Millenium Development Goals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Millenium Development Goals - Essay Example Although poverty eradication has emerged as the top priority of the Philippine government since the 1980s, factors such as the rising population, and the slumping economy amidst political struggles in the late 1980s, kept the goal an elusive dream for the Philippine government, and for millions of vulnerable Filipinos. But with the introduction of the MDG's there were major improvements observed in reducing poverty. Table 1 shows that over the span of 12 years, "subsistence poverty declined from 20.4 percent in 1991 to 16% in 2000 and down to 12.15% in 2003" (Philippines Progress Report on the Millennium Development Goals, 2003, p.2). Table 2 also shows much promise in lowering the proportion of the population below the poverty line (i.e. per capita income Despite the positive result in the present ratios, several issues still remain to be taken in hand. For instance, poverty incidence in the Philippines is largely concentrated in the rural areas and in Visayas and Southern Mindanao. The Philippines Progress Report on the Millennium Development Goals (2003, p.2) noted that "about 78.8 percent of the food-poor families live in the rural areas...rural poverty remained high between 1991 (55.1%) and 2000 (54.5%). Urban poverty has been reduced by almost one third as of the year 2000, from 35.6 percent in 1991." In terms of poverty concentration by region, 65.2% of the population in Central Mindanao and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is classified as poor. Bicol and most regions in the Visayas and Mindanao viz. Central Mindanao, CARAGA, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and Western Mindanao also have poverty rates considerably higher than the national average. Furthermore, Table 3 shows reveal that the Gini coefficient has remained high at 0.48 in 2000 which makes income inequality still a huge part of the problem (Philippine National Statistics Office, 2004). The present Philippine administration is committed to win the war against poverty. The Arroyo administration has outlined a "comprehensive set of policies and programs directly aimed at addressing the needs of the poor, under the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) 2001-04. The core strategies are: 1) Macroeconomic stability with equitable growth based on free enterprise; 2) Agricultural and fisheries modernization with social equity; 3) Comprehensive human development and protecting the vulnerable; and 4) Good governance and the rule of law" (Philippines Progress Report on the Millennium Development Goals, 2003, p.14) The centrepiece of the government's Anti-Poverty Agenda is known as KALAHI or "Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan" (Linking Arms Against Poverty) Program, a community- driven development project that aims to improve the access to social services (low-cost, productive infrastructure such as roads, water systems, clinics, and schools), empowerment of the people through strengthening the community participation in local governance, and the management of resources. Since its inception, the project has seen

Encouraging younger members of our communities Essay Example for Free

Encouraging younger members of our communities Essay If we allow children to make some decisions and be involved how does that help them develop? The advantages of encouraging younger members of our communities to become more actively involved in making decisions can be influential to their future. When children and young people have the opportunity to identify the problems that affect their lives and, most importantly, find and implement the solutions, it builds their self-confidence and encourages them to value the positive impact they can have on the lives of others. Through increasingly meaningful and active participation in decision-making children can develop their own identity, a sense of belonging and usefulness. This encourages them to respond to educational opportunities and enter more fully into life at school. A child, whose active engagement with the world and who has been encouraged from a young age, will become more confident to make correct decisions later on in life from skill and mistakes previous involved in. Why is it important you are a positive role model and how do you do this? Having a role model can give a child focus in their lives and something to work towards. Often a role model has a character trait or job that your child desires to have. Because of the role models example children are more likely to work to achieve their goals. A role model can inspire a child to dream big. Often circumstances make dreams seem impossible. A child who has no role model cannot imagine overcoming. A child whose role model has achieved can inspire a child to work harder and achieve their dreams. Those who often find success do so because they had a role model who spurred them on to great things. There are setbacks in every persons life. Knowing that someone else has overcome and achieved will help your child during the hard times. They can look at their role model and realise that at one point they were a child and faced adversity. Yet they were able to achieve their goals. This will help give the child the strength to overcome. Having a role model can help a child develop good habits. If your child has a desire to succeed and become like their role model they will develop those habits necessary to achieve that goal. How can disability affect some children? Having a learning disability has some effect on a childs ability to interact with other students. A child quickly realises that differences exist in the ability to learn certain subjects, compared to peers. A child with a learning disability must work much harder than peers do to complete school assignments. Long hours are spent trying to complete the same homework that other students complete in a much shorter space of time. Because the learning disabled child must work harder than other students, yet not do as well on test or assignments, the child will struggle with self-esteem. It is quite common for fellow students to call learning disabled students names, or talk about the disabilities behind their backs. Therefore, the learning disabled student may have few true and long-lasting friendships. A childs self-esteem and self-worth, is quite often closely tied to the opinions of peer groups and close friendships. A child with a disability may find learning to read complicated. This may allow the child to become frustrated and problems could arise at home or in school, behavioural problems could also be seen, as well as the child becoming unenthusiastic or disliking school. What support can families with a child with disabilities access? Think respite care, short-term breaks, support services in the home, out of school clubs. When a care relationship is not professional and not based on shifts and normal working hours, but is continuous for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, a break is not a luxury but essential to maintain the caring role. Day respite can be provided to offer short periods of respite in a range of different ways either in the home or in day centres for older people, or via adult day care resources and enhanced care units. It may also be possible to access services provided by the private and voluntary sectors. Residential respite and phased care can be provided in a residential setting to enable carers to have a break from their caring role. The council has a number of units, which may provide this. Short breaks give disabled children and young people enjoyable experiences away from their primary carers, contributing to their personal and social development and reducing social isolation. They also give parents and families a necessary and valuable break from caring responsibilities and disabled children and young people access to inclusive activities in their local community.There are many different ways to provide short breaks. Each break will differ and depend on the needs of your child and family.Short Breaks can include group based support – for example holiday clubs, after school clubs, sports groups individual short breaks – for example personal assistants, care in the home Children’s centres and extended schools are designed to support children and young people in achieving the five outcomes set out in Every Child Matters, to stay safe, be healthy, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being.

