Joshua Reynolds Negley English 1010, 3A 11/22/2013 Standardized testing Standardized testing in the United States beca e !o!

ular in 2002 because o" the No #hild $e"t %ehind Act& 'he act ai ed to hold all !ublic schools to a high standard o" education, easured by their students( scores in state)ide standardized tests& *t see s as though teachers and !arents do not li+e these standardized tests being such a big !art o" the educational !rocess, but the go,ern ent disagrees and has +e!t this syste "or al ost 12 years no)& -ore and ore

articles ha,e been !osted by !arents, teachers, and .ournalists against standardized testing and yet it is still "orced in schools nation)ide& * loo+ed "or articles considering standardized testing and sur!risingly * could not "ind a single article su!!orting it& So, un"ortunately * decided to use 2 articles against standardized testing& -y !ur!ose is not to !ro,e a !oint, but rather to e/a ine the rhetoric behind these articles& * ha,e e/a ined the articles, 01roble s 2ith Standardized 'esting3 by Jas ine E,ans and, 0No -ore 'ests43 by %ill 2etzel and ha,e "ound they are "airly si ilar, but use di""erent techni5ues& * belie,e E,ans( article )as 2etzel(s because E,ans uses belie,able and ore e""ecti,ely )ritten to !ersuade her audience than a+ing her article ore

ore concrete e,idence and e/a !les

atches the "lo) o" her article to the )ay her readers )ould

ost li+ely thin+&

A"ter "inding Jas in E,ans( !ro"ile on lin+edin&co )riter and has been !ublished on

* ha,e learned that she is a "reelance

any di""erent things and "ocusses on the, 0enlightening any years and as a

!arents, students, teachers, and ad inistrators3& She has tutored "or

teaching assistant "or the Su 1re!aratory 1rogra

er *nstitute "or the 6i"ted and the 1rinceton Uni,ersity

and "or "our years, she )or+ed as the #ollege 1re!aration Ad,iser "or

Results Acade ic *nstitute& 7n 7ctober 28th 2013 Jas ine E,ans !osted an article titled, 01roble s )ith standardized testing3 on education&co & Jas ine see s to be )riting to anyone loo+ing to "ind out the "acts about standardized testing& 'he !ur!ose o" her article is to !ro,ide "acts su!!orting the reason )hy standardized testing is bad& She begins introducing standardized testing by )riting that it lur+s around e,ery ilestone in today(s education, and the tests ad inistered by state education de!art ents are at the center o" contro,ersy "or any teachers and education re"or ers& 'hen she gi,es a

bac+ground o" ho) these tests ca e to be& #oncluding the introduction she sets us u! )ith a state ent saying that no one )ill listen to the !arents and teachers trying to sto! the tests& A"ter that she lists any "acts about standardized testing re"erring to s!eeches, studies, statistics, and

any others& She does not conclude in the article lea,ing us )ith only the "acts& 7ne o" her ost i !ortant rhetorical choices is the "lo) o" the essay& 'he essay has

any short !aragra!hs se!arated by bold titles& *t see s as though she is doing this because her audience )ould ost li+ely be nor al !eo!le )ho don(t li+e reading a huge boring e/!lanation ade her article "ast !aced and short +ee!s

on one to!ic, )ith the sa e e/act loo+& 'he )ay she

the reader occu!ied )ith ne) e/cited to!ics and e/!lanations& Another rhetorical choice ade by Jas in is using any di""erent sources e/!laining ade by Secretary o"

)hat is )rong )ith standardized testing& 'hese sources include a s!eech

Education Arne 9uncan, a study by the National #enter "or Research on E,aluation, a historical e,ent in Atlanta during the 2012:2013 school year, and any others& A good reason )hy she

)ould do this is to gi,e the readers a reason to belie,e )hat she has )ritten because they are based on ore in"or ation than .ust )hat she thin+s&

