Counterargument Assignment

Counter Argument: Standardized Testing is an effective way of measuring student success.


Paragraph: Standardized testing is a very popular component in schools today. Intended for measurement, parents rest a surly that these tests are only beneficial to their student. Many believe that standardized tests are crucial for not only student measurement, but also holding teachers, schools, and education itself accountable. Herbert J. Walberg of Stanford University believes that without standardized tests, there would not be an accurate way to discover individual student’s strengths and weaknesses (Walberg). Education officials use standardized tests to better educate students based on their individual needs, and without them there would not be an accurate way to do so. Maybe that is what standardized tests are intended for, but the information that standardized tests are said to give, are not worth the detrimental issues students are dealing with today.

Argument Blog

Claim: The effects that standardized tests have on public school education are not beneficial  and standardized tests should be completely eliminated from our education system.

Reasons:
-Promotes cheating
-Not an effective measurement
-Excessive testing=anxiety 
-Discrimination

Counterargument:
Standardized testing is an effective measurement of student success--- using surprising reversal.

Organization:
I will use my claim to bring in my supporting points, and create a thesis. Then, I was thinking that I would have my next paragraph be about my counterargument, using surprising reversal. After that, I am going to have a paragraph for each of my main points (Promotes cheating, not an effective measurement  excessive testing= anxiety, discrimination). I will then have a paragraph about my solution, which is eliminating standardized tests completely  Then I will have a conclusion to recap everything. 

ZERO DRAFT

Zero Draft

Heather Rankin

November 10, 2013

 

Things I know:

·         I know that I am using the same articles I used for my synthesis essay: Concordia article, Pro-con article, TIME article, The New Republic article, and The New Internationalist article. I wasn’t too sure about using these articles again for my argumentative essay, but after seeing how much they helped my synthesis essay, I think that they would help.

·         I know that my topic is on standardized tests and I am claiming that the effects that standardized tests have on public school education is bad.

Things I am unsure about:

·         I am still kind of unsure about my thesis, or how I want to conduct it to be really effective.

·         My points that I have are that standardized tests can promote cheating, excessive testing, maybe something about how they are unfair towards non-whites and mental students. I guess another point I can have is that they are not effective at measuring student success and there should be another method used that will measure how well a teacher is teaching.

·         For my counter argument I think I am going to mention how since standardized tests were created they have been intended to measure students success, I would then use this time to say that there are better ways to measure student success (solution) because of cheating, discrimination, and …….(main points).

Thoughts on different parts of the essay:

INTRO:

Background info could be about when standardized tests were created, how often they are used in schools, what they are used for, and examples of standardized tests (SAT, ACT, CSAP). I would try to make it relevant and important for my reader’s attention. I cannot really think of major terminology that I would need to include in my essay for my audience, just because my audience is intended for people that are a part of the public school system and people who have children that are dealing with standardized tests currently. I might need to define more in depth what standardized tests are, but other than that, I do not think I need too. My thesis is where I am kind of stuck. I want to make sure it sounds really good and persuasive, but I am having a hard time getting it started.

Thesis attempt: Standardized tests have been known for a measurement of student success since they have been created, but in recent years controversy has struck with discrimination, cheating, and excessive testing.

For the controversy part of my intro I will explain that standardized test were originally created for measurement of student and teacher success, but now in recent years, the effects of standardized test be shown as detrimental for students education.

For my body paragraphs, I would use my first paragraph to explain the counter argument, explaining how it is known to be a measurement, and that is what student’s parents are expecting it to be. I would use this paragraph to build up to my next body paragraph which would be about how it can discriminate.

I would make a body paragraph about discrimination, then use evidence from my articles, and then explain why it is relevant. Then I would do this for my body paragraphs about cheating and excessive testing. Both providing evidence and explaining it.

Then, I would conclude my essay. I would SLIGHTLY restate the background info, controversy, and then lead into my claim and thesis about standardized tests.

I am not completely set on my main points, I might change it a little. Also I am not set on my articles. And I want more help on my thesis as well.

Argument Essay Claims

Heather Rankin
November 2, 2013

Argument Topic: My topic is standardized testing impact on public school education.
Claims-
Cause and Effect: If standardized tests are eliminated from public school education, there will not be a reliable way to measure student success.
Value: When public schools use standardized testing, they are not being morally correct.
Policy or Solution: Measuring student success without testing will take away test anxiety in public school students.
Fact or definition: Standardized tests are bias and discriminate against non-whites and disabled students.