The Lewis And Clark Expedition :: essays research papers

American history is accompanied by a long list of explorers who first discovered and who explored the massive continent. All of the explorers had an impact on the development of America. The Lewis and Clark expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, stands prominently at the top part of this list. The Lewis and Clark Expedition has had a significant political, social, and economic effect on America. They were the first to map out the west and set off westward expansion. Without the success of the expedition growth of America would have taken five times as long, as predicted by Thomas Jefferson.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Expedition had a drastic political effect on The United States of America. The area in which the expedition was to explore was very close along Spanish territory and a portion of the expedition was in Spanish territory. The Spanish government was very uneasy with the Corps advancing towards them because they thought The United States was attacking them. They dispatched a small group to intercept the Corps however they nearly missed them. Another political impact was the now issue of Indian relations. America just acquired a great deal of land that was formerly owned by Indians and they now had to explain to them that the land was no longer theirs and that they were now a part of the United States. Indian relations would be fine until they were forced to move off their land. The United States had to set up a new branch of government just for Indian relations. Previous to the expedition there were only little issues of dealing with Indians.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Exploration of the west could have had the greatest economical impact on the United States ever. After the west had now been explored they realized they had a great deal of land that now had to be settled. The land was so vast and so cheap that it was sold for very low prices and sometimes just given away. This caused a huge surge of people to begin flowing west and sparked westward expansion. People began setting up farms and more and more people had opportunities to make a good living. Also people now had the chance to look for gold out west and the Gold Rush began. This is when America really had its boom. Lastly we now had twice as much if not more natural resources than we had before.

Soldier’s Home Analysis

â€Å"Soldier’s Home† Literary Analysis It is an undeniable fact that war changes people, and this change becomes especially apparent when soldiers return home to their families. In the short story â€Å"Soldier’s Home†, Ernest Hemingway paints a picture of a soldier’s state of mind after arriving home from the war and shows the difficulties of trying to live a normal life, fit in with society, and start over. Hemingway introduces Harold Krebs as he returns home from World War I much later than the rest of the soldiers.It is very evident from his behavior that he is traumatized, confused, and feels very much out of place. He doesn’t know where to begin to pick up where he left off and truly feels confused about his purpose in life, which can be very much related to the way many soldiers feel in our generation. Things such as fitting in with the society, getting a job, and starting a new relationship become a lot more complicated, and Krebs ex presses this several times throughout the story.He especially focuses on the subject of starting a relationship with a girl and his inability and lack of interest of even introducing himself. He likes to observe women, and even desires to be with one; however, the idea of courting and investing time into it completely turns him off. Hemmingway never explains why Krebs feels this way but gives enough hints that perhaps Krebs once suffered heartbreak. â€Å"Now he would have liked a girl if she had come to him and not wanted to talk, but here at home it was all too complicated.He knew he could never go through it all again. † The reader is focused on the words â€Å"again† and â€Å"It all†, allowing the audience to assume that he might have done this once before. The word â€Å"complicated† is repeated a numerous times when it’s associated with girls; â€Å"the girls live in a complicated world, â€Å" â€Å"they were too complicated†, â₠¬Å"it is too complicated† and â€Å"He had tried to so to keep his life from being complicated. †Ã‚  which is another clue that Krebs might have gone through a rough break-up.Whether this happened during his time away or before the war, Hemingway never explains. Another reason for Krebs’ lack of interest to date could be assumed that he developed different outlook on women in his time in Germany. During any war women usually become victims of sexual and physical assault and it is safe to assume that maybe Krebs experienced this during his time in Germany. â€Å"His acquaintances, who had heard detailed accounts of German women found chained to machine guns†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and â€Å"Vaguely, he wanted a girl but he id not want to spend a long time getting her are statements that can allude to him having interest in getting a girl just for a short time, for pleasure, but nothing more. With all the disconnect Krebs feels, the reader is forced to question â€Å"Wher e is home for Harold Krebs? † It is obvious that he doesn’t feel home, even though he comes from a great small town in Oklahoma, has a supportive and loving family, and has others praying for him. This, however, is not enough for Krebs to compensate for all the horrors he witnessed during the war.His mother encourages him to talk about it but never truly pays attention, which results with Krebs feeling like he cannot express himself without being misunderstood. During breakfast, his mother asks him to pray with her to what he responds, â€Å"I can’t. † This signifies that Krebs lost his faith. He truly doesn’t care what happens to him and proceeds to speak apathetically. When his father says â€Å"don’t you love your mother, dear boy? † and Harold replies, â€Å"no† â€Å"I don’t love anyone†. His mother instantly starts to cry, to which Harold realizes.He knows he hurt her feelings even though it doesn’t se em like he meant to do it on purpose. Many can presume that Krebs cannot make his parents understand everything he went through in combat. Statement such as â€Å"I don’t love anyone† almost sounds as if he is showing his parents he is all grown up and not