Cornell College Making ACT/SAT Optional For Admission

Cornell College making test scores optional for admission

September 14, 2015

Cornell College has started a three-year pilot program that makes submitting standardized test scores optional for admission, a move that administrators say will broaden the reach of the college and attract more students.

The new option will allow for greater flexibility and creativity on the part of students, and is designed to appeal to motivated students who might not have otherwise considered Cornell College, said Cornell President Jonathan Brand.

“We want strong students from a broad range of backgrounds—regardless of their standardized scores—to know that we’re interested in them and that they may be a good fit here,” he said.

Students applying for admission for the 2016-2017 academic year will have three options: completing the Common Application, which allows students to choose from among 400 colleges; a Cornell College-specific application that requires an essay and standardized test scores; and an alternative Cornell-specific application that asks students to submit a portfolio of work and complete two short-answer essay questions.

In lieu of test scores, students can represent themselves through video, photo journal, writing, art/music, or other creative content—or they may create a profile page using ZeeMee, a free service used by students to showcase themselves for college admissions and scholarship opportunities. The ZeeMee option is also available to applicants sending in their test scores.

More than 150 top-tier liberal arts colleges are now test optional or test flexible. Within the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, to which Cornell belongs, Beloit College has recently joined the test-optional group, and Knox College and Lawrence University have been test-optional or test-flexible for about 10 years.

Analysis conducted by Cornell College statistics Professor Ann Cannon concluded, “The bottom line is that while both SAT and ACT are of some use as predictors of success at Cornell, there is a lot of variability among students and these test scores are only a small piece of the puzzle.” Instead, she said, that determining a student’s fit with Cornell and their overall work ethic would be as good or better at predicting success.  A separate analysis conducted by psychology Professor Melinda Green concluded, “Consistent with past research on predictors of collegiate success, the multiple regression analyses conducted on Cornell data indicate high school GPA is the strongest predictor of grade point average at Cornell College.”

National studies have also pointed to the need for more flexibility for students when applying to college. A study conducted by the University of California at Berkeley found that high school grade point average was the best predictor of student success.

“Our admission process has always been holistic,” President Brand said. “This pilot allows us to make the process even more flexible, and consider a student’s portfolio, high school grade point average, and the strength of his or her core curriculum. It also lets us look at an applicant’s motivation and fit at our residential liberal arts college distinguished by our One Course At A Time curriculum.”

New Year at Belle Plaine

It's been quite sometime since my last Blog post and now that I feel like I'm starting to catch up to everything the start of the year brings.  That means it's time to start sharing news and information that is relevant to Belle Plaine Schools, our students and staff, and education in general.

The year has started off good and I think the students and staff are now settling into a good routine.  Some things students may notice teachers doing differently this year include incorporating more technology into their lessons, using pre-testing to more efficiently plan and provide instruction, ongoing assessments, and being more deliberate about what the learning goals and objectives are within each lesson of the day.  The ultimate goal is to improve the levels of learning among all students.  This process takes time and hard work.  The good thing is we have a dedicated staff, great students, and a supportive group of parents and community to assist with this process.

I encourage you to come out to Belle Plaine Jr./Sr. High School to see the exciting things our students and staff are doing.

Plainsmen Pride Night

Belle Plaine All-Sports

Athlete/Parent Night

Featuring- Dan Gable

Friday, August 14

Belle Plaine Jr./Sr. High School

Meal provided by Belle Plaine Athletic Boosters

6:00-6:30 (Cafeteria)

Program starts @6:30 (HS Gym)

• ·      Introduction of Coaches
• ·      BP Weights/Conditioning
• ·      Policies/Academic/Good Conduct
• ·      Athletic Boosters

All 7-12 athletes/parents who will be in an activity during the 2015-2016 school year are encouraged to attend.

