https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/07/27/a-list-of-180-ranked-schools-that-dont-require-act-or-sat-scores-for-admissions/

A list of 180+ ranked schools that don’t require ACT or SAT scores for admissions

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks to graduates during George Washington University’s commencement exercises on the National Mall, Sunday, May 17, 2015 in Washington. The university awarded Cook with an honorary doctorate of public service. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) 

George Washington University in Washington, D.C., is the newest major school to drop its requirement that most freshman applicants must submit SAT or ACT test scores for admissions purposes, according to this story by my Post colleague Nick Anderson, joining a list of more than 850 accredited, bachelor-degree granting schools (out of about 3,000 in the United States).

Of that group, some schools don’t require any students to submit scores, others exempt those students with specific GPA and class rank statistics, and still others require the test scores for the purposes of class placement or other non-admissions reasons.

[George Washington University applicants no longer need to take admissions tests]

Here is a list of 181 leading colleges and universities that have changed their requirements on submitting ACT and SAT college admissions test scores. The number next to the schools refers to their rank on the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Guide (2015 Edition)

This list was compiled and is maintained by the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, known as FairTest, a non-profit that works to prevent misuse and abuse of standardized tests. Its Web site has a lot of information on the SAT and ACT as well as on standardized testing in general.  FairTest Public Education Director Bob Schaeffer said that growing number of test-optional schools “recognizes that no test—not the SAT, old or new, nor the ACT – is needed for high-quality admissions.”

And here is an analysis of the schools by Anderson.

National Liberal Arts College

5. Bowdoin College (ME)
7. Middlebury College (VT) “Test Flexible”
15. Colby College (ME) “Test Flexible”
15. Hamilton College (NY) “Test Flexible”
15. Wesleyan University (CT)
19. Bates College (ME)
19. Smith College (MA)
27. Bryn Mawr (PA)
27. Colorado College (CO) “Test Flexible”
34. College of the Holy Cross (MA)
35. Pitzer College (CA)
37. Dickinson College (PA)
37. Franklin and Marshall College (PA)
41. Mount Holyoke College (MA)
41. Union College (NY)
45. Bard College (NY)
45. Connecticut College (CT)
45. Sewanee — The University of the South (TN)
45. Trinity College (CT) “Test Flexible”
50. Gettysburg College (PA)
51. Denison University (OH)
51. Furman University (SC)
56. St. John’s College (MD)
56. St. Lawrence University (NY)
59. Lawrence University (WI)
59. Sarah Lawrence College (NY)
61. Beloit College (WI)
61. Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY)
64. Gustavus Adolphus (MN)
64. Kalamazoo College (MI).
64. Muhlenberg College (PA)
69. Wheaton College (MA)
73. Agnes Scott College (GA)
73. Earlham College (IN)
77. Lewis and Clark (OR)
81. Allegheny College (PA)
81. Knox College (IL)
81. Transylvania University (KY)
81. University of Puget Sound (WA)
89. Bennington College (VT)
89. St. John’s College (NM)
96. Washington & Jefferson College (PA)
99. College of the Atlantic (ME)
99. Drew University (NJ)
99. Ohio Wesleyan (OH)
99. St. Michael’s College (VT)
105. Augustana College (IL)
105. Goucher College (MD)
105. Juniata College (PA)
105. Stonehill College (MA)
105. Washington College (MD)
113. Siena College (NY)
116 Susquehanna University (PA)
120. Lake Forest College (IL)
120. St. Anselm College (NH)
124. Presbyterian College (SC)
129. McDaniel College (MD)
139. Wittenberg University (OH)
155. Illinois College (IL)
155. William Jewell College (MO)
159. Lycoming College (PA)
165. Hartwick College (NY)
165. Warren Wilson College (NC)
172. Guilford College (NC)
177. Albright College (PA)

