer program. The program is now finally up and running, with its own page on the companys website, a growing database of company-approved service opportunities, a modest amount of paid time off for volunteering, a mechanism for recognizing outstanding volunteers, company grants for special projects, and other attractive components. We will write a custom essay sample on Refusal Memo or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Through a great deal of internal marketing, youVe generated a healthy amount of employee participation†without which, of course, the program would be a failure† nd the momentum is growing. But now you have to write your first negative message related to this initiative. Carolyn Smythe, who works in the Purchasing Office, has Just emailed you her request that the Center for Non-violence (the CNV) be included in DEs program. In other words, she would like DEs official approval for the CNV, which means that it would be included in the list of volunteer opportunities for employees, that it would be eligible for a grant from DE, and that she†and anyone else who wanted to olunteer for this organization†could get paid two hours per month to work for the CNV. You dont feel that you can accept her request. The CNV is not officially supported by any particular political party, but it obviously leans pretty far to the left. Smythe argues for the inclusion of the CNV on the grounds that their main work is to conduct conflict-resolution strategies in the schools†strategies that are politically neutral† but the organization also conducts peace camps in the summer and has a history of rotesting military solutions to political problems. The About Us part of the CNVs website explains that the organization was originally founded by peace activists in the 1970s who wanted a better solution than military school for students with behavior problems. ) Actually, youre in favor of the work this organization does; in tact, your own son participated in a C V program at his elementary school, and you were impressed with what he learned about respecting others opinions, negotiating, and finding creative compromises. Given the recent outbreaks of violence in schools and other public places, you personally feel that the skills taught by the CNV are needed now more than ever. But you know that your bosses are politically conservative, and so is the city overall. Plus, Dawson and Engels, the two company founders, are both veterans. Youre worried that DEs support of the CNV would cost the company business and be an affront to the company executives. The print and online guidelines for the volunteer program state that, in the interest f fairness to all DE employees, organizations need to be neutral on political and religious grounds in order to be approved for inclusion in DEs volunteer program. Assignment Write a refusal memorandum to Carolyn explaining why her favored organization cannot be included, and see if you can think of an alternative course of action for her to pursue. It is critically important to the volunteer program that you not lose the enthusiasm of the employees or let them start a negative buzz. Keep Carolyn as a supporter of the program while not giving her what she asks for.

Reverse and Invert

Reverse and Invert Reverse and Invert Reverse and Invert By Maeve Maddox Watching an episode of The Good Wife the other evening, I was puzzled by a lawyer characters use of the word invert. A witness had been murdered. The lawyer was trying to prove that the witness list had been leaked because the last two letters of the witness’s name were â€Å"inverted† on the official list and were also â€Å"inverted† on a note written by the killer. I completely lost track of the story as I tried to figure out how the letters in what was presumably a typed word could have been turned upside down. Then the camera showed the list and I saw that the last two letters, e-r, had been reversed to r-e. Ah, I thought, reversed! I could turn my attention back to the story. The experience got me thinking about the two words. invert: 1533, from M.Fr. invertir, from L. invertere turn upside down, turn about, from in in, on + vertere to turn reverse: c.1300, from O.Fr. revers reverse, cross, from L. reversus, pp. of revertere turn back In some contexts â€Å"inverted† does mean â€Å"reversed.†For example, an† inverted sentence† is one in which the verb changes its usual place and comes before the subject: Before me lay the ruined sword. An â€Å"inverted syllogism† is one in which the statement â€Å"All A are B† invites the conclusion â€Å"All B are A.† On the other hand, â€Å"inverted commas,† another term for â€Å"quotation marks,† is so termed because opening quotation marks (in some fonts anyway) are upside-down commas. Depending on the typeface, opening and closing quotation marks may be identical in form (called vertical, straight, or typewriter quotation marks), or they may be distinctly left-handed and right-handed (typographic or, colloquially, curly quotation marks). The closing single quotation mark is identical or similar in form to the apostrophe, and similar to the prime symbol. Wikipedia The OED lists 13 definitions with numerous sub-definitions for reverse, including â€Å"invert.† It gives 10 for invert, including â€Å"reverse.† I’m sure that not every viewer boggled at the lawyer’s use of the word inverted in the Good Wife episode, but I doubt that I was the only one who did. It’s probably a good idea to think about possible ambiguity when using these words. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Yours faithfully or Yours sincerely?Does "Mr" Take a Period?â€Å"Least,† â€Å"Less,† â€Å"More,† and â€Å"Most†

