Java Coffee Shop Business Plan Marketing Essay

Java Coffee Shop Business Plan Marketing Essay Java Culture coffee bar is determined to become a daily necessity for local coffee addicts, a place to dream of as you try to escape the daily stresses of life and  just a  comfortable place to meet your friends or to read a book, all in one. With the growing demand for high-quality gourmet coffee and great service, Java Culture will capitalize on its proximity to the University of Oregon campus to build a core group of repeat customers. The company will operate a 2,300 square foot coffee bar within a walking distance from the University of Oregon campus. The owners have secured this location through a three-year lease with an option for extending. The have also provided $140,000 of the required $170,000 start-up funds. The remaining capital will be obtained through  Bank of America commercial loans. The company is expected to grow sales revenue from $584,000 in FY2001 to $706,000 in year three. As Java Culture will strive to maintain a 65% gross profit margin and reasonable operating expenses,  it will see  net profits grow from $100,000 to$125,000 during the same period. Java Culture coffee bar will be located on the ground floor of the commercial building at the corner of West 13th Avenue and Patterson Street in Eugene, OR. The company has secured a one-year lease of the vacant 2,500 square feet premises previously occupied by a hair salon. The lease contract has an option of renewal for three years at a fixed rate that Java Culture will execute depending on the financial strength of its business. The floor plan will include a 200 square feet back office and a 2,300 square feet coffee bar, which will include a seating area with 15 tables, a kitchen, storage area and two bathrooms. The space in the coffee bar will be approximately distributed the following way1,260 square feet (i.e., 55% of the total) for the seating area, 600 square feet (26%) for the production area, and the remaining 440 square feet (19%) for the customer service area. This property is located in a commercial area within a walking distance from the University of Oregon campus on the corner of a major thoroughfare connecting affluent South Eugene neighborhood with the busy downtown commercial area. The commercially zoned premises have the necessary water and electricity hookups and will require only minor remodeling to accommodate the espresso bar,  kitchen and storage area. The coffee bars open and clean interior design with modern wooden decor will convey the quality of the served beverages and snacks, and will be in-line with the establishments positioning as an eclectic place where people can relax and enjoy their cup of coffee. The clear window displays, through which passerby will be able to see customers enjoying their beverages, and outside electric signs will be aimed to grab the attention of the customer traffic. Java Culture will offer its customers the best tasting coffee beverages in the area. This will be achieved by using high-quality ingredients and strictly following preparation guidelines. The store layout, menu listings and marketing activities will be focused on maximizing the sales of higher margin espresso drinks. Along with the espresso drinks, brewed coffee and teas, as well as some refreshment beverages, will be sold in the coffee bar. Java Culture will also offer its clients pastries, small salads and sandwiches. For the gourmet clientele that prefers to prepare its coffee at home, Java Culture will also be selling coffee beans. The menu of the Java Culture coffee bar will be built around espresso-based coffee drinks such as lattes, mochas, cappuccinos, etc. Each of the espresso-based drinks will be offered with whole, skimmed, or soy milk. Each of these coffee beverages is based on a shot of espresso, which is prepared in the espresso machine by forcing heated water through ground coffee at high pressure. Such espresso shots are combined with steamed milk and/or other additives like cocoa, caramel, etc., to prepare the espresso-based beverages. Proper preparation techniques are of paramount importance for such drinks. A minor deviation from the amount of coffee in the shot, the size of the coffee particles, the temperature of milk, etc., can negatively affect the quality of the prepared drink. U.S. coffee consumption has shown steady growth, with gourmet coffee having the strongest growth. Coffee drinkers in the Pacific Northwest are among the most demanding ones. They favor well-brewed gourmet coffee drinks and demand great service. Eugene, OR, with its liberal and outgoing populace and long rainy winter, has traditionally been a great place for coffee establishments. Java Culture will strive to build a loyal customer base by offering a great tasting coffee in a   relaxing environment of its coffee bar located close to the bustling University of Oregon campus. Java Culture will focus its marketing activities on reaching the University students and faculty, people working in offices located close to the coffee bar and on sophisticated teenagers. Our market research shows that these are the customer groups that are most likely to buy gourmet coffee products. Since gourmet coffee consumption is universal across different income categories and mostly depends on the level of higher education, proximity to the University of Oregon campus will provide access to the targeted customer audience. Java Culture will cater to people who want to get their daily cup of great-tasting coffee in a relaxing atmosphere. Such customers vary