the little boy he used to be. It is safe to say that Krebs is probably going through many emotions at once. There are things in which he says that he probably doesn’t mean, but doesn’t know how to express them otherwise.One example of this is toward the end of the story when Harold’s mother tells him she held him close to her heart when he was a baby, to which he replies, â€Å"I know, Mummy, I’ll try to be good for you. † He contradicts himself by calling his mother â€Å"Mummy†, which shows he does indeed love her. He proceeds to tell himself that his conversation with his mother didn’t touch him and moving away to Kansas City would be a good escape from his family s ituation. His thinking shows that he could possibly be lying to himself, trying to convince himself that life would be better away from them.Maybe he doesn’t want his mother to love him because he feels ashamed and nauseated for all the things he’s done during the war. Hemingway leaves much of â€Å"Soldier’s Home† to the reader’s interpretation. The story doesn’t have a set plot and the main character Krebs is not better off in the end of the story or at the beginning. A lot of Krebs’ behavior can be paralleled to our modern day soldiers’ who come home from war in Iraq and Afghanistan. From personal experience, most of them never truly talk about everything that happened there, and if they do they never express their true emotions about the events.Many have trouble coping with day-to-day lives and sometimes even express violent behavior toward their loved ones. It’s hard to make judgments on their condition because the subject of killing another human being is rather incomprehensible to someone who has never been at war. It is something so abstract for us that the only way for us to understand is to be there physically and mentally and no cinematic movie will ever truly capture those feelings. Unfortunately during Hemingway’s era PTSD was something that wasn’t discussed or even treated.The society and culture at the time was very much removed from the realities of what war was really like. It wasn’t broadcasted over the internet, and people were not exposed to explicit documentaries that showed all the horrors that happen to people. I personally believe Hemingway, who also served briefly in World War I, could relate a lot to Krebs and his environment. It is something that could have been a way for him to cope with his own personal demons while trying to make the readers understand the feelings of apathy, emptiness and the state of mind of soldier upon his return home.

Emerging Standards Essay

Diversity is exhibited in many ways, including a multiplicity of upbringing, dress, thought, lifestyle, values, food preferences, family relationships, and in gender, ethnicity, and age. These factors exist throughout the gamut of health care patients and the interactions designed with the nurses who care for them. Diversity in healthcare refers to the cultural setting in how the patient lives and in some measure defining their connection to healing, health, and their own role in the nurse to patient relationship (University of Phoenix, 2012). In many ways, the United States landscape is changing, especially in the health care field. The Baby Boomers are reaching an age where they are going to need and use more health care assistance, Generation Y and the Nexters are entering into the ages to begin working careers, and are bringing different behaviors and value sets with them. In the middle of all of these changes are the nurses and their care. Factors that play an influential role i n the delivery of nursing care to the ever changing landscape are not only the diversity of the patient but the ability of the nurse to provide effective and culturally competent care (University of Phoenix, 2012). Standards of Cultural Competence American nurses are predominately made of white females and does not honestly indicate the diverse population they serve. The push for more minority students to be recruited into the schools of nursing is big, but because of the culture of the profession being made up of middle class, white values, the minority nursing students are facing a barrier; racism. In nursing education, there is an emphasis on cultural competence. Being culturally competent means having the ability to care for patients with different cultures and backgrounds competently. This is otherwise known as transcultural nursing. An essential part of the nursing syllabus, transcultural nursing eliminates the racism shadow that has been portrayed  all these years as normal. Transcultural nursing emphasizes nursing capabilities in providing culturally specific care to a diverse patient population. Cultural competence refers to studying and practicing nursing, focusing on the similarities and differences among the cult ures with respect to nursing care and patient health. Cultural competence can also be defined as â€Å"the ability to provide effective clinical care for a particular ethnic or racial group and is seldom seen as the ability to reach a culturally diverse student population with varying perspectives on health and illness and female roles† (Wilby, 2009, p. 58). Culturally competent standards in healthcare are set as ethnic or racial differences in the quality of care not discriminated against. There are two levels of non-discrimination. The first is within the operation of the healthcare system and the way the system functions following regulatory and legal pathways. The second is at the provider-patient level, or the individual’s levels. Discrimination is described as the way care is given based on prejudices, biases, and stereotyping. Another type of discrimination is on the patient level with the provider. An example, a minority patient refuses service recommendations based on the result of a cultural mismatch between the patient and the care provider. This type of behavior can also result from misuse of clinical services such as when a test is not clinically indicated but given anyway (a pregnancy test on all females over the age of 12 regardless) (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2003). Culturally Competent Care within Memorial Hermann Healthcare Systems Memorial Hermann Healthcare System (MHHS) is dedicated to the purpose of assisting the communities, patients, employees, and physicians they serve in a responsible, legal, and ethical fashion. Furthermore, they are loyal in rendering aid to their community, staying in full conformity