Proposal Pitch for Standardized Tests (Essay Sample)

Proposal Pitch for Standardized Tests
Name
Institution
Date
Proposal for Standardized Tests
I.Introduction
A.Topic
1) Research question: Have standardized tests in the United States improved schools or demonstrated stronger student learning achievement?
2) Working thesis: Standardized tests in the United States have not improved schools and should be abolished and replaced with end-of-year subject tests because they will save time and money, lead to increased mastery of core subjects, and diminish dropout rates.
3) Angle: Standardized testing has made the gap between developed nations and the United States wider. Taxpayers and employers are paying the price of poorly educated graduates. No Child Left Behind has left nobody ahead, least of all our country’s educational standing among other developed nations.
B. Context
1) Issues in education are in the news because budget cuts and school closures are tied to student performance on standardized tests.
2) Though I am a novice scholar, I am a parent and care deeply about education. I will refer to the expertise of several sources that will establish my credibility regarding standardized tests. The ideas of Hillocks (2002), McNeil and Valenzuela (2001), and Ravitch (2011), who are all experts on this topic, will help to establish my credibility.
C. Audience
1) My primary audience will be educational stakeholders who are teachers, parents, or administrators.
2) My secondary audience is my professor and fellow classmates, some of whom may have experienced standardized tests or have school-aged children and will relate to the topic.
3) My audience shares my opinions and values and will likely be on my side.
II. Evidence
* Research collected so far
I have found support for the recommendation to remove poorly designed tests that don’t measure what they should.Federal mandates such as No Child Left Behind have spurred their growth and the reward-and-punishment system that serves nobody well, least of all the people these tests were intended to help: students.
* Research to be collected
I will look for additional facts and statistics to demonstrate the gap between other nations and the United States. I will also look for experts who agree that there are implications for taxpayers and employers to show that the issues of schools affect the public at large. Finally, I will represent the opposing viewpoint and others who have suggested alternatives to standardized tests, including no testing at all. Yearly subject tests are better than other alternate recommendations that have been proposed, such as portfolios, because these tests would be objective determinants of learning rather than subject artifacts of courses.
III. Conclusion
I propose that end-of-year subject tests will be successful in raising the ...