Trey Grigg ENGLISH 1102-070 Academic Conversation

[In the small town of Belmont, North Carolina there is a radio talk show that bases their discussion off of various debates. These debates take place on Monday morning bright and early at 7AM. This weeks topic of debate is Standardized Testing and efficiency behind determining the progression of ones academic success. In a very tight room sitting at a large round table with microphones built in to each station, we have Douglas, Sherry, Mark, Keshia, and Doctor Rud. The talk show is about to go on air. The host has done fair share of the topic and will be a mediator in the debate.] HOST: Hello ladies and gentlemen! Your host here, proud to debate another topic for this weeks Debate talk show of the Carolinas. I have here with me, Douglas, Sherry, Mark, Keshia, and Doctor Rud to discuss Standardized testing and the effectiveness of how it portrays ones academic progression in school. I want to thank each and every one of you for coming to discuss on my show. Its an honor to have such opinionated intelligent minds debate each other. Lets get started. Now Douglas, let me ask you something. What are your general views towards standardized testing, and why do you feel that way? DOUGLAS: (Deep Sigh) Well, Standardized Testing has been the way of testing progression for years and years now. It has been designed to target a large amount of students and make it significantly easier to measure progression. There are in fact a lot of failures that come along with standardized testing. In all honesty though, standardized testing was never meant to be criticized for things it has no intention of doing. (Constant hand motions while speaking) These tests were designed for easy use. I dont like standardized testing because it is a very poor standard and carefree way of education. There are numerous students that struggle with tests and to implement a timed test contributing stress to some of these brilliant minds is just straight up wrong.

HOST: Well it seems like we have one perspective of these standardized tests. I can definitely see where youre coming from with the focusing of attention on good test takers and straying away from bad test takers. Now Sherry, you look a little aggravated over there. Is there anything you would like to comment on? SHERRY: I dont agree obviously. Well I agree that it shouldnt be criticized but there are a significant amount of reasons to use standardized testing. The SAT and ACT are great tests in determining the prediction of how well a student will do in certain courses their freshmen year in college. These tests were meant for that very reason. They are tests that colleges focus very heavily on. Now as testing goes for science, I have very different views on that matter. Science is a very rare and unique field. To put information strictly on tests and use that to determine the understanding of the subject is a little farfetched. Science deals heavily with hands on and application skills. It requires a lot of observations and documentations along with a good understanding of formulas and reactions. That is why I am all for doing labs in science class. This is where the true understanding of the subject can be expressed. HOST: I like that you mentioned that. The SAT and ACT are discussed very heavily among teachers in high schools. They seem to have very mixed opinions on the matter as well. I can agree with you on the Science subject being a very unique class that deals with a lot of application and interpreting. But doesnt art also fall into this category with it being hands on? SHERRY: Well yes, art should be graded on a very different scale than the scale used for other subjects. Testing should be used in art, but only a portion of it should be used for the actual grade of the student. Science, art, and even construction classes are heavily hands-on and need to be graded with a perspective of acknowledging the hands- on understanding of the material. HOST: Very well put. I like the thought of implementing a new grading scale for certain subjects that are very hands-on based.