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ErikaVisel
Mr.Salow
English11
December10th,2015
TheRhetoricalAnalysisofStandardizedTesting
Thepointofthispaperistoexplainhowpeopleargueforthemovementagainst
standardizedtestingwiththepointsofhowitaffectsthestudentshealth,funding,andhow
theyrenotbasedonthingsactuallylearned.Thesepointsaremadebyuseofstrongpathosand
littlelogos.InArticle3itstatesthepurposeofthismovementwiththesentence,
Theultimate
goalsofthemovementaretodramaticallyreducetheamountoftesting,endhighstakesuses,
andimplementeducationallysoundassessments
Studentsmentalhealthisbeingaffectedbythesetestsvastlyaccordingtomanysources.
Testingcanbeachallengeforsomestudents,whetheritsanxietyorsimplyjustnotknowing
whattodo.Itsuptothestudenttomaketheirchoicesofgettingenoughsleepthenightbefore
andstudyingforbigthingslikethis.Evenso,therecanbeproblemsforindividuals.Thisisused
todirectpathosontothesituation,andmakepeoplefeelsorryforthoseputinthissituation.In
Article4,ittalksabouthowtherearemorefactorstotakeinthenjustperformanceonthetest
withthestatement,Standardizedtestingevaluatesastudentsperformanceononeparticularday
anddoesnottakeintoaccountexternalfactors.Therearemanypeoplewhosimplydonot
performwellontests.Manyofthesestudentsaresmartandunderstandthecontent,butitdoesnt
showonthetest.Manystudentsalsodeveloptestanxietywhichhindersperformance.Article1
alsobringsupthefactofhowextremelytheU.Steststheirstudentswhentheauthordeclares,

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Ourchildrenaretestedtoanextentthatisunprecedentedinourhistoryandunparalleled
anywhereelseintheworld.WhilepreviousgenerationsofAmericanstudentshavehadtosit
throughtests,neverhavethetestsbeengivensofrequently,andneverhavetheyplayedsucha
prominentroleinschooling.Thepointtryingtobemadeisthatstudentsarentalwayscapable
ofhandlingsomuchatoncewithbigtestsliketheseandalltheschoolworkbeingthrownat
them.InArticle2,theytalkaboutaphysicaleffectofthetestingonstudents.TheunioninNew
Jerseyfinancedanadvertisingcampaigninwhichagrimfacedfathertalksabouthissoncrying
becauseoftests.Thisshowstheamountofstressbeingforcedonthestudentswiththesebig
testsandhowoverwhelmingitcanbe.Theseareobvioussignsofpathosbeingputforth,andtry
tomakethereadersempathetic.
Otherprogramsaregettingfundingcutsduetostandardizedtesting.Thebasicclassesare
apriority,buttheyrenottheonlyimportantthing.Electiveandclassesoftheartsareimportant
forthestudentstoexperienceandaregettingcutduetotheexcessivestandardizedtesting.In
article6,itbringsuptheNoChildLeftBehindactandhowitonlyspecifiestocertainsubjects
withthestatement...NoChildLeftBehindact(NCLB).Thisnationalprogramwillfurther
influencestatestoteststudentprogressbasedsolelyonreadingandmathscores.Determining
thequalityofachild'seducationbasedonthesetwosubjectsaloneisridiculouslyunfair,asit
ignoresothersubjectsinthehumanities,artsandsciencesandsubsequentlyresultsinless
fundingandsupportforsubjectsnotpertinenttothetest.Alsoinarticle1,thefactoffunds
beingtakenawayfromotherprogramsisdiscussedwithThetime,energy,andmoneythatare
beingdevotedtopreparingstudentsforstandardizedtestshavetocomefromsomewhere.
Schoolsacrossthecountryarecuttingbackoreveneliminatingprogramsinthearts,recessfor