in age, although our location close to the University campus means that most of our clientele will be college students and faculty. Our market research shows that these  are discerning customers that gravitate towards better tasting coffee. Furthermore, a lot of college students consider coffee bars to be a convenient studying or meeting location, where they can read or meet with peers without the necessity to pay cover charges. For us, this will provide a unique possibility for building a loyal client base. Coffee consumption has shown a steady 2.5% growth rate in the United States over the last decade. In 1994, total sales of coffee were approximately $7.5 billion with gourmet coffee representing 33% (or $2.5 billion) of that. The retail coffee industry is flourishing in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The local climate, with a long rainy season, is very conducive for the consumption of hot non-alcoholic beverages. At the same time, hot dry summers drive people into cafes to order iced drinks. Further, coffee has really become a part of the lifestyle in the Pacific Northwest. Its discerning coffee drinkers are in favor of well-prepared, strong coffee-based beverages, which they can consume in a  relaxing environment. According to the 1997 Oregon Food service Statistics (NAICS 72), Eugene had 45 established snack non-alcoholic beverage bars (NAICS 722213) with total sales of $14.2 million. Among other establishments that offer coffee drinks to their customers are most of Eugenes limited- and full-service restaurants. Java Cultures direct competitors will be other coffee bars located near the University of Oregon campus. These include Starbucks, Cafe Roma, The UO Bookstore, and other Food service establishments that offer coffee. Starbucks will definitely be one of the major competitors because of its strong financial position and established marketing and operational practices. However, despite of Starbucks entrenched market position, many customers favor smaller, independent establishments that offer cozy atmosphere and good coffee at affordable prices. Cafe Roma is a good example of such competition. Despite the owners and managers experience in the definitely industry, the company will retain the consulting services of ABC Espresso Services, the consultants who have helped to develop the business idea for Java Culture. This company has over twenty years of experience in the retail coffee industry and has successfully opened dozens of coffee bars across the U.S. Consultants will be primarily used for market research, customer satisfaction surveys and to provide additional input into the evaluation of the new business opportunities. Java Culture will capitalize on the strong demand for high-quality gourmet coffee. The owners have provided the company with sufficient start-up capital. With successful management aimed at establishing and growing a loyal customer base, the company will see its net worth doubling in two years. Java Culture will maintain a healthy 65% gross margin, which combined with reasonable operating expenses, will provide enough cash to finance further growth.

A Desire To Escape Dreary Dublin :: Essays Papers

A Desire To Escape Dreary Dublin In James Joyce’s literary works, Dubliners he attempts to depict Ireland and the city of Dublin and the people living there in the early nineteen hundreds. His purpose in writing this book is to depict the people of Ireland in this time and show the troubles they faced. In the stories, â€Å"The Boarding House,† â€Å"A Little Cloud† and, â€Å"The Dead,† characters are dealing with similar problems: a need to escape their life’s responsibilities. The characters desire to be free by means of escape. In â€Å"The Boarding House,† Doran desires to remain free and escape any type of responsibility involving marriage. In â€Å"A Little Cloud,† Little Chandler is struggling with being a husband and a father and the responsibility that coincides with it. Finally, in â€Å"The Dead,† Gretta wishes to escape through thoughts to a past love, who is now is deceased. It is evident in all three stories that there are themes of responsibil ity and escape. The characters in the three stories share the same desire: freedom through escape of their life responsibilities. In the story â€Å"The Boarding House,† the theme of desire to escape is clearly seen. Bob is involved with a teenager Polly, daughter of the Mooney family. Bob Doran is very reluctant to accept any type of responsibility involved with a relationship with Polly, especially the idea of marriage. â€Å"Once you are married you are done for† (61). Doran wants to escape the problems in life that he has gotten himself into. He contemplates the responsibilities that would be in his hands if he were agree to marriage, he has also thought about what others may think of this. â€Å"His instinct urged him to remain free, not to marry† (61). When the time comes for Bob to discuss his future plans about marriage with Mrs. Mooney, he desires nothing more than to escape his own life: â€Å"He longed to ascend through the roof and to another country where he would never hear again of his trouble, and yet a force pushed him downstairs step by step† (63). In the â€Å"Boarding House,† the theme of responsibility is also very prevalent. Although Bob is very unsure of everything he still feels he needs to be responsible and keep his word. Bob is aware that he is partly responsible for the relationship that has been taking place with Polly. He weighs and measures the positives and negatives of going through with marriage.

