To: Ms.

Remsik Larsen
From: Jenay Lyons
Date: 6 May 2015
Subject: Cover Letter
Rhetorical Situation
The rhetorical situation I have chosen for the genre revision of the first Major Writing
Assignment is an official letter to the APS Board of Education in regards to standardized testing
and recent protests against the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers
(PARCC). I chose this genre because, during research, I came across an official statement from
APS Interim Superintendent Dr. Brad Winter in which he suggested students start an official
petition, attend public meetings, or write a letter to a school board member. Considering the real
life application of this option, I wanted to write a letter that might reflect the concerns students
have expressed towards standardized assessments in a professional manner. The possibility of
such a letter is very realistic if students truly feel as strongly as they seem to be expressing
through protests. When determining the author, I did not want to write in first person or as a
specific individual so therefore tried to write from the position of a group of students and
avoided the use of pronouns as much as possible.
Process
When writing this letter, I found it difficult at times to avoid certain pronouns such as they,
found specifically in the last sentence of the last paragraph, while using varied language.
Referring to students as such became somewhat repetitive and ineffective after some time,
although I could not determine a better term to use. When structuring the letter, I referred to the
official statement from Dr. Winter in terms of content and format. Should a student decide to
write a letter to a school board member, it should be structured in a similar format to demonstrate
professionalism over a matter that is hoped to be taken seriously. Since the matter is pertaining to
education, students should demonstrate that they are in fact educated and mature enough to write
in an appropriate manner.
Deciding what information from the original assignment I would use in the revision was fairly
obvious as I wanted to discuss specific concerns and possible compromises. Since the original
essay was argumentative, I was able to look back and consider the issues that students expressed
as well as the responses that APS officials might have, which helped the process of thinking of
possible compromises to suggest. Understanding the positions of both parties allowed for
compromises to be relatively fair and reasonable for everyone involved. Furthermore, I
determined that the length of the letter would be best kept to one page in order to be concise.
Conclusion
Writing an official letter was reassuring that standardized testing is an issue that does in fact need
to be addressed. I was unsure of the possibility that standardized assessments are actually valid
and that perhaps students are only complaining about a reasonable aspect of education, but I do
believe improvements can be made. Having the opportunity to write a letter suggesting such
improvements gave me hope that students might some day express their concerns in a manner
that reaches APS officials and safely initiates change.

7 May 2015
To the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education,
In light of recent protests against the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and
Careers (PARCC), an official response from Interim Superintendent Dr. Brad Winter suggested
writing a letter to the school board about the concerns students have in regards to standardized
testing. Stated within this letter is a description of said concerns and a suggested compromise.
Many students agree that some protestors became out of hand and did not appropriately represent
the cause that many students are fighting for. That being said, there is concern about the amount
of standardized assessments and their validity pertaining to students overall success and the
abilities of teachers. Many teachers agree that standardized testing has placed them in the
position to teach students to pass a test, rather than teach for the sake of their education. This not
only deprives students of independently driven education but also prohibits teachers from
exploring their own teaching abilities. When such pressure is placed on students to score well on
a test to determine the salaries of teachers, and a teachers salary hinges on their students
performance on a standardized test, time in the classroom is then spent preparing students to
answer specific questions rather than having a broad knowledge of many subjects. To remedy
this, a teachers abilities should not be determined by student performance on a standardized
assessment or, if it is, such information should remain confidential in order to prevent
performance bias.
Another concern students have towards standardized testing is the frequency in which they are
administered. Knowing there is a test at the end of each year becomes tiresome and redundant. If
assessments were to be taken every other year as opposed to each, students would be more
willing to test their knowledge and growth would be seen in greater increments. Also, as
technology and standards improve, tests would not need to be adjusted annually and would have
more time to be made relevant and geared to current events.
Lastly, as tests seem to be changing and multiplying each year, students would benefit from
being better informed of these changes and why they are occurring. Doing so would prevent
confusion and reaffirm credibility in which students can respect. This would also reassure
students that they are important in the matter, since they are the ones sitting down and taking the
assessments.
In hopes that the board will consider these concerns and compromises, thank you for your time
and consideration.
Sincerely,
APS Students