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youngchildren,electivesforhighschoolers,classmeetings(andotheractivitiesintendedto
promotesocialandmorallearning),discussionsaboutcurrentevents(sincethatmaterialwillnot
appearonthetest),theuseofliteratureintheearlygrades(ifthetestsarefocusednarrowlyon
decodingskills),andentiresubjectareassuchasscience(ifthetestscoveronlylanguagearts
andmath)Therestofschoolingiseitherbeingputonholdorcompletelyremovedtomakeway
forthesetests.InArticle7,itbringsupverybignegativebudgetcutwhenstatedManyofthe
programsusedtoidentifyandhelpstrugglingchildrenwerecutfromstateandlocalbudgets,and
teacherswerelefttoteachtoamorerigoroustestwithfewerresources.Thiscutmakesiteven
moredifficultforstudentstogetgoodscoresonthesetests.Theabilitytolearnmoreislimited
bytheresourcestheyregivenduetobudgetcuts.
Standardizedtestingisntaboutretainingknowledge.Mostanswersonthesetestsarent
basedonactuallyknowingthecorrectanswer,butrathereliminationandguessing.Inarticle1
thefactofsuperficialthinkingisbroughtupwithStandardizedtestscoresoftenmeasure
superficialthinking.InastudypublishedintheJournalofEducationalPsychology,elementary
schoolstudentswereclassifiedas"actively"engagedinlearningiftheyaskedquestionsof
themselveswhiletheyreadandtriedtoconnectwhattheyweredoingtopastlearningandas
"superficially"engagediftheyjustcopieddownanswers,guessedalot,andskippedthehard
parts.Thisshowsthatmostkidsdontactuallyknowtheanswer.Theknowledgetheydoknow
isbasedofofmemorizationinclassofnotesratherthanapplication.Thisissueisalsoaddressed
inArticle8aboutnotneedingjustgeneralknowledgewiththepassage,T
hisisbecause
standardizedtestsarenotbasedongeneralknowledge.AsIlearnedinthecourseofmy
investigation,theyarebasedonspecificknowledgecontainedinspecificsetsofbooks:the

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textbookscreatedbythetestmakers.Studentsareallexpectedtoknowspecificinformationand
data,eventhoughmanyofthemcouldbeatdifferentlearninglevelsofunderstanding.Finally,in
Article5,theissueisaddressedofficiallybythepresidentandstatedthat
Obamahasinstructed
theEducationDepartmenttomakesurekidsaretakingonlyhighqualitytests,captesttaking
timeat2percentofclassroomtimeandeliminatedrillandkilltestprepthatisapooruseof
students'andeducators'classroomtime.Theproblemofmemorizingonlycertaininformation
forthetestcausesproblemswiththestudentslearning,andtheinformationisusuallyforgotten
afterwards.
Withthesepointsandusesoftoolssuchasethos,logos,andpathostheopponentsof
standardizedtestingmakestrongargumentsfortheirgoalofreducingtheamountoftesting
beinggiventothestudentsofthisgeneration.

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StandardizedTestinganditsVictims.
math
.
buffalostate.edu.
27Sept.2000.Web.26Oct.
2015
TeachersUnionsFightStandardizedTesting,AndFindDiverseAllies
nytimes.com.
20Apr.
2015.
Web.28Nov.2015
TheRiseoftheAntiStandardizedTestingMovement
washingtonpost.com.
30Oct.2014.
28Oct.2015
ProsandConsofStandardizedTesting
worklife
.
columbia.edu.
2013.Web.28Oct.2015
ObamaCallstoCurbStandardizedTestinginSchool
nbcnews.com.
26Oct2015.Web.28
Oct2015
TheConsofStandardizedTesting
astro.temple.edu.
2015.Web.18Nov.2015.
StudySaysStandardizedTestingisOverwhelmingNationsPublicSchools
washingtonpost.com
.24
Oct.2015.18Nov.2015
WhyPoorSchoolsCantWinatStandardizedTesting
theatlantic.com
.Web.15Jul.2014.18
Nov.

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2015