The College Board saw an economic opportunity and seized it, with little regard for the impact their decision would have on the development of Puerto Rico. As is evidenced by the increasingly low number of Puerto Rican applicants to elite mainland schools, Puerto Rico’s educational system has inadvertently created a status quo that precludes mainland universities as an option for Puerto Rican high schoolers due to the unequal advantages mainland applicants have by means of standardized testing. Shortly after-and with the assistance of the College Board-the PAA was adopted as Puerto Rico’s national college admissions exam, marking the birth of a Puerto Rican education system parallel to that of the mainland U.S. admissions due to the low number of test-takers, the College Board instead decided to implement widespread educational reform throughout Puerto Rico. When their attempts at drafting a “Spanish SAT” failed to aid U.S. During the early sixties, Puerto Rico became the ideal location for the College Board’s base of operations due to its American-style social and economic infrastructure. This system places emphasis on standardized test scores such as the SAT and ACT as an important predictor of student success. The College Entry Examination Board (CEEB) was founded in the late 1800s and has since been working tirelessly to promote a Testing-Based Accountability system in the U.S. In fact, it stems from a 1964 decision by the College Board to expand its market to Latin America with a Spanish-language edition of the college entry exam. The root of Puerto Rico’s educational crisis goes farther back than Hurricane Maria. ![]() Further, the Puerto Rican educational system parallels the rest of the country in a way that is undeniably flawed and continues to be fueled by a long record of colonial violence. Instead, schools on the island have opted to use the Puerto-Rico specific Prueba de Aptitud Académia, or “ PAA,” known locally as “el College Board.” Due to the widespread acceptance of the PAA in Puerto Rico, mainland colleges’ obsession with tests like the SAT and ACT comes at the expense of Puerto Rican students who wish to study at universities other than the few options available on the island. However, most schools in Puerto Rico do not even encourage students to take the SAT or ACT, two of the College Board’s most popular and widely accepted standardized tests. Remember how I told you to print photos that you’d be fine with cutting up? Notice in the photo, below, how I used flower, beach, food, and sunset photos to fill the small open patches between the featured pictures.In recent years, the United States’ (U.S.) higher educational system has become increasingly dominated by a focus on standardized testing practices: politicians, pundits, parents, and even educational leaders emphasize test scores-whether from AP exams, SATs, ACTs, or state-mandated tests. For example, the photo below is in our bedroom, so it’s meant to evoke relaxation and happiness through photos from our Belize Honeymoon, Hawaii Babymoon, Puerto Rico vacation with baby, horse and carriage ride (sorry - I have no article about that awesome date!), Newport, Rhode Island trip, and Boston flowers. Each framed piece should elicit a specific feeling. Place them without taping first, so you can play around with color and mood combinations. (Single-sided tape and glue become lumpy and warped.) In order to fill the entire frame, you will need to either cut or layer photos. On this paper, begin to place your photos using thin double-sided tape as adhesive. If not, cut some paper to the frame’s dimensions. It should have a thin piece of paper or cardboard the shape of the whole rectangle that you can use for a photo base. Not that I’ve done this THREE times in the past year or anything…Ĭonsider adding a poem or other valued document to the collage! The collage on the right is more of a hodgepodge, with pictures from India, Vietnam, Belize, Puerto Rico, Boston, and New Hampshire. ![]() Get off those years of secondhand grime! Pro tip: Do not step on and shatter the frame glass once you’ve removed it for washing. Once you’ve made your purchases, wipe each down from the inside out. These are extremely difficult to use for collages, so don’t pick up those. ![]() The worst kind (usually put together by professional artists and photographers) have a paper or cardboard backing that is actually glued on all sides to the frame. Others need a screwdriver and some intense fiddling around, but are still useable. Some are easy to open, with tabs that just flip to allow a new photo to be stuck in. Note which kind of back opening each frame has. Gorgeous, large, high-quality frames can be purchased for less than $5 each at thrift stores, yard sales, fundraising bazaars, internet sales ( watch out for Craigslist weirdos), and acquaintances. This collage in our kitchen shows images of our travels in India, elephants and all.
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