National Universities

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27. Wake Forest University (NC)
32. New York University (NY) “Test Flexible”
33. University of Rochester (NY) “Test Flexible”
35. Brandeis University (MA)
53. Univ. of Texas – Austin (TX) “Top 8%”
54. George Washington University
68. Texas A & M (TX) “Top 10%”
68. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA)
71. American University (DC)
76. Clark University (MA)
116. Duquesne University (PA)
121. DePaul University (IL)
121. Temple University (PA)
121. University of Arizona (AZ)
129. Arizona State University (AZ)
135. Hofstra University (NY)
135. New School (NY)
138. George Mason University (VA)
142. Kansas State University (KS)
145. Univ. of Texas – Dallas (TX) “Top 15%”
149. University of Mississippi (MS)
156. Virginia Commonwealth University (VA)
194. University of Nevada – Reno (NV

Regional Universities – North
2. Providence College (RI)
3. College of New Jersey (NJ)
3. Fairfield University (CT)
3. Loyola University (MD)
7. University of Scranton (PA)
9. Ithaca College (NY)
11. Bryant University (RI)
11. Marist College (NY)
11. Saint Joseph’s University (PA)
19. Le Moyne College (NY)
19. Rowan University (NJ)
28. Wagner College (NY)
31. Assumption College (MA)
31. Hood College (MD)
31. Nazareth College (NY)
38. Sacred Heart University (CT)
41. College of Saint Rose (NY)
41. King’s College (PA)
41. Roger Williams University (RI)
50. Montclair State University (NJ)
50. Salve Regina University (RI)
56. Chatham University (PA)
56. Mercyhurst University (PA)
60. Emmanuel College (MA)
65. Johnson and Wales University (RI)
65. Salisbury University (MD)
83. Manhattanville College (NY)
87. SUNY Potsdam (NY)
87. The Sage Colleges (NY)
103. Eastern Connecticut State University (CT)
103. Plymouth State University (NH)
120. Utica College (NY)
125. Keuka College (NY)
135. Cabrini College (PA)

Regional Universities — South
2. Rollins College (FL)
6. Stetson University (FL)
13. University of Mary Washingotn (VA)
17. Christopher Newport University (VA)
18. Hampton University (VA)
34. Radford University (VA)
65. St. Leo University (FL)
65. St. Thomas University (FL)

Regional Universities – Midwest
3. Drake University (IA)
14. Baldwin-Wallace College (OH)
48. University of Wisconsin –Whitewater (WI)
80. Northwest Missouri State University (MO)
80. Robert Morris University (IL)
84. Wayne State College (NE)

Regional Universities – West
9. Whitworth University (WA)
35. California State Univ. – Chico (CA)
38. San Jose State University (CA)
40. California State Univ. – Fullerton (CA)
43. Sonoma State University (CA)
46. California State Univ. – Fresno (CA)
55. California State Univ. – Stanislaus (CA)
58. California State Univ. – Sacramento (CA)
58. Humboldt State University (CA)
58. San Francisco State University (CA)
58. Walla Walla University (WA)
66. California State Univ. – San Bernadino (CA)
68. California State Univ. – Monterey Bay (CA)
68. California State Univ. – Northridge (CA)
68. University of Alaska – Anchorage (AK)
68. Weber State University (UT)
75. California State Univ. – Channel Islands (CA)
80. California State Univ. – Bakersfield (CA)
80. Hawaii Pacific University (HI)
84. California State Univ. – Los Angeles (CA)
84. California State Univ. – San Marcos (CA)
84. Western Oregon University (OR)

Regional Colleges – North
4. Elizabethtown College (PA)
6. Lebanon Valley College (PA)
7. University of Scranton (PA)
9. Merrimack College (MA)
12. Bard College at Simon’s Rock (MA)
17. Wilson College (PA)
18. University of Maine – Farmington (ME)
24. Cazenovia College (NY)
26. Dean College (MA)
28. Pennsylvania College of Technology (PA)
31. Unity College (ME)
33. SUNY College of Technology – Delhi (NY)
37. University of Maine – Fort Kent (ME)
40. Nichols College (MA)
46. University of Maine – Presque Isle (ME)
46. Washington Adventist University (MD)

Regional Colleges – South
16. Catawba College (NC)
37. Belmont Abbey College (NC)
40. Keiser University (FL)
54. Lees-McRae College (NC)
64. Indian River State College (FL)
70. Everglades University (FL)

Regional Colleges – Midwest
47. Olivet College (MI)
64. Dunwoody College of Technology (MN)