Bullies :: Free Essay Writer

Bullies Upon reading last Sunday’s issue of the newspaper, then scanning the Editorial Pages my eyes were drawn to thick black letters entitling a column â€Å"Time to pick on bullies†. This editorial of Bill Thompson immediately laid claim that after a school shooting, news follows that the shooter was â€Å"bullied† by fellow students. Seeing where this topic was headed, I was intrigued to read on. After a short reminiscent review of how kids used to either tolerate the ridiculer, or as Mr. Thompson wrote, resort to an â€Å"old fashioned schoolyard fist fight.† He then began fortifying his stand on the issue. Three schools, which, fell victim to such a crime as a school shooting were used as examples. The first, Santana High School in Santee, California. Secondly he mentioned a Catholic school in Williamsport, Pa. And finally, the school which broke in this sick trend, Columbine High school in Colorado. Now, by this point I was wondering if I had picked the wrong columnist, but out of nowhere I saw his whole case fall apart. He writes, and I quote, â€Å"We are ready, willing, and able to blame the epidemic of school shootings on the right to bare arms, on the shooters parents, on violent music, video games and TV shows. Why don’t we want to place some blame on the bullies who drive these kids to murder?† It was after reading that statement that I knew I’d picked a winner. I mean, was this guy serious? To place blame on our right to bare arms makes for good sense because it answers the question of how these kids are arming themselves. As for blaming the shooters parents, that topic alone spans the spectrum of parented morality. Our environment growing up whether it is where we live, to how our parents cared for us, all aspects of our childhood good or bad carry with us through life eventually molding us into adults. And when it comes to the level of violence in music, video games, and television that simply boils down to parental decision. The entertainment industry rarely slows its money machine to consider the welfare of its listeners and viewers. To be perfectly honest, I don’t feel it should have to. These quotes left me even more aggravated at how society is viewing this problem. It’s as though they’re reaching for explanations as to why. Well how will we ever be able to answer that? Bullies :: Free Essay Writer Bullies Upon reading last Sunday’s issue of the newspaper, then scanning the Editorial Pages my eyes were drawn to thick black letters entitling a column â€Å"Time to pick on bullies†. This editorial of Bill Thompson immediately laid claim that after a school shooting, news follows that the shooter was â€Å"bullied† by fellow students. Seeing where this topic was headed, I was intrigued to read on. After a short reminiscent review of how kids used to either tolerate the ridiculer, or as Mr. Thompson wrote, resort to an â€Å"old fashioned schoolyard fist fight.† He then began fortifying his stand on the issue. Three schools, which, fell victim to such a crime as a school shooting were used as examples. The first, Santana High School in Santee, California. Secondly he mentioned a Catholic school in Williamsport, Pa. And finally, the school which broke in this sick trend, Columbine High school in Colorado. Now, by this point I was wondering if I had picked the wrong columnist, but out of nowhere I saw his whole case fall apart. He writes, and I quote, â€Å"We are ready, willing, and able to blame the epidemic of school shootings on the right to bare arms, on the shooters parents, on violent music, video games and TV shows. Why don’t we want to place some blame on the bullies who drive these kids to murder?† It was after reading that statement that I knew I’d picked a winner. I mean, was this guy serious? To place blame on our right to bare arms makes for good sense because it answers the question of how these kids are arming themselves. As for blaming the shooters parents, that topic alone spans the spectrum of parented morality. Our environment growing up whether it is where we live, to how our parents cared for us, all aspects of our childhood good or bad carry with us through life eventually molding us into adults. And when it comes to the level of violence in music, video games, and television that simply boils down to parental decision. The entertainment industry rarely slows its money machine to consider the welfare of its listeners and viewers. To be perfectly honest, I don’t feel it should have to. These quotes left me even more aggravated at how society is viewing this problem. It’s as though they’re reaching for explanations as to why. Well how will we ever be able to answer that?