Library Log

Heather Rankin

Library Log

ENG 12

Time spent at library:	How time was spent:	Links:	Brief Explaination:
Tuesday, 15, 2013 at 3:50pm- 5:30pm	-Once I sat down, I opened up my lap top and opened internet explorer. -I went typed in “poudrelibraries.org” into the internet browser. -After going to “eresources”, I went to “Academic Search Premier”. -I used my ewolf card to log into the library district. -I clicked on “advanced search” and searched “Standardized Testing” and I selected the field, “public schools”. -I found an article called, “Science or Reading: What is being measured by STANDARDIZED test?”(1) -I read the abstract and thought that I might be interested in this article so I saved the link. -Next I went to google.com, and I searched “pros and cons of standardized testing” -I found a website titled “Standardized testing pros and cons” (2) -On this website, It had a chart for the pros and a chart for the cons of standardized testing. -after evaluating this article I printed it out to use for my essay. -I then went back to my research findings on google and searched, “Standardized testing articles” and found “Why it is time to get rid of standardized tests” on TIME’s website under, TIME ideas. (3) -I then printed this article and annotated to use in my synthesis essay ***Throughout the time I was at the library during this session, I used this time to complete parts of my library log. ***	1.http://0-web.ebscohost.com.catal og.poudrelibraries.org/ ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=75952552-fa26- 494f-b44ebe7eb0660e69 %40sessionmgr 112&vid=5&hid=127 Citation: Visone, Jeremy D. "Science Or Reading: What Is Being Measured By Standardized Tests?." American Secondary Education 39.1 (2010): 95-112. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.     2.http://standardizedtest.pro Con.org/ Citation:   "Standardized Tests - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. Procon.org, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.   3. http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/ 11/why-its-time-to-get-rid-of-standardized-tests/#comments Citation:   Rooks, Noliwe M. "Ideas." Ideas Why Its Time to Get Rid of Standardized Tests Comments. Time Magazine, 11 Oct. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.	1. I found that this website was very useful for my findings on standardized testing. I think that this website would be helpful because it does deal with the answering of my inquiry question. Also, this resource is an academic journal and I need at least one of these. 2. This website looked like a website I would be interested in using for my synthesis essay because my question is, “What effects do standardized tests have on public education in the United States” and this type of article would give me the good effects and the bad effects of standardized testing. Also, on top of the pro/con chart that this website provides, it provides an article at the end on standardized testing as well. 3. The reason that I think that I will be using this article for my synthesis essay is because it shows the effects that standardized testing is having on the US and why we should get rid of these types of testing.  This article will help me answer my inquiry question and also help me answer other questions about standardized testing.
Wednesday 16, 2013 10am-11am	-I used the Academic Search Premier again from the Poudre library district. -I used advanced search, and selected “Full Text” and searched Standardized testing. -I found an article titled, “Why we should stop bashing state tests” (4) -I printed this article, because I thought by reading the first page and the title, it would be useful for my synthesis essay. -After this, I went back to my google search and found this article title, “Schools Need a Time Out on Standardized tests” (5) -I started to read the beginning of this article and think that even though it is under Washington Post “opinion”, it is still informational and could help me find mutual themes in my articles. -I then, printed out this article and planned to use it for my synthesis essay.	4. http://0web.ebscohost.co m.catalog.poudrelibraries.org/eh ost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=76c5effe-89d3-424b-89d07bed43defcf8%40 sessionmgr110&vid=7&hid=127 Citation:   Wiggins, Grant. "Why We Should Stop Bashing State Tests." Educational Leadership 67.6 (2010): 48-52. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.   5. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/schools-need-time-to-implement-common-core-standards/2013/02/07/fb3a20dc-6bff-11e2-bd36-c0fe61a205f6_story.html  Citation:   Starr, Joshua P. "Schools Need a Timeout on Standardized Tests." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 07 Feb. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.	4. This article would be useful for my synthesis essay because it will show the good effects that standardized testing has for the US. In doing so, it will help me to answer my inquiry question effectively in finding different themes in all my different articles. Also it might give me background information on standardized testing. 5.This article seems interesting enough for me to use for one of my synthesis articles because it would give opinion from someone who is actually in the public school system, and I would be able to use his input to find more themes to find in common with the rest of my articles.
Thursday 17, 2013 4:00pm-4:40pm	-I came to the Harmony library today to finish up the rest of my hours, and because I found most of my articles already I spent about 10 minutes of this time to just annotate some of the articles that I have already printed out to look for common themes. -After I finished with that I had about 20 minutes left to kill, so I used this time to try and find any other article I might want to use for my synthesis essay and I found one on Academic Search Premier, after searching full text, standardized tests again. I found another article on standardized test that I then replaced with one of the other articles I previously found. -I then spent the rest of this time in the library finishing up this library log.	5. http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/news/do-standardized-test-show-an-accurate-view-of-students-abilities/ Citation:   "Do Standardized Tests Show an Accurate View of Students' Abilities?" Do Standardized Test Show an Accurate View of Students' Abilities? Concordia University, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2013	5. I plan to use article 5, because it will give me more information on standardized testing and how it is effecting the US. With the background information, I will be able to answer some more of my other questions that I might have while studying my inquiry question.
Wednesday 23, 2013 10am-11:3am	Although I didn’t spend this time researching for my article, I did use this time to revise my essay. I looked at the comments I had for my 090 peer revision and made corrections to prepare for 121’s workshop. I used “Easy Bib” to do my citations.	www.easybib.com	Overall I am really happy with my essay so far! I like my topic a lot and I think I did a good job of following directions with the assignment. I think that the workshop for 121 will be really helpful and will improve my essay even more.