Regional Colleges — West
6. Oklahoma Wesleyan University (OK)
25. St. Gregory’s University (OK)

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/11/24/how-twisted-early-childhood-education-has-become-from-a-child-development-expert/

How ‘twisted’ early childhood education has become — from a child development expert

(Reuters)

Nancy Carlsson-Paige is an early childhood development expert who has been at the forefront of the debate on how best to educate — and not educate — the youngest students. She is a professor emerita of education at Lesley University in Cambridge, Ma., where she taught teachers for more than 30 years and was a founder of the university’s Center for Peaceable Schools. She is also a founding member of a nonprofit called Defending the Early Years, which commissions research about early childhood education and advocates for sane policies for young children.

Carlsson-Paige is author of “Taking Back Childhood.” The mother of two artist sons, Matt and Kyle Damon, she is also the recipient of numerous awards, including the Legacy Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps for work over several decades on behalf of children and families. She was just given the Deborah Meier award by the nonprofit National Center for Fair and Open Testing.

In her speech accepting the award (named after the renowned educator Deborah Meier), Carlsson-Paige describes what has happened in the world of early childhood education in the current era of high-stakes testing, saying, “Never in my wildest dreams could I have foreseen the situation we find ourselves in today.” Here’s the speech, which I am publishing with permission:

 Thank you FairTest for this Deborah Meier Hero in Education Award. FairTest does such great advocacy and education around fair and just testing practices. This award carries the name of one of my heroes in education, Deborah Meier—she’s a force for justice and democracy in education. I hope that every time this award is given, it will allow us to once again pay tribute to Deb. Also, I feel privileged to be accepting this honor alongside Lani Guinier.

When I was invited to be here tonight, I thought about the many people who work for justice and equity in education who could also be standing here. So I am thinking of all of them now and I accept this award on their behalf — all the educators dedicated to children and what’s fair and best for them.

It’s wonderful to see all of you here — so many family and friends, comrades in this struggle to reclaim excellent public education for all – not just some – of our children.

I have loved my life’s work – teaching teachers about how young children think, how they learn, how they develop socially, emotionally, morally. I’ve been fascinated with the theories and science of my field and seeing it expressed in the actions and the play of children.

So never in my wildest dreams could I have foreseen the situation we find ourselves in today.

Where education policies that do not reflect what we know about how young children learn could be mandated and followed. We have decades of research in child development and neuroscience that tell us that young children learn actively — they have to move, use their senses, get their hands on things, interact with other kids and teachers, create, invent. But in this twisted time, young children starting public pre-K at the age of 4 are expected to learn through “rigorous instruction.”

And never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that we would have to defend children’s right to play.

Play is the primary engine of human growth; it’s universal – as much as walking and talking. Play is the way children build ideas and how they make sense of their experience and feel safe. Just look at all the math concepts at work in the intricate buildings of kindergartners. Or watch a 4-year-old put on a cape and pretend to be a superhero after witnessing some scary event.

But play is disappearing from classrooms. Even though we know play is learning for young kids, we are seeing it shoved aside to make room for academic instruction and “rigor.”

I could not have foreseen in my wildest dreams that we would have to fight for classrooms for young kids that are developmentally appropriate. Instead of active, hands-on learning, children now sit in chairs for far too much time getting drilled on letters and numbers. Stress levels are up among young kids. Parents and teachers tell me: children worry that they don’t know the right answers; they have nightmares, they pull out their eyelashes, they cry because they don’t want to go to school. Some people call this child abuse and I can’t disagree.

I could not have foreseen in my wildest dreams that we would be up against pressure to test and assess young kids throughout the year often in great excess — often administering multiple tests to children in kindergarten and even pre-K. Now, when young children start school, they often spend their first days not getting to know their classroom and making friends. They spend their first days getting tested. Here are words from one mother as this school year began:

“My daughter’s first day of kindergarten — her very first introduction to elementary school — consisted almost entirely of assessment. She was due at school at 9:30, and I picked her up at 11:45. In between, she was assessed by five different teachers, each a stranger, asking her to perform some task.