with appropriate guidelines, laws, and regulations, in addition to their own procedures, policies, and processes. They are especially aware of the obligations appropriate to federal programs and correct billings submission. MHHS provides culturally competent, holistic care that directs with due respect, the physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs of their patients. The system has high ethical values and expects respect, integrity, and fairness in all their relationships, employer, employee, and patient. MHHS provides culturally competent care with respect to the individual dignity of the patient,  responding to needs, questions, and concerns in a sensitive and timely fashion. They evaluate and monitor on a continuing basis, the way care and any other similar services is being delivered to make sure that their mandated and customary set standards are being met. They take pride in the non-discrimination of the patient for any basis regardless of their ethnicity, race, upbringing, dress, lifestyle, values, gender, disability, or age. These same standards are upheld for the employees also. There is no discrimination when it comes to training, promotion or compensation, and employees are encouraged to frequently evaluate their current methods of care delivery in hopes of learning more effective ways of providing patient care and showing support (M emorial Hermann Healthcare System, 2012). Populations: Served and Vulnerability Cultural minorities have more of a tendency to get an inferior quality of care than the non-minorities, even with controlled access-related factors, such as income and insurance status. There are many sources to this disparity; contemporary and historic inequities, and involving many players; health care systems along with their bureaucratic and administrative processes, case managers or utilization reviewers, the healthcare professional, and the patients themselves. Studies have shown that uncertainty, biases, and stereotyping done by the professional contributes to this unequal treatment. Minorities also experience other barriers to accessing care, even if they carry the same level of insurance as whites, including cultural familiarity, geography, and language barriers. Furthermore, the hospital and clinic financial arrangements of a health care system, as well as the regulatory, policy, and legal environment in which the system operates, may have a negative effect on these vulnerable populations’ ability to acquire quality health care (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2003). Delivery of Nursing Care Nurses need be aware of how barriers such as racial, ethnicity, and gender can be related to health care access, and problems with underutilization are present causing disparities and affecting the communities in which they serve (University of Phoenix, 2012). Transcultural nursing has become a lead role player in the delivery of healthcare and is a necessity for the nurses  of today because of the steadily increasing multicultural trend happening within the American population. One out of three people in the United States make up a portion of various ethnicities other than the average White. Because of this swift growth of the multicultural society, transcultural nursing is vital to nursing care, requiring that nurses are practicing cultural competence in their day-to-day patient care areas. Culturally competent nurses are knowledgeable about other cultural beliefs and ideas and are trained in being able to identify particular patterns in order to formulate a personalized care plan that meets all the needs and goals of the patient. Culturally competent nurses also provide holistic care. This approach focuses on the spiritual, emotional, social, psychological, and physical needs of the patient. Being able to provide holistic care to the individual patient also means that the nurse can also relate to the patient’s cultural differences. In other words, in order for the nurse to perform care for their patient at the optimal level, the nurse must be culturally competent (Maier-Lorentz, 2008). Solutions Multi-level and comprehensive strategies are needed to eliminate barriers of cultural competence. The gap between ethnic and racial groups and healthcare (providers, payors, patients, insurance plans, and society as a whole) must be made known in order to reach a solution. The healthcare workers and their competence to provide superior care to ethnic and racial minorities can be enhanced significantly by expanding the ratio of ethnic and racial minorities among healthcare professionals. Also, both the providers and their patients can profit from education. Patients can profit from culturally and customarily suitable instructional programs to enhance their knowledge of how to obtain competent health care and their capacity to share in their outcome and making decisions. The providers, however, carry the larger educational burden. Cultural competence courses should be incorporated from the beginning of their career, for any upcoming healthcare professional, and case-based, realistic, and meticulously assessed training exercises be offered through continuing education courses. Lastly, monitoring, collecting, and reporting of core measure and meaningful use data to health insurers and state and/or federal entities should be supported as a way to evaluate improvement in eradicating disparities, to  assess mediation attempts, and to gauge conceivable civil rights breaches (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2003). Implementing the Solutions The health care professional who develops a detailed viewpoint of the association between health and culture; values respect for inclusiveness, social justice, equity, and differences; and uses their ability to authorize these standards in their areas of influence, personally and professionally, are capable of improving care for patient diversity (Getzlaf & Osborne, 2010). Studies such as the â€Å"Sullivan Commission’s Report on the Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce suggests that increasing the diversity of healthcare professionals† will rally healthcare equality and quality for racial and ethnic minorities who go through the most disparities in health results (Edwards, 2009, para. 3). As the number of non-white people increase in the United States, the workforce of professional nurses needs to reflect its persons to strengthen quality and access of healthcare for people from culturally