Posted on: Friday, March 17, 2006
Contact: Helen Au, (808) 956-6969
College of Education, UH Mānoa
UH LABORATORY SCHOOL STUDENT SELECTED AS NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLAR FINALIST
HONOLULU—Paul Anderson, a senior at the University of Hawai‘i Laboratory School (ULS), has recently been selected as a National Merit Scholar Finalist. The National Merit Scholarship is a prestigious merit-based award granted to students whose Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholar Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) scores fall within the highest percentiles in the state range. The test is an SAT-preparatory examination administered to high-school juniors nationwide. Semifinalists for this award represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.
Anderson, who has advanced to finalist standing, has been selected by means of a rigorous process: 16,000 nationwide semifinalists were notified of their standing after taking the PSAT in September, upon which they applied for the scholarship; they also agreed to submit their SAT scores as final confirmation of scholastic achievement. In January-February, 15,000 Semifinalists were selected for finalist standing. Anderson, currently at this stage of the competition, represents part of the top 3-4 percent of all high school students who took the PSAT. Finalists receive a Certificate of Merit, and await the selection of 8,200 Merit Scholar awardees, which will be announced in March-June.
Anderson states that several of his teachers at ULS have helped him in developing the critical and analytical skills important to test-taking. He notes that the curriculum, which focuses heavily on developing reading and writing skills, was helpful in completing the essay portion of the test. He also achieved a perfect score on the critical reading section of the SAT. Activities such as writing for ten minutes daily in class, he says, has helped him develop his writing abilities and fluency.
Seventy-six NMSQT Semifinalists were selected from the state of Hawai‘i in 2004. Selection qualification index scores vary slightly from state to state, and are based on previous score percentiles to ensure that students are selected from every state. According to ULS counselor Josh Watson, the Lab School has been “reasonably consistent in producing National Merit Scholar Finalists.” Several National Merit Semifinalists were selected from the Laboratory School about two years ago.
Anderson is currently applying to a number of colleges, including Harvard University, Columbia University, and Cornell University. He plans to major in physics.
For more information about the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, please visit: www.nationalmerit.org.
ABOUT UNIVERSITY LABORATORY SCHOOL
The University Laboratory School is operated by the Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG) in the College of Education at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. ULS is a public charter school and provides a K-12 student population in a controlled environment where CRDG faculty conducts its research and development work. ULS also serves as a demonstration site for improving K-12 education while providing a high quality education for its approximately 420 students. The students, randomly selected from among applicants to represent a broad cross section of the state population, provide real-world data on ways all students can succeed.
ABOUT CURRICULUM RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT GROUP
The Curriculum Research & Development Group is an organized research unit in the College of Education at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Since 1966, CRDG has served the educational community locally, nationally, and internationally by conducting research and creating, evaluating, disseminating, and supporting educational programs that serve students, teachers, and other educators in grades preK-12; and contributing to the body of professional knowledge and practice in teaching and learning, curriculum development, program dissemination and implementation, evaluation and assessment and school improvement. Since its founding, CRDG has been an integral part of the education community.