“By the time I picked her up, she did not want to talk about what she had done in school, but she did say that she did not want to go back. She did not know the teachers’ names. She did not make any friends. Later that afternoon, as she played with her animals in her room, I overheard her drilling them on their numbers and letters.”

The most important competencies in young children can’t be tested—we all know this. Naming letters and numbers is superficial and almost irrelevant in relation to the capacities we want to help children develop: self-regulation, problem solving ability, social and emotional competence, imagination, initiative, curiosity, original thinking — these capacities make or break success in school and life and they can’t be reduced to numbers.

Yet these days, all the money and resources, the time dedicated to professional development, they go to tooling teachers up to use the required assessments. Somehow the data gleaned from these tests is supposed to be more valid than a teacher’s own ability to observe children and understand their skills in the context of their whole development in the classroom.

The first time I saw for myself what was becoming of many of the nation’s early childhood classrooms was when I visited a program in a low-income community in north Miami. Most of the children were on free- and reduced-price lunch.

There were 10 classrooms – kindergarten and pre-K. The program’s funding depended on test scores, so — no surprise — teachers taught to the test. Kids who got low scores, I was told, got extra drills in reading and math and didn’t get to go to art. They used a computer program to teach 4- and 5-year-olds how to “bubble.” One teacher complained to me that some children go outside the lines.

In one of the kindergartens I visited, the walls were barren and so was the whole room. The teacher was testing one little boy at a computer at the side of the room. There was no classroom aide. The other children were sitting at tables copying words from the chalk board. The words were: “No talking. Sit in your seat. Hands to Yourself.”

The teacher kept shouting at them from her testing corner: Be quiet! No talking!

Most of the children looked scared or disengaged, and one little boy was sitting alone. He was quietly crying. I will never forget how these children looked or how it felt to watch them, I would say, suffering in this context that was such a profound mismatch with their needs.

It’s in low-income, under-resourced communities like this one where children are most subjected to heavy doses of teacher-led drills and tests. Not like in wealthier suburbs where kids have the opportunity to go to early childhood programs that have play, the arts, and project-based learning. It’s poverty — the elephant in the room — that is the root cause of this disparity.

A few months ago, I was alarmed to read a report from the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights showing that more than 8,000 children from public preschools across the country were suspended at least once in a school year, many more than once. First of all, who suspends a preschooler? Why and for what? The very concept is bizarre and awful. But 8,000? And then to keep reading the report to see that a disproportionate number of those suspended preschoolers were low income, black boys.

There is a connection, I know, between these suspensions and ed reform policies: Children in low-income communities are enduring play deficient classrooms where they get heavy doses of direct teaching and testing. They have to sit still, be quiet in their seats and comply. Many young children can’t do this and none should have to.

I came home from that visit to the classrooms in North Miami in despair. But fortunately, the despair turned quickly to organizing. With other educators we started our nonprofit Defending the Early Years. We have terrific early childhood leaders with us (some are here tonight: Deb Meier, Geralyn McLaughlin, Diane Levin and Ayla Gavins). We speak in a unified voice for young children.

We publish reports, write op eds, make videos and send them out on YouTube, we speak and do interviews every chance we get.

We’ve done it all on a shoestring. It’s almost comical: The Gates Foundation has spent more than $200 million just to promote the Common Core. Our budget at Defending the Early Years is .006 percent of that.

We collaborate with other organizations. FairTest has been so helpful to us. And we also collaborate with –Network for Public Education, United Opt Out, many parent groups, Citizens for Public Schools, Badass Teachers, Busted Pencils Radio, Save Our Schools, Alliance for Childhood and ECE PolicyWorks —There’s a powerful network out there – of educators, parents and students — and we see the difference we are making.

We all share a common vision: Education is a human right and every child deserves one. An excellent, free education where learning is meaningful – with arts, play, engaging projects, and the chance to learn citizenship skills so that children can one day participate — actively and consciously – in this increasingly fragile democracy.

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http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/public-education-100-year_n_2456991.html

Public Education 100 Years Ago: Could You Have Passed 8th Grade In 1912?

Education

Jan 11, 2013

We've all heard it from our parents and grandparents before: "In MY day…"

But before you head toward the eye-roll, less conspicuous tune-out or the more polite nod-and-smile, the Bullitt County Museum has posted a recent donation: the 1912 eighth grade exit exam for the Kentucky county's schools.

