School Improvement in Maryland

Public Release Item: Public Release items have appeared on HSA forms and then are released for public viewing and use. Releasing items is one step to ensuring that schools, districts, and other stakeholders understand how the core learning goals are assessed on the HSA.

Goal 1 Political Systems

Expectation 1.2 The student will evaluate how the United States government has maintained a balance between protecting rights and maintaining order.

Indicator 1.2.1 The student will analyze the impact of landmark Supreme Court decisions on governmental powers, rights, and responsibilities of citizens in our changing society.

Assessment Limits:

  • Cases included: Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, Miranda v. Arizona, Gideon v. Wainwright, Tinker v. Des Moines Board of Education, and New Jersey v. T.L.O.
  • Other cases that address the same issues could be used, but information about these cases will be provided in the item.

Selected Response Item - Released in 2001

Which of these rights of a suspect is protected by the Miranda v. Arizona decision?

  1. the right to an attorney
  2. the right to a jury of peers
  3. the right to confront witnesses
  4. the right to a speedy and public trial
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2001_121_gov29.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2001

Which of these Supreme Court decisions established the doctrine of "separate but equal"?

  1. Plessy v. Ferguson
  2. Marbury v. Madison
  3. Tinker v. Des Moines School District
  4. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2001_121_gov48.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2003

Read the news article excerpt below. Then answer the following.

Which of these resulted from the Supreme Court decision described in the article?

  1. Legislative districts were made equal in land size.
  2. Votes in urban areas were given more weight than votes in rural areas.
  3. Polling places in some areas stayed open later than in other areas.
  4. Congressional districts were made similar in population size.
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2003_121_gov07.xml

Correct Answer:
D

Selected Response Item - Released in 2003

Which of these cases helped establish the right of the Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of federal law?

  1. Marbury v. Madison
  2. McCulloch v. Maryland
  3. Plessy v. Ferguson
  4. Brown v. Board of Education
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2003_121_gov51.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2003

In 1968 the Supreme Court upheld the arrest of a young man for burning his draft card as an antiwar protest.

Which of these best explains why the Supreme Court decided that burning draft cards is not a protected form of free speech?

  1. His action interfered with the government raising an army.
  2. The law prohibited burning anything in public without a permit.
  3. All citizens have the responsibility to serve in the military.
  4. The First Amendment excludes protesting as a form of free speech.
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2003_121_gov11.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2001

In a 1995 case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that conducting drug tests of students participating in interscholastic athletics did not violate the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures.

This ruling expanded the Supreme Court's decision in

  1. New Jersey v. T.L.O.
  2. Mianda v. Arizona
  3. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
  4. Tinker v. Des Moines School District
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2001_121_gov09.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Brief Constructed Response (BCR) Item - Released in 2004

Read the excerpt below.

“[neither] students or teachers shed their constitutional rights of freedom of speech or expression at the school house gate.”

–Tinker v. Des Moines School District
  • Explain how the point of view expressed in the excerpt above could conflict with the functioning of a school.
     
  • Do you agree or disagree with the position taken in this excerpt? Explain.
     
  • Include details and examples to support your answer.
     
Write your answer in the answer box below.

/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2004_121_gov05.xml

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Selected Response Item - Released in 2004

Which of these best describes an effect of the Supreme Court decision in Marbury v. Madison?

  1. It gave the President veto power over Congress.
  2. It divided the government into three separate branches.
  3. It established the power to void a congressional law.
  4. It made state governments question federal power.
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2004_121_gov35.xml

Correct Answer:
C

Selected Response Item - Released in 2005

Which of these incidents led to the United States Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District?

  1. A school principal censored articles from the school newspaper.
  2. A school district used public transportation to segregate students by race.
  3. School authorities searched a student's handbag without a search warrant.
  4. School authorities suspended students for wearing black armbands as a protest.
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2005_121_gov14.xml

Correct Answer:
D

Extended Constructed Response (ECR) Item - Released in 2005

Look at the chart below.

  • Describe how the Fourteenth Amendment was the basis for these Supreme Court rulings.
     
  • Was additional Supreme Court action necessary after the Brown decision? Explain why or why not.
     
  • Explain how these decisions affect public education today.
     
  • Include details and examples to support your answer.
     
Write your answer on the lines in the answer box below.

/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2005_121_gov21.xml

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Selected Response Item - Released in 2005

Which of these Supreme Court cases established supremacy of the federal government over the states?

  1. Plessy v. Ferguson
  2. New Jersey v. T.L.O
  3. Marbury v. Madison
  4. McCulloch v. Maryland
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2005_121_gov29.xml

Correct Answer:
D

Selected Response Item - Released in 2005

Which of these best describes the result of the Supreme Court's ruling in New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985)?