June at Belle Plaine

It's been quite some time since my last post to this Blog and a lot has occurred in this time!  Since my last posting at the end of March we've:

• Ended the school year
• Graduated the seniors
• Won a SICL Girl's Golf Title
• Won a 2nd straight Boy's SICL Track Title
• Placed 11th at the Boy's State Track Meet
• Placed 6th in State in the Girl's Shot Put
• Held Service Learning Day
• Iowa Assessment Reading Score- HS- 83.2%

As you can see there have been many positive things occurring at Belle Plaine this spring.  Each of these our students, teachers, and coaches should feel very proud of.

Now that June is here the softball and baseball teams are in full swing.  The baseball team had an exciting last at bat, 2 out, come from behind victory over East Buchannon at Kernels Stadium in Cedar Rapids and the softball team has shown good improvement.  Many athletes are working hard in the weight room and future drivers are fine tuning their driving skills and knowledge with Mr. Walton and Mr. Dodd.  

In the offices Mrs. Koch worked very hard in the days after school was out to complete the scheduling process.  It proved to be quite difficult this year, but I think we have everyone placed where they need to be for next year.  Dawn and Christie completed all the end of the year items and have now switched to summer duties at home.  Christie worked hard on one of the State Reports and I have been working on a few others as well.

Updating and revising changes to the student handbook is next on the list.  One area that I will spend more time is in the area of cell phones.  Cell phones did become somewhat of a distraction at times and there will most likely be some additional language in the handbook that gives teachers the authority to control cell phones within the classroom.

I hope you are all enjoying your summer thus far!  Check the school web-site for the baseball and softball games and try and come out and support our Belle Plaine athletes.

Boy's Basketball Coach Justy Northrop Gazette Coach of the Year

A special congratulations goes out to Plainsmen Boy's Basketball Coach Justy Northrop who was named the Cedar Rapids Gazette area Coach of the Year for the 2014-2015 winter season.  Led by Northrop the team had a record setting year capped off wight the schools first ever appearance at the Boy's State Basketball Tournament in Des Moines.

CR Gazette Article

Spring Fever at Belle Plaine

Time flies, and this year is certainly no different.  With 75% of the year complete there are still many things to get done before the end of the year.  This time of year becomes even more important to students.  It's vital that they finish the year strong and not wait till the last couple weeks to try and get things done.  With anything it is always important to have a strong finish at the end.

In February students took the Iowa Assessment test and we hope to have those results very soon.  At the beginning of the year we set a goal of 80/20 for student performance on the Iowa Assessment.  That goal means we are striving for 80% of students to perform at above proficiency and 20% perform in the advanced range.  We also hope to see individual growth among every student as well.  Once we receive our results we will be analyzing the scores and sharing out that data.

We are currently in the process of planning for next year and Mrs. Koch has been meeting with students to assist with scheduling for classes in 2015-2016.  It is always an exciting time to start looking at what we will be offering our students in the upcoming year.

The end of the year also brings exciting events like the HS Musical, Prom, Service Learning Day, Senior Awards Night, and Graduation.  As you see there are many things yet to do this year and we hope you will show your BP Pride and support our students.

Todd Werner

An Exciting February at Belle Plaine!

The month of February was a good one at Belle Plaine Jr./Sr. High School for many reasons.  At a recent assembly we recognized students for their academic success during the 1st semester of the year.  Students received certificates for being on the Honor Roll (3.25-3.49 GPA) and the High Honor Roll (3.5 and above GPA).  Advisor/Advisee groups were also recognized for cumulative GPA for the 1st semester.  High Advisor group GPA honors went to Mr. Waltons Advisor group, followed by Mrs. Mantz, and then Mr. Kremer.  High Advisor group in the JH was Mrs. Cronbaugh, followed by Mr. Bohlen, Mrs. Rupp, and Miss Bird.  The sophomore class leads the way with the highest GPA in the high school.

Students were also recognized for having nearly perfect attendance (1 day absence) or perfect attendance.  It was great to see such a high number of students recognized for having demonstrated a commitment to attending school at such a high level.