There has been no shortage of claims in recent years that the rigor of American education has declined. Substantial criticism has argued that sweeping efforts -- both national and local -- to make American students more competitive have only made things worse.

So, was school really more challenging back then? Would you have been able to graduate eighth grade 100 years ago? Try your hand at the exam, below, and check your answers at the Bullitt County Museum website to see if you passed.

1912 Eighth Grade Examination for Bullitt County Schools, Ky.

American students are continuously proving to know less in subjects like history. A study released last October by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and GfK roper saw abysmal results on surveys gauging American history literacy among college graduates. The results seemingly echoed the findings of two viral videos from earlier last year that suggested students do not possess adequate knowledge of U.S. history, politics and current events.

A 2010 study by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) showed the U.S. history testing scores are "stagnant," with only 9 percent of fourth graders correctly identifying a photograph of Abraham Lincoln and stating two reasons for his importance. 

Lee White, executive director of the National History Coalition, says the problem stems from history's place in American curriculum. 

"They've narrowed the curriculum to teach to the test. History has been deemphasized," he said. "You can't expect kids to have great scores in history when they're not being taught history."

H/T mental_floss

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GED Lowers Passing Score, Tens of Thousands More Could Get HS Credentials

By guest blogger Catherine Gewertz. Cross-posted from High School & Beyond.

UPDATED The GED Testing Service has decided to lower the pass rate for its high school equivalency exam, a move brought on by its recognition that students who passed the latest, tougher version of it were doing better in college than high school graduates. 

The move, first disclosed Wednesday by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, will allow states to lower the passing score on the GED from 150 to 145. The GED Testing Service projected that if all states choose to use the new lower passing score, 100,000 people could pass one or more subjects of the test, and 25,000 could be eligible for a GED credential by passing all four sections. 

The company issued a recommendation that states grant retroactive passage to those who failed with the previous score of 150, but each state can make its own decision. States are expected to release details on Jan. 26 about how they'll handle the change. 

Current pass rates dropped significantly after Pearson and the American Council on Education, who make the test, released a more difficult version to reflect the Common Core State Standards. Fewer people are taking the GED, too, since the new version made its debut in January 2014. More are taking new, competing equivalency tests, the HiSET and the TASC. 

Robert Schaeffer, the public education director for the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, said the GED is an important pathway to opportunity for young adults, and the new version made accessing those opportunities more difficult. Lowering the passing score "is a move in the right direction," he said. 

States are taking different approaches to the new passing score. GED Testing Service spokesman CT Turner said that some will start using it right away, others won't use the new score until March, and some might not use it at all. Others will use the lower cut score retroactively, granting passage to those who didn't reach the previous passing score. 

Not all states confer diplomas for GED passage, but those that do could decide to confer diplomas retroactively. Georgia is one such state: It will grant diplomas retroactively to students who failed the GED with a cut score of 150, according to the Journal Constitution. 

The decision to lower the passing score came from analyzing longitudinal data, Turner said. Tracking student performance into college, the company noticed that in several states, fewer students who passed the GED needed remedial coursework than those who earned high school diplomas. 

In Oregon's community colleges, for example, far fewer GED-passers needed remediation in math or language arts than those who earned high school diplomas. The GED Testing Service noted a similar pattern in Rhode Island and in North Dakota, he said. 

The GED Testing Service aims to set its passing rate to reflect the achievement of the typical high school graduate, and the data showed that a revision was needed, Turner said. 

"We wanted to make sure that the cut score is on par with the average graduating high school senior," Turner said. "That's what policymakers and the public expect from the GED: that it reflects—but isn't ahead of—the curve for high school performance." 

He rejected the idea that the company erred when it set the original cut score at 150. 

"We did it based on sound research. We had a technical advisory group, we did a norming study. The only difference here is that in the past, we wouldn't have had this information for years and wouldn't have been able to make an adjustment so quickly. Now we have the data to take into account, very quickly, the actual performance of adult learners, what they're doing once they pass, and how they're performing." 

Said FairTest's Schaeffer: "If that's not admitting they set the bar too high, then I don't know what is." 