Competition Energy Drinks Essay

The beverage industry, like most food service industries in these economic times, faces many challenges. Not one company is excluded from the challenges of economic conditions, demographics, social and global forces, and regulatory, political, and legal factors. The global economic conditions affect the energy drink industry in many ways. This industry depends highly on the disposable income of its customers. People are very cautious with their money these days and if additional income does not exist to purchase these items, then the companies suffer. In recent projections, however, this does not seem to be the case. The global industry factors show a projected growth of $20 trillion in sales between 2009 and 2014, and demand for these alternative beverages is expected to increase globally as customer purchasing power increases. Social factors play an important part in the industry’s strategy, as well. With customers concerned with healthy lifestyles and exercise, the alternative beverage industry has increased sales in the last decade. Customers demanding low calorie, energy & vitamin-enhancing drinks turn to these types of beverages for their needs instead of carbonated soft drinks. Alternative drinks are consumed by a slim demographic. These products are generally used by young adults, college and high school students, athletes and exercise aficionados. Another branch of these drinks are the energy â€Å"shots,† which have become very popular in the last decade. With new legislation and changing regulations, it is very important for companies to stay abreast of all changes. There has been an increase in negative reports on what affects energy drinks have on people that use them, from high blood pressure to arrhythmia, which as forced some companies to include warning labels on their packaging. There is also a concern with the consumption of these drinks contributing to the obesity issue, many of these drinks contain high fructose corn syrup, and many additives that can contribute to weight gain if consumption is not limited. Competition is fierce in this industry; not only between the two biggest competitors, Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo Inc., but also Red Bull GmbH, Hansen Natural Corporation and privately owned regional brands. The two major companies, Pepsi and Coca Cola, are strong competitors within the alternative beverage market and use both the introduction of new products as well as the introduction of existing products in new markets to increase sales. Pepsi has introduced several new products – Charge, Rebuild, and Defend – three new brands available to consumers interested in vitamin-enhanced drink alternatives. Pepsi has also recently agreed to distribute the â€Å"Rockstar† brand drinks in Canada and the United States. Coca-Cola Company’s strategy is to distribute their existing brands in the new markets of Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and other Asia/Pacific countries. In order to compete with these two major companies, Red Bull relies on sponsorships and promotion as well as celebrity endorsements. By using advertising in this manner, Red Bull is able to use its slogans and logos in a variety of ways to get their name out into the public. Hansen Natural Corporation utilizes a different approach to boost sales. This company increased their package size and still maintained a competitive price compared to Red Bull. Like Red Bull, Hansen also uses celebrity promotion and sponsorship as a marketing tool. This is not to say that PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Company do not utilize this method of advertising, as they both spend billions on advertising promotions, celebrity, and sporting endorsements. The competitive edge in this case lies with PepsiCo Inc. , whose sales of energy and alternative beverages have surpassed its competitors in the past few years. New entrants are not a strong competitive pressure for this industry. The dominating companies are unsurpassed in their strong brand names and great distribution channels. The industry is fully saturated. These factors make it difficult for new companies to compete against them. Any new company wanting to get into this industry would face high capital start-up expenditures and would surely fail due to the high cost. Substitution of products is also an area where the competitive force is low. With brand loyalty, the market for substitution is very low. Consumers want the brands they are used and won’t accept substitution. Suppliers for the industry do not hold much competitive pressure either. Suppliers to this industry are bottling equipment manufactures and secondary packaging suppliers. The suppliers have little bargaining power, as the two major brands own their own bottling centers. As discussed earlier, changes in this industry’s long-term growth rate is a positive one. Growth is high in this market and is expected to continue to grow. One of the reasons for this is the increasing globalization. Coke is expanding its operations to be more global as are some of its competitors. The changing spectrum of the customer base is not really a factor here. Most of the demographic has not changed much since the introduction of these alternative