Education

Time allowed: 40 minutes for one essay, written in English. First read the introduction to the issue and the three perspectives that follow it. Essay Task: Write a unified, coherent essay in which you respond to the question about the issue. Your essay should (1) state your own perspective clearly and examine how it relates to at least one of the three perspectives given; (2) develop that perspective with sound reasoning and specific, relevant examples; (3) present its ideas in a clear, logical order; and (4) use effective, correct standard written English. Your perspective may agree completely with one of the perspectives shown, agree with parts of one or more of them, or be entirely your own; any position is acceptable, and the essay is judged on how well the position is developed, not on which position is taken. Optional planning (not scored): before you write, you may jot brief notes. Which perspective seems most convincing, and what does it leave out? Which seems least convincing, and does it still contain something true? What experience, observation or reading could you use to test these ideas? Where do you stand, and what is the strongest objection to your own view?

Rethinking Summer Break

Many school systems follow a calendar with one long break in the summer. Some districts have switched to a balanced calendar that keeps the same number of school days but spreads them across the year, with several breaks of two or three weeks instead of one break of two or three months. Supporters worry about what students forget over a long summer; critics worry about summer jobs, family time and programs that only fit into a long break. Should schools replace the long summer break with shorter breaks spread throughout the year?

Perspective One A long break causes students to forget much of what they learned, and teachers lose weeks each fall to review. Shorter, more frequent breaks would keep learning continuous and make the whole year more productive.

Perspective Two Summer is when many teenagers earn money, help their families or pursue interests that school cannot offer. Cutting summer into small pieces treats the classroom as the only place where learning happens.

Perspective Three The length of the break matters less than what students do during it. Communities should make sure every student has something worthwhile to do when school is out, whatever the calendar looks like.