The GED exam is unchanged; the only change is that the passing score will be lowered, making it "more inclusive," Turner said. 

Along with the lower passing score, the GED Testing Service is introducing another change, too. Instead of just one cutoff point—passing or not passing—it now has three. A score of 145 will connote high school-level skills. A score of 165 will signify college readiness, and come with a recommendation that people who score at that level skip remedial work or placement tests, and enroll in credit-bearing classes. A score of 175 will connote not just college readiness, but college-level skill, and will come with a recommendation that students receive credit for coursework in the subjects in which they received those scores. 

Since the GED covers math, language arts, science, and social studies, scores of 175 in each subject could suggest—at colleges that decide to accept it—that students automatically earn three credits in math, three credits in science, three credits in social studies, and one credit in language arts, Turner said. 

Ten percent of those who have taken the GED since January 2014 have scored a 175 or higher in one or more subjects, Turner said, so that means "there could be college credit waiting for them." 

Jeff Carter, the executive director of the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education, predicted that reaction to the GED's move to lower the passing score will reflect a tension in his field. 

"The tricky part for us is that tension," he said. "None of us want to present unnecessary new barriers to adult students, but at the same time, we all think there need to be high standards. Having healthy debate about that is something we need to continually do." 

Get Curriculum Matters delivered to your inbox as soon as new posts are published. Sign up here.  Also, follow @cgewertz for analysis of news and policy about testing.

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The Indian’s Thanksgiving: Squanto and the Providence of God

Most of us know the story of the first Thanksgiving; at least we know the Pilgrim version. But how many of us know the Indian viewpoint?

No, I’m not talking about some revisionist, politically correct version of history. I’m talking about the amazing story of the way God used an Indian named Squanto as a special instrument of His providence.

Historical accounts of Squanto’s life vary, but historians believe that around 1608, more than a decade before the Pilgrims arrived, a group of English traders sailed to what is today Plymouth, Massachusetts. When the trusting Wampanoag Indians came out to trade, the traders took them prisoner, transported them to Spain, and sold them into slavery. It was an unimaginable horror.

But God had an amazing plan for one of the captured Indians, a boy named Squanto.

Squanto was bought by a well-meaning Spanish monk, who treated him well and taught him the Christian faith. Squanto eventually made his way to England and worked in the stables of a man named John Slaney. Slaney sympathized with Squanto’s desire to return home, and he promised to put the Indian on the first vessel bound for America.

It wasn’t until 1619, ten years after Squanto was first kidnapped, that a ship was found. Finally, after a decade of exile and heartbreak, Squanto was on his way home.

But when he arrived in Massachusetts, more heartbreak awaited him. An epidemic had wiped out Squanto’s entire village.

We can only imagine what must have gone through Squanto’s mind. Why had God allowed him to return home, against all odds, only to find his loved ones dead?

A year later, the answer came. A shipload of English families arrived and settled on the very land once occupied by Squanto’s people. Squanto went to meet them, greeting the startled Pilgrims in English.

According to the diary of Pilgrim Governor William Bradford, Squanto “became a special instrument sent of God for [our] good . . . He showed [us] how to plant [our] corn, where to take fish and to procure other commodities . . . and was also [our] pilot to bring [us] to unknown places for [our] profit, and never left [us] till he died.”

When Squanto lay dying of fever, Bradford wrote that their Indian friend “desir[ed] the Governor to pray for him, that he might go to the Englishmen’s God in heaven.” Squanto bequeathed his possessions to the Pilgrims “as remembrances of his love.”

Who but God could so miraculously convert a lonely Indian and then use him to save a struggling band of Englishmen? It is reminiscent of the biblical story of Joseph, who was also sold into slavery, and whom God likewise used as a special instrument for good.

Squanto’s life story is remarkable, and we ought to make sure our children learn about it. Sadly, most books about Squanto omit references to his Christian faith. But I’m delighted to say that my friend Eric Metaxas has written a wonderful children’s book called “Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving.” I highly recommend it because it will teach your kids about the “special instrument sent of God,” who changed the course of American history.

How great to hear again from Chuck Colson. I know that I and my colleagues at BreakPoint are so thankful to God for all that He accomplished through Chuck’s life.