beverages. Marketing and innovation has to continue to grow so that the company can grow. Regulatory influences and government policy changes are a huge factor in this industry. As the customers call for increased legislation and regulation of the ingredients, the companies have to make adjustments to their drink formulas, and this could prove costly if not monitored closely. Society is constantly changing and this industry needs to transition with these changes. By the introduction of new products and the re-tooling of existing products, all of the competitors can be successful. This industry has several success factors, product marketing, product differentiation, brand name, a strong distribution network and the ability to adapt to change. PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Company have strong aspects of all of these factors which is what has made both of them so successful. PepsiCo Inc.has branched into the food market as well as remaining in the soft drink and alternative beverage markets. Coke has had a similar strategy and relies heavily on their brand name and product recognition. All of the companies have unique and successful marketing techniques such as sponsorships, promotions, and celebrity endorsements. In order to achieve a successful strategic plan, a company needs to establish a group of people to discuss the goals and objectives of their company, sometimes called a task force. The task force should then decide what the company’s goals and objectives are. By drafting Mission and Vision statements, this task force can begin to convey their goals and objectives. Strategic planning is an on-going task for every company. When a plan is established the implementation and monitoring phases begin. To be successful a company should be constantly monitoring its goals and objectives and changing them when the need arises. With competition so high in this industry, a strong strategic plan is critical. In viewing these companies one can see that their plans are very strong. In order to continue to grow and compete in this market all companies need to look forward at the changing times, attitudes and cultures. All of the companies in this market, as with any market, need to maintain their competitive advantage and find new and different ways to achieve it. A comprehensive action plan needs to be put into place and reviewed often. By doing this all companies have a better chance at keeping their competitive advantage and enjoying better profits for their shareholders.

Choice of Software Essay

Below is a list of possible solutions to this assignment and with them there are the disadvantages and advantages. After thoroughly analysing these choices I will pick the best option. Database Advantages Using a database is a very simple option. Almost every employee without too much guidance could use the solution to enter data and carry out the basic operations. Using the database wizard, the data can be input into a table and the field types could be declared. Thus would make data entry effective and unsophisticated. The built-in features of a database will diminish the risk of errors during the input process. Adding a new record to a database would be simple as entering it underneath the previous record. Report can also be easily printed off from a database and are aesthetically pleasing in appearance already without the need of major modification. Data validation is also a key area of this project and a database already has the suitable data validation methods pre-set end embedded into the core of the database application. Disadvantages Functions such as the ability to carry out complex mathematical calculations are not necessarily included in a database application. To overcome this irregularity the database would have to be cross-linked to a spreadsheet application. This would of course multiply the workload and the size of the task, which would be pointless. Also, other features of a database are fairly limited. This would therefore mean that the database system could not be adequately adapted to tackle the problem. This solution could prove to be expensive. Commercial Software Advantages Commercial Software programs are generally simple and well suited to the problem at hand to some extent. They are easy to use and come with extensive help guides to modify the functions and utilities to suit the and help the end user and also include suitable training materials and tasks for IT illiterates Disadvantages The costs of these Commercial Software programs are quite high. The features of these are not suitable for a task of this build and even with major modification would not be completely suitable and would be prone to error. Such programs do not have validation methods built-in and do not allow for addition of such Add-ons. This would be a stumbling block to the whole program and the quality of the program would suffer as a result. This solution could prove to be expensive. Spreadsheet System Advantages A spreadsheet System would be a more obvious solution. Such a spreadsheet would be able to be implemented with alleviation. The outstanding feature of a spreadsheet over the other options is the ability to enter and manipulate complex mathematical formulae and the ability to process numerical values