Synthesis of Blogs (from A&B pp. 305)

Individual Free Write:
I think that the Good Food Movement is good for trying to help bring healthy food into low income communities, but I don't think Wal-Mart is doing a very good job of actually helping the Good Food movement. From personal experience, some of the people I know that have been employed by Wal-Mart hated it and did not get very good benefits. I also find that it is not very fair that where the Wal-Marts are located they are actually taking away jobs for many people instead of helping create more jobs.

Individual Task:
a. Will Allen excerpt: The main idea of this excerpt is that The Good Food movement should take advantage of these big corporations to helps us provide food to low income people. Also, Allen believes that not taking advantage of these big corporations will "not serve us"(Will Allen).
The perspective and angle of vision that Allen possesses is positive. He makes the reader believe that we are missing out of the Good Food Movement because we are avoiding big corporations.

a. Wal-Mart and the Good Food Movement: The main idea of this article is that Wal-Marts business does not even come from low income families, it comes from above the national median. Also, this article explains that the employment that Wal-Mart offers will "bring jobs, they are not living-wage jobs and are unlikely to bring prosperity"(Huffington Post).
The angle of vision that this article has is a negative feel. This article is meant to express how using big corporations, like Wal-Mart is not beneficial and we are making a mistake by thinking that it is helping the Good Food Movement.

b. Common Themes:
- Wal-Mart
-Good Food Movement
- Low income

c. Common Ideas:
- Wal-Mart being apart of the Good Food Movement
-Good Food Movement is a good way to bring good food to low income people

d. Contradictions/ Differences
- The first article believes that using Wal-Mart in the Good Food Market is helpful.
- The second article believes that using Wal-Mart in the Good Food Market is not going to help anyone, especially low income families.
- The second article thinks that Wal-Mart will only take jobs away from low income people, instead of providing jobs for them.
- The first article thinks that we need to take advantage of big corporations like Wal-Mart because they can successfully distribute good food to people.
- The second article thinks that Wal-Mart's current business standing is not good, the first article believes that Wal-Mart's current business will help distribute food more efficiently.

BLOG #4

          The movie Waiting for Superman takes time to persuade viewers that the current public school education system is not satisfactory and that enrolling our students in charter schools will fix this detrimental problem. Another documentary our class viewed was Food, Inc. Food, Inc. is a documentary focusing on persuading consumers around the world that we are misinformed on where our meat actually comes from. Both documentaries heavily use ethos, logos, and pathos to grab their audiences attention to these problems.

          With the use of pathos, Waiting for Superman follows the life of several minority, public school students portraying their daily struggles. Personally interviewing these students makes the audience really feel for how bad of an education they are receiving. Food, Inc. uses the same approach by interviewing a mother of a young boy who lost his life because of ecoli poisoning, after consuming a hamburger at Jack and the Box on a family vacation. Visually seeing a mother cry over the lose of her soon captivates the audience emotionally to want to fix the problem. As well as interviewing the mother, Food, Inc. takes the time to interview different farmers trapped in our meat system. Seeing how farmers have to treat chickens and other farm animals so cruelly, the audience then is appealed emotionally to the problem.

          Using ethos through out both documentaries makes them more credible. Waiting for Superman has the Bush Administration, a Charter school owner, and Michelle Rhee that helps the audience feel more comfortable about who is trying to fix the problem. While in Food, Inc. the writer, Eric Scholsser is also the writer in Fast Food Nation- another documentary about the food industry. Because we know that Eric Scholsser is credible, people are more willing to believe and take action with this problem. Visually, Eric Scholsser also appears frequently in the film which helps to build a relationship between viewer and author.

          Logos is also present in both documentaries. In Waiting for Superman, a memorable info-graphic on math proficiency is used to further explain the dis-progression the US is facing. Visually showing the United States being broken down by percentages of students, makes the problem seem a lot worse than it would sound through words. In Food, Inc. mentions dangers in the food we consume and  political problems with regulations, but also uses a visual info-graphic to express to viewers on a cartoon cow and pig how few meat companies have taken over the market over time. Again, using an info-graphic to get a point across is visually appealing to the audience and makes the want to fix the problem.

          Overall, the use of visual appeals in both documentaries, like interviews, author being present, and info-graphics helps to make the audience more involved and more willing to fix the problem.