diverse upbringings (Edwards, 2009). Conclusion Diversity in healthcare refers to the cultural setting of how the patient lives and in some measure defining their connection to healing, health, and their own role in the nurse to patient relationship. Most nurses are performing in multicultural settings where the patient brings his or her own set of values and beliefs. Being able to understand the nurse’s individual cultural viewpoint of the community, the client, and one’s self is central to giving culturally and suitable care (University of Phoenix, 2012). In collaboration with others, MHHS is committed to assessing and creating health care solutions that meets the needs of the individuals in their diverse communities. This healthcare system believes in treating everyone with the respect and dignity as they themselves want, creating an environment that is unique to each individual who enters their doors, making each patient feel special and well-cared for, no matter what (Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, 2012). Nurses must continue to practice cultural competence daily in their practice in order to impart in each patient the feeling of being cared for and known of as an individual in a multifaceted healthcare system and the culturally diverse society (Maier-Lorentz, 2008). References Edwards, K. (2009, Summer). Promoting quality care by increasing the diversity of the professional nursing workforce. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 16(2), 39. Retrieved December 4, 2012 from University of Phoenix Library, CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Getzlaf, B.A., & Osborne, M. (2010). A journey of critical consciousness: an educational strategy for health care leaders. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 7(34), 1-15. Retrieved December 4, 2012 from University of Phoenix Library, MEDLINE with Full Text. Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. (2003). Unequal Treatment. Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Washington, D.C. The National Academies Press. Maier-Lorentz, M.M. (2008, Spring). Transcultural nursing: its importance in nursing practice. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 15(1), 37-43. Retrieved December 4, 2012 from University of Phoenix Library, MEDLINE with Full Text. Memorial Hermann Healthcare System. (2012). Standards of con duct. Retrieved December 4, 2012 from http://www.memorialhermann.org University of Phoenix. (2012). Read me first. Retrieved November 6, 2012 from University of Phoenix, NUR/531 website. Wilby, M.L. (2009). When the world was white. International Journal for Human Caring, 13(4), 57-61. Retrieved December 4, 2012 from University of Phoenix Library, CINAHL Plus with Full Text.

Which Colleges Require All ACT Scores Sent

Which Colleges Require All ACT Scores Sent SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Wondering which colleges require you to send allyour ACT scores when you apply?We have a list here of the most popular schools that require all scores, as well as a guide to looking up this information for any school in the country. Read on to learn which colleges want to see your entire ACT testing history. What to Know Before You Send ACT Scores Nearly all colleges require you to send either SAT scores or ACT scores as part of your application. But colleges differ on how they handle multiple sets of scores, such astwo sets of ACT scores. Some colleges require you to send your entire ACT testing record if you took the ACT more than once- even if that means sending some not-so-great scores. Other colleges are fine with you just sending scores from one ACT test date. While most colleges are fine with receiving just one set of ACT scores, there are many- including some high-profile schools- that require your entire testing history. We will reveal them below. Which Schools Require All ACT Scores? There is no comprehensive list from ACT, Inc. of all the colleges that require all ACT scores (unlike the College Board, which provides a list of all the colleges requiring all SAT scores). However, schools will say on their admissions websites whether they require all ACT scores, usually quite clearly. If they don't require all scores, they'll just give the usual spiel about requiring at least one SAT or ACT score per application. We were able to put together this guide by researching admissions sites of various colleges and universities.In terms of methodology, we looked up the most popular/top-tier schools from our SAT all scores list to see whether they also require all ACT scores (hint: many of them do!). From our research, we found that schools that didn’t require all SAT scores never required all ACT Scores either. Even more interesting, some of the schools that require all SAT scores don’t require all ACT scores (as one might assume)- we'll list some of those below, too. Anytime admissions websites weren’t clear, we called admissions offices directly to confirm the school's ACT score policy. By doing this, we were able to come up with a list of more than a dozen high-profile schools that require all ACT scores. Sometimes just dialing up an admissions officer is the easiest way to get info about a college's ACT policy. Colleges That Require You to Send All ACT Scores It's time for the list! Below are some well-known colleges that require applicants to submit all ACT scores with their applications. Barnard College "Barnard does not participate in score choice and requires students to send all standardized testing scores....For the ACT, we will use your highest composite; we do not superscore the ACT. ...We have always practiced the spirit of score choice. However, we do prefer to see a student's full testing history to have a complete picture."* *Emphasis mine Barnard College, which is an all-women’s school associated with Columbia University, requires all ACT scores for admission. It’s worth noting that this scores policy is stricter than Columbia's. Carnegie Mellon University "All applicants are required to submit all official results of either the old SAT Reasoning Test/SAT Test or the ACT Test.