without too much effort. All of the task could be completed within this one package without the need for integration with other programs and partial embedding extra programs. This can be implemented by the fact that the sheets can be linked to each other. Reports can be easily printed out via the macro feature of the spreadsheet. Disadvantages To be able to use the spreadsheet, the unwritten rules of manipulating formula within a spreadsheet have to be mastered. Exact placement of cells and macros would have to be recorded. The spreadsheet system layout is fairly difficult to follow. This solution could prove to be expensive. Bespoke Program Advantages The advantages of creating a bespoke program using a high level/imperative programming language is that the styles, functions and forms of the screens can be manipulated to suit the end users. The program would come with extensive help guides and instruction for the end users. The screens would de designed specifically using extensive research techniques to gather information for the program and to meet the users requirements and create a user-friendly interface. Behind this user-friendly interface, all of the required formulae and utilities could be implemented. The cost of creating a bespoke program is virtually none after purchasing the software to create such a program with its official license, which is a great advantage over the previous examples. Disadvantages The only obvious disadvantage to such a solution would be the time taken to complete the task. After the initial research and design period, the whole design and implementation of the program and extensive testing could take 3-4 months to be fully implemented. Online Web-Based Solution Advantages The advantages of using on online system is that the system does not have to be limited to one machine or a local network of computers but this accessibility can be enlarged and accessed all over the world by the right personnel. Security can be maintained my strenuous password and security checks and Internet I.P. addresses can be recorded and monitored. Integration of spreadsheets needs to be implemented into such a Web-Based Solution. Disadvantages If this solution were to be implemented, it would be a very foolish decision. The fact that it can be accessed all over the world maybe appealing at first, but what if the security of the website is overcome and the marks of hundreds if not thousands of students could be modified by a lone teenager with a bit of effort. This would bring the whole organisation into disrepute and affect the future of many students. Apart from the security concerns of this solution, the fact that it needs to be linked to a spreadsheet so that calculations can be carried out successfully is an unpleasant feature to this exaggerated solution. Reports could be printed to an extent but the design would be very unprofessional if not amateurish as any user can do this. This solution could prove to be expensive. Paper-Based System Advantages There are no real advantages of a paper-based system apart from the fact that it is a method of recording the information Disadvantages The disadvantages include the inability to save information in a professional manner. Sheets could be misplaced. Only one user can use the system at once. Handwriting can be a problem to read and understand. Also mistakes can easily occur much to the despair of students. Chosen Solution One thing to realise is that no problem has a solution, which is 100% perfect. This is true for the problem at hand as well. As they all have some disadvantages it is the one, which has the most advantages and the least disadvantages. That seems obvious enough to me that is why I have chosen to create own program using the BESPOKE PROGRAM option. The reasons why have chosen this option is because it is a sensible option and it can be suitably implemented and designed to the users requirements as it can be manipulated and shaped to perfection. Also it is not that costly so it will keep the bank manager happy, which would not have been the case if I had gone with the other options! The layout of the forms could be suited to use the user and I would not have to add features, which are not required by the users. The feedback from the users can be used to design the type of inputs and outputs they require from the program and how they would like to enter the data and then output the information in the form of the reports. This also enables me to create a versatile and innovative solution to the problem. The reasons why I have not used some of the other possible solutions is some of them are not practical while others are surreal! The idea of incorporating two programs to work together with each other appears to be out of the question, as it would make life hard for the end user then the current methods they are using. Also some of the solutions suggest features, which could affect the integrity of the data within the organisation and allow it to be prone to hacking and malicious damage from external sources. Other solutions do not have the necessary features to carry out this task. This is why I have eliminated these solutions when considering which solution to use and the only one that seemed practical would be the BESPOKE PROGRAM option.