The softball team was also honored for their hard work in the classroom by receiving recognition from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union for having above a combined 3.25 GPA as a team.

Multiple members of the speech team also performed and qualified for State Competitions.

Jazz Band members also performed recently at Coe College in Cedar Rapids.  Mr. Johnson stated that the group performed very well and he received great feedback about the performance of the group.

National FFA Week was a great success highlighted by the Meal Packaging Event held in the gym on Friday February 28.  Students and staff worked together to put together nearly 20,000 meals that will be donated to the Benton County Food Bank and distributed to families in need within the Benton County area.  It was great to see everyone having fun and working together for such a great cause.

In athletics the girls basketball team had a very good run in the playoffs with wins over Meskwaki Settlement, and Iowa Valley before losing to Lynnville-Sully.

In wrestling, Joey Schwenn was the lone Belle Plaine wrestler to qualify for the Iowa State Wrestling  Tournament in Des Moines.  Wrestling at 160 lbs., Schwenn had a great showing in his first trip to State placing 5th.

The highlight of the month came this past Saturday night when the boys basketball team defeated Bellevue-Marquette 79-69 in overtime to qualify for the schools first ever trip to the State Tournament in Des Moines.  The BP boys will play Earlham on Monday March 9 at 12:15 at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

It's been great to see so many of our students performing at such a high level in so many different areas!  What a great month February was, and let's continue to finish the year at a high level.

Ways Players and Coaches Can Maximize Practice Time

I came across this on Twitter and shared it with all the coaches at Belle Plaine.  Hopefully, others of you who look at my Blog can take something from it or share it with others who could use this to benefit themselves and the players they coach.

8 Things PLAYERS should do to maximize every practice:

1) Be well fueled, well hydrated, well rested, and take care of your body.  Do exercises like these 2-3 times per week:

2) Get to practice early. Don’t wait for practice to start, prepare for it. Making 100 extra shots before every practice will have an enormous compound effect over the course of the season.

3) Approach practice with a ‘game like’ mentality. After all, how you do anything is how you do everything. Want to play well in games? Then practice well every day.

4) Listen with your eyes. Your coach won’t say it if it’s not important. Absorb everything your coaching staff and teammates say by having great eye contact.

5) Leave your comfort zone every practice. Leave it mentally. Leave it physically. Leave it emotionally. You should be drained at the end of every practice. Leave it on the floor!

6) Make your enthusiasm contagious. Raise the level of those around you with constant energy. Be vocal.

7) Be a ‘Glue Guy’ (or ‘Glue Girl’). By definition, glue binds and holds things together. Be the glue on your team.

8) Value the ball for the entire practice. Every drill. Every scrimmage. Every play. Don’t take bad shots or make sloppy passes.

8 Things COACHES should do to maximize every practice:

1) Have a practice plan. Have written out to the minute, the entire practice. You will certainly need to make tweaks and adjustments, but stick as close to the plan as you can. Plan your work and work your plan!

2) Have a theme for the day. Will today focus more on offense? Defense? Drill work? Conditioning? Instruction? Don’t try to do everything every practice.

3) Coach in bullet points, not paragraphs. Keep practice flowing!

4) What 3 things do you want your team to be known for this season? Rebounding? Pressure defense? 3-point shooting? Whatever they are, emphasize them every day.

5) Do NOT allow bad attitudes or poor body language… ever. Those things are understandable, but never acceptable. Nip them in the bud quickly.

6) Focus on quality over quantity. Time efficiency is important. If you can do it in 90 minutes, don’t take 2 hours.

7) Get up shots! The name of the game is to put the ball in the cup. Make sure your players get up a few hundred quality shots every practice.

8) Have fun! While I respect Gene Hackman’s line in Hoosiers, ‘My practices aren’t designed for your enjoyment’… I wholeheartedly disagree. If you find ways to make practice fun, your players will give a better effort. If they give a better effort, you’ll get better results. Then everyone wins!