An Insiders Look At Whats New And Whats Next For CoSchedule

An Insiders Look At Whats New And Whats Next For 2016 has already been an epic year for  . We launched a ton of new features and have more in store before the year is up. We are so excited that we hosted a live demo to show off the new features and talk about what next. Garrett Moon, our CEO and co-founder brought an insiders look and answered your questions. Check out the recording below! Watch This:  4 New Features Launching This Year + 3 You Should Already Be Using!Whats New Your NEW best friend in the social queue: Social Tagging. How to schedule all your social videos directly in . Why your social messages should live in ONE place (and how to end the tedious, repetition of scheduling them one at a time). With a full calendar, its sometimes hard to find things. Our improved search feature will let you find what you need, when you need it. Whats Next Instagram. Yeah thats right! Social Media Automation (We call it ReQueue) Analytics.  Get details on how you messages are performing. An entirely new editing experience. Does this feel like Christmas yet?

Virgil's prologue from Aeneid Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Virgil's prologue from Aeneid - Essay Example epics; the parallel with Homer’s works can be found in Virgil’s attempt to define the two parts of the story as an odyssey and a tale of war--though in reverse of Homer’s story structure. Because of the widespread use of Latin, Virgil succeeded in reaching a large audience and, as a result, was able to share and expand on the idea of the Roman hero. The storyline of Aeneid explores the challenging journey of a pious, selfless warrior chosen by destiny to found the city of Rome. There are a variety of themes running through the story: the conflict of order vs. chaos; the superiority of the Roman hero; and the role of destiny in shaping a man’s actions. The reader can find these references within the prologue, as Virgil paints a vivid picture of the epic story to follow. The central theme of order vs. chaos can be found in Virgil’s description of Aeneas’ journey across the treacherous seas. â€Å"A fugitive, this captain, buffeted/ Cruelly on land as on the sea/ By blows from powers of the air--behind them, / Baleful Juno in her sleepless rage† illustrates the representation of chaos--Juno being the embodiment of emotional rage--stirring the weather and causing havoc. Order is found in the presence of Aeneas as he fights to reach Rome--the land of rational thought and law. Another theme is the ideal figure of the Roman hero; Aeneas is presented as the perfect example of Roman self-sacrifice, piety and clear-minded purpose. When Virgil states: â€Å"A man apart, devoted to his mission--/ To undergo so many perilous days/ And enter on so many trials† he is telling the reader of the exceptional strength--of both mind and body--found in his main protagonist. The role of destiny plays a major role in Aeneas’ story. At the start of the prologue, we learn that â€Å"He came to Italy by destiny† and the reader understands the important nature of Aeneas’ assignment and purpose. Virgil ends his prologue with the following lines: â€Å"They wandered as

Effects of Information Systems on Decision-Making Process Research Paper

Effects of Information Systems on Decision-Making Process - Research Paper Example Influence of internet in the decision making process â€Å"When it comes to driving consumer decisions about a range of products and services, the Internet is by far the most influential media channel† (Hillard & Harris, 2010). People explore details on in internet before they take most of their purchasing decisions. Since internet has reduced the distance between people and place, it is possible for a consumer staying India to purchase a product from America or Europe. So they will compare the prices of a product in domestic market and international market before taking decisions about whether to purchase that product from domestic market or international market. Moreover, people take purchasing decisions after analyzing the product reviews published on internet. For example, iPhones and Samsung Galaxy S2 are fast moving cellphones in the market at present. People rely heavily on internet to read the reviews of these products from internet before taking their purchasing decis ions. â€Å"Internet users report that online resources not only allow them to quickly and easily compare options, but also to seek out expert and peer advice that enables them to act with greater confidence†(McRoberts, 2010). ... For example, today, many of the Americans were asked to work in China on deputation in order to help their organizations to establish its business units there. Before taking a decision about whether to proceed to China or not, these people search the internet to know more about the political, social and professional climate in China. Before advancing further in education, teenagers leaving from schools will often search internet to decide about the courses they wanted to study in colleges. It is not necessary that all the courses offered in a college have equal job potentials. So people often search internet to know more about the job potentials of certain course before taking decisions about whether to accept it or not. Internet can advise people in taking their healthcare decisions also. For example, keloid is a severe skin problem which occurs due to repeated injuries at a particular portion. Even though surgical removal of keloid is possible, the chances of reoccurrence are immen se. There are other therapies also for keloid like laser treatments, radiation therapy etc. However, all these treatments have some kind of side effects. A person suffering from keloid can search internet to know more about the pros and cons of each keloid treatment before opting for a particular treatment. In other words, internet can help people in taking decisions about using certain drugs or therapies for removing some of their health problems. Internet can help a person to plan his journey properly. â€Å"Internet can now be used to inquire about the flight timings and delays which make it easier to plan for the departure time† (Effect of Internet on our daily lives, 2008).