What is the PARCC Test? Everything You Need to Know

Standardized testing has long been a hot-button topic, and with good reason. While proponents say these tests are crucial for measuring both student and teacher performance, critics argue that they take valuable time away from learning. In recent years, a great deal of the conversation has focused on the PARCC test, or Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Whether you’re a student taking the PARCC for the first time, a teacher administering the exam, or a parent with school-age children, it pays to know what this process entails. Read on for everything you need to know about PARCC. PARCC refers to a collection of exams administered to public school students on a yearly basis. Developed by experts from multiple states, PARCC exams are designed to measure student progress while establishing Common Core standards for grades 3-11. Not only do states examine student performance by school, identifying problem areas, but schools assess individual student performance to determine where extra help may be required. The tests serve as replacements for older forms of standardized testing. However, that doesn’t mean the majority of educators are on board. As of 2018, only New Mexico, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia were still administering the full exam , while states like Colorado and Louisiana were incorporating just some PARCC questions into their own assessments. Administered at the end of the school year, the tests are designed to assess both problem solving and critical thinking. Their goal is to ensure students are prepared for college and their professional lives. Additionally, the PARCC test ensures students are learning based on the Common Core standards . Because students take the PARCC test on a computer, numerous accommodations are available for those with learning challenges and disabilities. The PARCC exams consist of two components: English/language arts and math. For the English/language arts portion of the exam, students read fiction and nonfiction passages, watch videos, and listen to audio recordings. Then they answer multiple choice questions and write responses based on what they learned. For the math component, students solve problems requiring multi-step solutions. Because the math questions involve real-life situations, students must utilize reasoning and logic rather than rote memorization and procedure. Additionally, the revised PARCC exams require students to show their work. So, teachers have an enhanced ability to evaluate and identify gaps in understanding and tailor instruction accordingly. PARCC scores are assigned based on performance levels. Students receive marks between Level 1 and Level 5 , with Levels 4 and 5 indicating that students are performing well. Scoring Level 3 means students need a little more help to meet expectations. A score of Level 1 or Level 2 suggests that students require significant intervention. Our Early Advising Program helps students in 9th and 10th grade discover their passions and build strong academic and extracurricular profiles to succeed in high school. Proponents of the PARCC system say that it offers numerous benefits for both students and administrators. One advantage of PARCC over other standardized tests is that it doesn’t just use multiple-choice questions that assess what a student has memorized. Instead, the tests require students to employ logic and reasoning to answer questions and justify their responses. In this way, the test is evaluating a student’s ability to think critically. Because PARCC focuses on applying skills rather than regurgitating information, some advocates argue that schools don’t have to â€Å"teach to the test† the way they do with other exams. Instead, educators can simply encourage students to think critically about all lessons. Of course, not everyone is a proponent of PARCC tests. In fact, many administrators argue that teachers do spend a great deal of time preparing students for the test—time that could be better spent on classroom instruction. Because many students have not encountered a standardized test like PARCC before, educators need to prepare them to answer the certain type and style of questions. And younger students in particular may need help learning to manage their time on a test like PARCC. Additionally, critics say that PARCC results in a great deal of stress for test takers. It’s no secret that many students suffer anxiety during testing. Because scoring at the lower levels on PARCC can have serious consequences, including being held back, students may feel even more worried about taking the exam. The strict testing environment, which limits student movement and behavior, can also be stressful for students. Finally, some PARCC critics believe that the test has an unfair impact on diverse and underprivileged students and their teachers. Because test scores tend to be lower in impoverished regions, critics fear that these results will be used to justify holding students back, firing teachers, and even closing underperforming schools. Have questions about PARCC or another form of standardized testing? At , we’re passionate about helping prepare students to get into the schools of their dreams. For more information on our services, call today or contact us for a free consultation.

The computer and artificial intelligence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The computer and artificial intelligence - Essay Example Since the age of technology donned, humans have been very concerned with regards to the prospect of artificial intelligence. At the current rate of development and the manner in which technology continues to evolve, it is not exceptional to envision a world in which computers will not only be able to think that will be able to react and learn. Moreover, reaching back into history, it can clearly be seen that human technology has almost always been used as a means of developing an advantage over another individual, markets, people group, or entire society. This fear is understandable. This is partly due to the fact that because humans are distinguished among other creatures by the ability to think, the line of separation between human and machine could effectively be blurred by a machine that is able to both think and react. What has thus far been described, and what is partially described by the authors in question, is a level of discomfort and anxiety that humans are beginning to fe el with respect to the ability that machines will soon have to replace them.If a person has a business and uses the results of the work of others he/she anyway does huge intellectual work in order to keep the competitive advantage, keep good workers, work out new plans and so on. However, if machines start to think it would be the real catastrophe as people will become lazy because machines will do everything instead of them. The authors state: â€Å"Such questions invite real, no longer speculative answers†.