* ... While we're interested in the general pattern of your scores, we give most weight to the highest score you've received on any of the exams." *Emphasis mine Note that Carnegie Mellon is interested in the "general pattern" of your scores- i.e., when they went up, when they went down, and what your overall ACT score ranges are. This is typical for schools that require all scores. That being said, the highest score you receive will be given the most weight. Georgetown University "Georgetown University does not participate in the Score Choice option available through the College Board. Georgetown requires that you submit scores fromall test sittingsof the SAT, ACT, and SAT Subject Tests." Georgetown explains their all scores policy by saying that having the full testing history allows them to assess applicants across the pool fairly. Even though your highest scores are the ones that will receive the most attention, your lower ACT scores will receive at least some consideration as well. Rice University "The ACT's definition of a composite score is the average of the four multiple-choice scale scores from a single administration of the exam. Therefore, it is Rice’s policy to use the highest ACT composite score in admission consideration from a single administration." I called to clarify that Rice requires all ACT scores since it's not explicit on their website. Rice does, in fact, require all ACT scores,though they'll use your highest composite when they review your file. Stanford University "All scores from all high school sittings of either the ACT or SAT (or both if you took both) are required. ...For the ACT, we will review all subscores and will focus on the highest Composite and the highest English and writing scores from all test sittings." You should note that Stanford requires all ACT scores and all SAT scores- not just one or the other. This is one of the strictest standardized test policies around! Syracuse University Syracuse University is on the College Board’s list of schools that require all SAT scores. They also say on their website, "The Admissions Committee will consider the highest score you have achieved on either the SAT or ACT"(bold emphasis mine). I called and confirmed their ACT score policy since it wasn’t specified on their website. So is ita requirement to send all ACT scores to Syracuse? Here's what they said: "Yes, it is a requirement to send all of your [ACT] scores. ... You do send all your scores and then we look at the highest scores." Even though Syracuse will focus on your highest score, they require you to send all ACT scores. University of California System "In the College Board's Score Choice module, ensure that all scores are sent to UC.* We require all scores and will use the highest scores from a single administration. For the ACT with Writing test, we will focus on the highest combined score from the same test administration." *Emphasis mine I called and confirmed that this means you have to send all ACT scores as well, even if they will just focus on your highest overall composite. So if you’re interested in any of the UC schools- from UC Berkeley to UCLA to UC Davis- be prepared to send all of your ACT scores for them to review. University of Miami "If you take the [ACT or SAT] more than once, please ensure that the testing agency sends all of your scores so that we have your best performance on record.*The Admission Committee will consider all official test scores from multiple test dates. We will use the highest composite score from among each test that you’ve taken." *Emphasis mine While the University of Miami seems committed to just looking at your highest ACT scores, they do require all scores to make sure they know an applicant’s entire testing record. University of Pennsylvania "Although we permit Score Choice, we encourage students to submit their entire testing history for both ACT and SAT exams." It's worth noting that Penn used to have a much stricter test scores policy that was similar to Stanford's. Now, however, it strongly recommends (but does not require) applicants to submit all ACT scoresand SAT scores. Yale University "Applicants who have taken the SAT or ACT exam multiple times should report all scores from whichever test they choose to report.Applicants who choose to report scores from both the SAT and ACT should report all scores received on both tests.* ...When assessing ACT results, admissions officers focus on the highest ACT Composite from all test dates while also considering individual ACTsubscores." *Emphasis mine Yale’s policy is similar to Stanford’s in that they require all SAT scores and all ACT scores if you took both tests.However, note that with the ACT, they will be focusing the most on your highest composite score. Colleges That Require All SAT Scores but Not All ACT Scores There are a few colleges that require all SAT scores but don’t have the same policy for the ACT. Although none of the schools explained- either on their websites or by phone- why their policies are different for the SAT and ACT, we have a couple of guesses. Our first guess has to do with cost. The SAT does not charge extra money to send additional score dates to a school, whereas the ACT does. While it costs $12 to send all of your SAT scores to one college, it could cost $26 or even $39 to do the same with the ACT, depending on how many times you’ve taken the test. Colleges that are aware of this might have made their ACT policies more lenient as a result. Not everyone has bags of money to spend on college admissions ... Our second guess is the way the two tests are evaluated. Though many colleges are interested in a student’s highest SAT score on each section (Math and Evidence-Based Reading and Writing), with the ACT, they often care the most about your overall composite score. This might be because the ACT’s final composite is evenly balanced between Reading, English, Math, and Science, whereas the SAT’s composite gives half the weight to Math and one-fourth the weight each to Reading and Writing. If a college will be looking at the highest ACT composite score, they're likely fine with the student just sending that one score. By contrast, for the SAT, they might want to see all sittings of that test so they can compare subsections. We’ve listed some high-profile schools here that require all SAT scores but not all ACT scores to help you decide between the two tests. Cornell University "Allrequired scoresmust be officially reported to Cornell from the testing agency by our application deadline.Note that Cornell requires students to submit all scores from SAT tests taken and does not participate in the College Board’s Score Choice." However, when I called and talked to an admissions representative, I was told that all ACT scores do not have to be submitted- this policy only applies to the SAT. So