A"ter doing so e research about the author o", 0No -ore 'ests3, %ill 2etzel, * ha,e "ound out that he is the "ounder o" an organization called Students Against 'esting& *n his o)n )ords he e/!lains that Students Against 'esting is, 0a national resource "or students and other acti,ists to ta+e action against standardized tests& 2e also )or+ on a local le,el&3 ;e !osted the article, 0No -ore 'ests3, on ebscohost&co , and re!rinted on S*RS&co in 2002, then !osted it

again in a blog in 2010& %ill 2etzel see s to be )riting to !eo!le against standardized testing& 'he !ur!ose o" the article is to gi,e !eo!le so e in"or ation on )hy they should be against standardized testing and )hy it is not too late to "ight it& 2etzel starts by gi,ing us a scenario to relate to& 'hen he goes right into 5uoting Albert Einstein and goes on e/!laining the rele,ance o" the 5uote to the )orld today& A"ter that she gi,es < e/a !les o" !eo!le standing u! against standardized testing& 'o conclude she e/!lains that learning is "ar ore than .ust "illing in bubbles on a test and gi,es so e alternate o!tions that

)ill hel! students learn rather than "ill in test bubbles& 2etzel rhetorically chooses to use e/a !les to rein"orce his credibility& Rather than ha,ing e/a !les "ro credible sources he decides to allo) "or the audience to assu e they are on !eo!le that ight read this article are

credible enough& * thin+ he does this because the co ore li+ely to .ust belie,e hi

because he see s s art, so there is no need "or credible sources&

;e decides to use another rhetorical choice to add an e otional, interesting story at the beginning& ;e begins )ith, 0'a+e out your nu ber:t)o !encils, boys and girls::standardized testing season is u!on us once again& #hildren=s bac+!ac+s )ill be bursting )ith test:!re! guides and !ractice e/a s, classroo calendars )ill be counting do)n until the big day, and !arents

)ill an/iously a)ait that letter in the grade&3 'his the story&

ail to "ind out i" their children can ad,ance to the ne/t

a+es the readers )ant to +ee! reading and see ho) the rest o" the article relates to

2hile both authors use e/a !les to rein"orce their credibility and !ersuade their readers, * belie,e E,ans )as ore success"ul than 2etzel& E,ans has ulti!le situations o" ,ery credible

sources re"erenced in her article as an e/a !le to su!!ort her to!ic> on the other hand 2etzel gi,es ,ery "e) and less !o)er"ul e/a !les& E,ans dis!lays credibility by 5uoting e/!erts& ?or e/a !le, a 2013 s!eech to the A erican Educational Research Association, Secretary o" Education Arne 9uncan& She also uses e/a !les "ro studies li+e, the National #enter "or

Research on E,aluation, Standards, and Student 'esting, ?or er 'e/as State Senator 'ed $yon, 'he ;ar,ard Education Re,ie), and any others& 2etzel gi,es e/a !les that lea,e us )ith the

decision to go o"" her )ord rather than a res!ected organization or !erson& Another rhetorical choice is "lo)& 2etzel starts out strong gi,ing an i aginati,e scene "or her readers, but then she "ollo)s )ith long boring stories and e/!lanations& Unli+e 2etzel, E,ans has short 1:2 !aragra!hs that gi,e e/citing e/a !les constantly hoo+ing the readers )ith ne) en,iron ents and situations& She goes "ro tal+ing about ho) standardized tests eat u! ani!ulation&

instructing ti e right into ho) high sta+es ha,e led to cheating and score

Rhetorically brea+ing do)n an article into the s allest !ossible !ieces is ,ery i !ortant& *t sho)s ho) signi"icant they are to su!!orting the argu ent& Also, it allo)s you to decide based on those s all details i" they are .ust or not& 2hen you loo+ at the entire !icture the little details you ight disagree )ith could be o,erloo+ed& So "inding these details allo)s "or you to ani!ulated by the 0big !icture3& a+e

decisions "or yoursel" rather than beco e