Testing Makes for Progress in Learning

Testing Makes for Progress in Learning is an article written by Roderick Paige. Paige spent almost all of his life surrounded by people who loved education ever since he was young. During his early career days, Paige worked closely with students as a teacher and a coach. He furthered his career in education and worked as a dean of the EducationCollege and later on, he became a trustee in the Board of Education of HISD. His motivation seems to come from the fact that his parents were working in the education sector- one as a principal and the other one as a librarian. His motivation in retaining passion in the education sector is the belief that education is a right just like the other civil rights. Thus, Paige feels that education should be equal to all through multi- racial alternatives.

Summary of the article ‘Testing Makes for progress in Learning

The author feels that tests form a large part of growing throughout all the stages in life. Testing occurs in different aspects of lives, from birth, through school and later on during utilization of different skills in various jobs. In every field, testing plays a crucial role, and in education, testing ensures that students learn of their weak and strong areas, and give room for improvement. The author explains about the No Child Left behind Act that was President’s Bush initiative whose focus is students’ performance. This Act helps in giving parents an edge to ensure that they understand the education system and remain knowledgeable about the options available to them and their children. This Act helps in improving the current system such that children can shift from elementary schools and fit well in higher education. The author notes that educational accountability consists of various federal laws laid down to assess parental expectations and demands.

No Child Left Behind act focuses in ensuring that children are indeed learning by using tests and accountability laws. It remains clear that most occupations are IT- related such that school dropouts cannot possibly apply. Some people applying for jobs may not be able to write properly. Thus, a decent education system should prepare students for the future to meet the growing economy needs. However, some people may feel that the education federal laws are unreasonable and consist of arbitrary tests. The statistics show that ever since NCLD was introduced to the education system, marvelous improvement seems to be recorded through the years. Through the report cards, each student can identify his weak points and his abilities in various education areas.

Analysis of Testing makes for Progress in Learning

In the article, testing makes for Progress in learning, Paige supports his arguments throughout the piece of writing. He achieves this by giving various examples to explain his key points. In addition, he offers statistical measures whenever necessary to support his points. In this article, the writer explains his arguments in details and ensures that his points remain well explained to answer all the questions that may arise.

He delivers the message to his audience by explaining the importance of testing in all spheres of life. He views testing as part of life such that people cannot possibly leave without using tests in their lives. He maintains that testing be done once people give birth to evaluate the status of the child and in ensuring education accountability in schools. During job hunting, the skills of applicants need to be put to test in order to evaluate their qualifications. Paige strengthens his arguments by stating to his audience that all tests exist for a reason. Doctors need to take various tests to ensure that they already have learned much in medical school and that they can comfortably practice medicine. In schools, testing need to be used so as to assist teachers, parents and students in assessing the abilities and weaknesses of their children.

The author can be said to support his arguments using different examples in the article. He gives the example of No Child behind Act, a President Bush’s initiative meant to improve education performance in America. He also mentions Elementary & Secondary Education Act that can be said to be the federal aid given to schools back in the year 1965. He talks about a Federal Reserve chair, Alan Greenspan, who noted that Americans needed to evaluate the education system to ensure it would meet the increasing economy needs in the future (Nilson 56).

He gives an example of how NCLB helped in funding economically challenged students in GraniteSchool District. He speaks of how students in Stan bury Elementary School can access the computer laboratory to take quick tests so that teachers can evaluate the performance. Paige ensures that he mentions about a study administered by the Council of Great City schools that examined the recent advantages in metropolitan schools. The report had showed results that suggested that math and reading enrollment had been improving well. In addition, he gave an example of CheltenhamSchool District in Pennsylvania to explain how test results could be used in determining children’s abilities and weaknesses. This helped the students to plan in their studies. Finally, he gave an example of Peck school in Michigan where each person would be involved in taking responsibility of the students’ education to ensure that they showed commitment to each other.

Roderick Paige can be seen to use statistics to deliver his points to the audience in the best way possible. He explains how the National Assessment of education progress came up with a ratio of proficiency in reading among multi racial students. Paige states that one student in six African- Americans can be seen to possess proficiency in reading while one in five Hispanics would be proficient in reading by the time they reached senior high school. In giving such statistics, the audience can totally understand the situation of education in schools. He also gives the number of computer- related occupations as the top five of the ten fastest- growing occupations in the United States of America. He explains that the percentage of drop out cases in high school stands at 7.3 % while college’s dropout can be said to be at 4.2%. In addition, he gives the rate of unemployment for black young men as 26 %. These statistics ensure that the audience can relate and visualize the situation as explained by the writer.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the writer can convince the audience about his arguments due to the use of statistics and various examples in explaining his points. He started well by explaining the importance of testing in all aspects of life. He delivered his views in an organized manner that explained why he felt that testing makes for progress in learning. Paige ensured that he gave relevant backing claims that supported his points. He did not display vague assertions since he answered most of the questions and did not leave the audience with unanswered questions. Whenever possible, Paige gives statistics in the form of ratios, percentages and numbers which assist the audience to understand and visualize the situations. Thus, the writer can be seen to convince the reader through the arguments.