for Cornell, feel free to send just your best ACT score. The George Washington University George Washington isa test-optional school, meaning it does not require SAT or ACT scores (though applicants may submit them if desired). However, the school still appears on the College Board’s all scores list for the SAT, suggesting that if you do decide to send SAT scores, you should send all of them. It was not clear whether this policy applies to the ACT as well, soI called the university and asked whether students who choose to submit ACT scores must send all their scores. I received a short, simple answer:"No, you’re not required to send all your ACT scores."For GWU, you only have to send your best ACT score (if you choose to submit any at all). Pomona College "We do not require that you submit multiple test scores. We do recommend it because we superscore," I was told by an admissions counselor when I asked whether applicants must send all ACT scores to Pomona. Be aware that Pomona superscores the ACT, meaning they'll take your highest section scores from different test dates and combine them to make your highest possible composite score. If you have two ACT dates that could be superscored into a markedly higher composite, it might be worth it to send both score dates to Pomona. Texas AM University Are you required to send all ACT scores to Texas AM? Here's what they said when I called them: "You could just send one [set of ACT scores], but it’s not going to hurt you to send multiple scores." So while Texas AM will look at only your highest ACT composite, you can send just one score if you want. Tufts University From speaking to an admissions representative at Tufts, I learned that "it’s not a requirement, but is suggested to send all ACT scores."So if you have high section scores spread across two different ACT dates, you might want to send both dates to Tufts. However, you can also just send the highest composite score if you want to save money! University of Washington I called the University of Washington to ask whether they require all ACT scores or not. Here's what they said: "We request you send all scores from the SAT exams. We recommend you send all of your ACT scores. On our website it does not specify that you send all ACT scores, so you can just send one."* *Emphasis mine How to Find the ACT Score Policy for Any College Our list above doesn't include every single college that requires all ACT scores. So how can you find out whether a school you're interested in applying to requires your entire ACT testing history? Let's go through the process together, step by step. First, check to see whether the school is on the all SAT scores list. If it is, it’s very likely that it'll also require all ACT scores. You can still look up the school even if it’s not on the list. Just note that it’s probable that if a school doesn’t require all SAT scores, neither will it require all ACT scores. For example, I'm searching for the ACT score policy at Amherst College. They did not appear on the list of schools that require all SAT scores, so I don't expect them to require all ACT scores either. Next,go to the school's undergraduate admissions website tofind the first-year application requirements page.(You can just search "[School Name] first year/freshmen admission" to look this up quickly.) This page will list the standardized testing required to apply. Many all-test-scores schools will specify their policies here. Here's what I got when I searched for "amherst college first year admission": Click on the link to your school's official application requirements page. On Amherst's "First-Year Applicants" page, there's a section about standardized test results that looks like this: Amherst "recommend[s] that applicants submit all test results" (bold emphasis mine). Since they don't say require, it looks like you can just send your best ACT score. I'll check the FAQ page just to make sure, though. If there's nothing on Score Choice or all scores on your school's "First-Year Requirements" page, find the FAQ page and see whether there's a question about it.Here are some questions to look out for: Do you accept SAT Score Choice Can I submit the ACT/SAT more than once? How many times should I take the ACT/SAT? Here's the closest answer on Amherst's FAQ page I could find having to do with sending multiple test results: Amherst uses the phrase, "If the applicant submits multiple ACT results," implying that you most likely do not need to send all ACT scores. Given that Amherst is not on the SAT all scores list and doesn't seem strict about how many test scores it receives, it's probably safe to conclude that Amherst does not require all ACT scores. If there’s no FAQ page or relevant question you can find, contact the school's admissions office by phone or email. The admissions office contact information is often listed at the bottom of the website. Be sure to ask the following question: "If I take the ACT twice, am I required to send both scores as part of my application?" If they say yes, ask this follow-up question to confirm:"So I’m required to send all of my ACT scores to [School Name]?" If they so no, then ask this follow-up: "So if I send just one of my ACT scores, that meets your standardized testing requirement?" Once you get your answer, don't forget to thank them for their time or ask any other questions you might have about the application process. The Workaround: Deleting an ACT Score Date To recap, we've discovered it’s fairly rare for a college to require all ACT scores. That said, some very popular schools, such as Stanford, Georgetown, and Yale, do require all of your ACT scores. There are some good reasons to not want to send all of your ACT scores, especially to competitive schools. The first is cost. As previously mentioned, ACT, Inc.charges you per score date and per school to send your ACT scores.So if you took the ACT three times, you'd have to pay $39 ($13 for each test date) just to send your scores to one all-scores school. If you're applying to multiple colleges, these costs can add up quickly. The second reason to avoid sending all of your ACT scores is competitiveness. If you have a low composite score from one test date, it could damage your chances of getting accepted toa competitive school. All in all, if you really don’t want to send all of your ACT scores and you've got one score date that's decidedly better than your other ones (meaning the composite is higher and most, if not all, of the subscores are higher), it's a good idea tokeep the high score- and delete the other ones. To delete an ACT score, you must submit a written request to ACT, Inc. They will then send you a form to fill out, which you will send back to complete the process.Read our guide to deleting ACT scoresfor more information on how to do this and to learn more about what deleting ACT scores means for you. What’s Next? Is your ACT score good enough? Learn what an excellent ACT score is for your top-choice schools. Did you know a high ACT score can also help you net thousands of dollars in scholarships? See our list of automatic scholarships for high ACT scoresfor more information. Studying for an ACT retake? Learn how to stop running out of time on the Math and Reading sections, and check out our complete guide to ACT Science- it’s the best around! Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes your prep program to your strengths and weaknesses. We also have expert instructors who can grade every one of your practice ACT essays, giving feedback on how to improve your score. Check out our 5-day free trial:

A Linguistic Look at Spanish

A Linguistic Look at Spanish Ask a linguist what kind of a language Spanish is, and the answer you get may depend on that linguists specialty. To some, Spanish is primarily a language derived from Latin. Another may tell you that Spanish is primarily an SVO language,  whatever that is, while others may refer to it as a fusional language. Spanish is classified as either an Indo-European or Romance language based on  its origins.Spanish is classified as a mostly SVO language because of its commonly used word order.Spanish is classified as somewhat inflectional because of the extensive use of word endings used to indicate attributes such as gender, number, and tense. All these classifications, and others, are important in linguistics, the study of language. As these examples show, linguists can classify languages according to their history, as well as according to the languages structure and according to how words are formed. Here are three common classifications that linguists use and how Spanish fits in with them: Genetic Classification of Spanish The genetic classification of languages is closely related to etymology, the study of the origins of words. Most of the worlds languages can be divided into about a dozen major families (depending on what is considered major) based on their origins. Spanish, like English, is part of the Indo-European family of languages, which includes the languages spoken by around half the worlds population. It includes most of the past and current languages of Europe (the Basque language being a major exception) as well as the traditional languages of Iran, Afghanistan, and the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. Some of the most common Indo-European languages today include French, German, Hindi, Bengali, Swedish, Russian, Italian, Persian, Kurdish and Serbo-Croatian. Among Indo-European languages, Spanish can be further classified as a Romance language, meaning that it is descended from Latin. Other major Romance languages include French, Portuguese, and Italian, all of which have strong similarities in vocabulary and grammar. Classification of Spanish by Word Order One common way of classifying languages is by the order of the basic sentence components, namely the subject, object, and verb. In this regard, Spanish can be thought of as a flexible subject-verb-object or SVO language, as is English. A simple sentence will typically follow that order, as in this example: Juanita lee el libro, where Juanita is the subject, lee (reads) is the verb and el libro (the book) is the object of the verb. It should be noted, however, that this structure is far from the only one possible, so Spanish cant be thought of as a strict SVO language. In Spanish, it is often possible to leave out the subject entirely if it can be understood from the context, and it also is common to change the word order to emphasize a different part of the sentence. Also, when pronouns are used as objects, the SOV order (subject-object-verb) is the norm in Spanish: Juanita lo lee. (Juanita reads it.) Classification of Spanish by Word Formation In terms of how words are formed, languages can be classified in at least three ways: As isolating or analytical, meaning  that words or word roots dont change based on how they are used in a sentence, and that the relationship of words to each other are conveyed primarily by the use of word order or by words known as particles to indicate the relationship among them.As inflectional or fusional, meaning that the forms of the words themselves change to indicate how they relate to the other words in a sentence.As  agglutinating or agglutinative, meaning that words are frequently formed by combining various combinations of morphemes, wordlike units with distinct meanings. Spanish is generally viewed as a somewhat inflectional language, although all three typologies exist to some extent. English is more isolating than Spanish, although English too has inflectional aspects. In Spanish, verbs are nearly always inflected, a process known as conjugation. In particular, each verb has a root (such as habl-)  to which endings are attached to indicate who is performing the action and the time period in which it occurs. Thus, hablà © and hablaron both have the same root, with the endings used to provide more information. By themselves, the verb endings have no meaning. Spanish also uses inflection for adjectives to indicate number and gender. As an example of the isolating aspect of Spanish, most nouns are inflected only to indicate whether they are plural or singular. In contrast, in some languages, such as Russian, a noun can be inflected to indicate, for example, that it is a direct object rather than a subject. Even names of people can be inflected. In Spanish, however, word order and prepositions are typically used to indicate the function of a noun in a sentence. In a sentence such as Pedro ama a Adriana (Pedro loves Adriana), the preposition a is used to indicate which person is the subject and which is the object. (In the English sentence, word order is used to inidicate who loves whom.) An example of an agglutinative aspect of Spanish (and of English) can be seen in its use of various prefixes and suffixes. For example, the difference between hacer (to do) and deshacer (to undo) is in its use of the morpheme (a unit of meaning) des-.