  1. Students have fewer privacy rights in school than in other public settings.
  2. School officials must have search warrants in order to search student property.
  3. School officials may plan religious assemblies for students.
  4. Restrictions placed on student speech in schools are justified.
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2005_121_gov58.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2004

The Sixth Amendment allows the accused the “assistance of counsel.”

Which of these Supreme Court decisions extended the protections of this amendment?

  1. Marbury v. Madison
  2. Plessy v. Ferguson
  3. Gideon v. Wainwright
  4. Tinker v. Des Moines School Board
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2004_121_gov11.xml

Correct Answer:
C

Selected Response Item - Released in 2002

How did the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka affect the Court's earlier decision in Plessy v. Ferguson?

  1. The Court overturned the separate but equal doctrine in schools.
  2. The Court approved schools requiring students to wear uniforms.
  3. The Court ruled that school officials must show reasonable cause for making a search.
  4. The Court upheld the decision that it is illegal for school officials to restrict freedom of expression.
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2002_121_gov08.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2002

Which of these rights is guaranteed to criminal defendants as a result of the Supreme Court's decision in Gideon v. Wainwright?

  1. the right to an attorney
  2. the right to a trial by jury
  3. the right to confront witnesses in court
  4. the right to remain silent when questioned by police
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2002_121_gov26.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2002

Read the headline below.

This headline would have been most appropriate for which of the following cases?

  1. Miranda v. Arizona
  2. Gideon v. Wainwright
  3. New Jersey v. T.L.O.
  4. Tinker v. Des Moines
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2002_121_gov54.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2006

Which of these cases guaranteed an individual’s right to legal counsel?

  1. Plessy v. Ferguson
  2. Gideon v. Wainwright
  3. McCulloch v. Maryland
  4. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2006_121_gov10.xml

Correct Answer:
B

Selected Response Item - Released in 2006

According to the Supreme Court’s decision in New Jersey v. T.L.O., a school administrator can legally

  1. search the locker of a student who brags about stealing a wallet
  2. prevent a student from peacefully expressing an opinion
  3. suspend a student without an explanation of the offense
  4. prevent a student from performing in a controversial, privately sponsored play
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2006_121_gov21.xml

Correct Answer:
A

Selected Response Item - Released in 2006

In 2001 the Supreme Court ruled that a public school in New York violated the constitutional right to free speech when it prevented a Christian children's club from meeting on school grounds.

What was most likely an effect of this ruling?

  1. Parents receive state money toward private school tuition.
  2. Schools must provide transportation to extracurricular activities if they are school sponsored.
  3. Religious clubs must receive funding from public schools.
  4. Public schools must give the same access to religious groups as they do to other organizations.
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2006_121_gov30.xml

Correct Answer:
D

Brief Constructed Response (BCR) Item - Released in 2007

Read the information below and use it to answer the BRIEF CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE that follows.

In 2002, the United States Supreme Court ruled that cities may set guidelines for demonstrations in public parks.

—Thomas et al. v.
Chicago Park District

  • Explain how the Supreme Court's decision in this case affects the protection of individual freedoms.
  • Do you agree with the Supreme Court's decision? Explain why or why not.
  • Use details and examples to support your answer.

Write your answer on the lines in your Answer Book.

/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2007_121_gov13.xml

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Selected Response Item - Released in 2007

In Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), the Supreme Court ruled that the accused person's right to due process of law had been violated because he was

  1. convicted with illegally obtained evidence
  2. arrested without being informed of his legal rights
  3. denied a court-appointed attorney to represent him
  4. jailed for several weeks before being charged with a crime
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2007_121_gov14.xml

Correct Answer:
C

Selected Response Item - Released in 2007

In McCulloch v. Maryland, the Supreme Court interpreted the Constitution to mean that

  1. laws passed by Congress must be approved by all states
  2. laws signed by the President cannot be ruled unconstitutional
  3. states have power only if all states agree
  4. states cannot tax the federal government
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2007_121_gov26.xml

Correct Answer:
D

Selected Response Item - Released in 2007

Read the passage below. Then answer the following.

For over 150 years, the state of Virginia operated an all-male college called the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). In 1990, the United States government sued the state of Virginia at the request of a female high school student seeking admission to VMI. The Supreme Court ruled that VMI had to admit women who could meet the physical and other requirements.

Which of these principles of law most likely influenced the Supreme Court's decision?

  1. common law
  2. equal protection
  3. implied contract
  4. presumption of innocence
/share/clg/xml/public_release/government/2007_121_gov44.xml

Correct Answer:
B