And this Thanksgiving on behalf of Chuck and Eric Metaxas, I want you, our BreakPoint listeners, to also know how thankful to God we are for you—for all the encouraging words, and prayer and financial support you’ve provided this ministry over the years. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

And before I go today, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that my friend Eric Metaxas wrote a great children’s book about Squanto called Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving. We have it for you at the BreakPoint bookstore online.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

LifeNews Note: John Stonestreet writes for BreakPoint.org

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http://www.grammarly.com/blog/2015/what-is-the-oxford-comma-and-why-do-people-care-so-much-about-it/

What is the Oxford comma and why do people care so much about it?

The Oxford (or serial) comma is the final comma in a list of things. For example:

Please bring me a pencil, eraser, and notebook.

The Oxford comma comes right after eraser.

Use of the Oxford comma is stylistic, meaning that some style guides demand its use while others don’t. AP Style—the style guide that newspaper reporters adhere to—does not require the use of the Oxford comma. The sentence above written in AP style would look like this:

Please bring me a pencil, eraser and notebook.

Unless you’re writing for a particular publication or drafting an essay for school, whether or not you use the Oxford comma is generally up to you. However, omitting it can sometimes cause some strange misunderstandings, such as in this news notification from 2013:

Image via Twitter

or in cases such as this one:

I love my parents, Lady Gaga and Humpty Dumpty.

Without the Oxford comma, the sentence above could be interpreted as stating that you love your parents, and your parents are Lady Gaga and Humpty Dumpty. Here’s the same sentence with the Oxford comma:

I love my parents, Lady Gaga, and Humpty Dumpty.

Those who oppose the Oxford comma argue that rephrasing an already unclear sentence can solve the same problems that using the Oxford comma does. For example:

I love my parents, Lady Gaga and Humpty Dumpty.

could be rewritten as:

I love Lady Gaga, Humpty Dumpty and my parents.

What do you think about Oxford comma? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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https://support.twitter.com/articles/100990

Signing up with Twitter

To create an account on the web:

1. Go to http://twitter.com and find the sign up box, or go directly to https://twitter.com/signup.
2. Enter your full name, phone number, and a password.
3. Click Sign up for Twitter.
4. In order to verify your phone number, we will send you an SMS text message with a code. Enter the verification code in the box provided. Learn more about having a phone number associated with your account here. 
5. Once you've clicked Sign up for Twitter, you can select a username (usernames are unique identifiers on Twitter) — type your own or choose one we've suggested. We'll tell you if the username you want is available.
6. Double-check your name, phone number, password, and username.
7. Click Create my account.You may be asked to complete a Captcha to let us know that you're human.

Note: if you'd like to sign up with Twitter using an email address, you can do so via the "Use email instead" link at the bottom of the sign up page. 

Tips for picking a username:

• Your username is the name your followers use when sending @replies, mentions, and direct messages.
• It will also form the URL of your Twitter profile page. We'll provide a few available suggestions when you sign up, but feel free to choose your own.
• Please note: You can change your username in your account settings at any time, as long as the new username is not already in use.
• Usernames must be fewer than 15 characters in length and cannot contain "admin" or "Twitter", in order to avoid brand confusion.

Important information about signing up with email address:

• An email address can only be associated with one Twitter account at a time.
• The email address you use on your Twitter account is not publicly visible to others on Twitter.
• We use the email you enter to confirm your new Twitter account. Be sure to enter an email address that you actively use and have access to. Check your inbox for a confirmation email to make sure you signed up for your account correctly.

First steps after you've created your account:

1. After signing up, follow a handful of accounts to create a customized stream of information on your home timeline. Following means you'll get that user's Tweets on your Twitter home timeline. You can unfollow anyone at any time. Find out how to follow news sources, friends, and more in our Finding people on Twitter article.
2. Read our Getting started with Twitter article.
3. Learn about using Twitter on your mobile phone. 

Having trouble?

If you are signing up for an account using an older version of Internet Explorer (IE9 or earlier), you may be redirected to mobile.twitter.com to complete the sign-up. Learn more here.

For other tips and solutions to common problems, check out our troubleshooting articles.

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