1. Assertion

2. Reasoning

3. Evidence

4. 100

5. A: ? R: We can’t keep bad people from getting guns, so instead we should protect our children from those people. E: In a recent poll by Fox News, twice as many people thought we should give guns to guards, compared to the people who thought guns should be banned.

6. 100

7. A: ? R: More kids are getting in trouble for less dangerous actions because of armed guards. E: A Capitol Weekly article from this January reported that in the last 3 years, school police issued 33,000 tickets to young people that required them to go to court, with 40% of those tickets going to kids younger than 14.

8. 100

9. A: ? R: Student test scores are not the best way to assess teacher performance. E: A test score is just a number. Some students are bad at taking tests no matter how hard they/their teacher tried, but a test score wouldn’t tell us this.

10. 100

11. A: ? R: Public school teachers have very important jobs, but they are paid less than most professionals. E: Merit-based compensation makes many teachers more likely to stay with the profession instead of switching to a more profitable career, according to the New York Times.

12. 200

13. A: Armed guards should not be present at schools. R: ? E: Armed guards were present at Columbine and Virginia Tech, and those shootings still happened.

14. 200

15. A: Armed guards should be present at schools. R: ? E: An armed guard was able to stop a shooter at Price Middle school in downtown Atlanta on January 31, 2013. Only one student was injured because the guard was there and acted quickly.

16. 200

17. A: Teacher compensation should be merit-based. R: ? E: In a recent study, students did better on tests when their teachers’ pay depended on performance.

18. 200

19. A: Armed guards should not be allowed in schools. R: ? E: The youth homicide rate in schools is less than 1 in 10 million people. Far more kids are killed outside of schools– without armed guards, schools are safe places for kids.