Policy Proposal Ideas

1.  Animal Lab Testing
2.  Animal Abuse Protection
3.  Animal Rights
4.  Puppy Mills
5.  Animal Dumping
6.  Texting While Driving
7.  Abortion
8.  Health Care
9.  Legalize Marijuana
10.  Lowering the Drinking Age

Revised Draft Page

Erin Shepeard

Ms. Foster

English 1304

27 Ocotber, 2009

Pratical Proposal Rough Draft Pg. 1

Anyone and everyone who attended a Texas school from elementary to high school at one point remember taking the TAKS test.  The dread week where you were stuck in a  classroom for hours on end staring at a thick packet of papers which eventually determined whether you would make it to the next grade or not.  TAKS which stands for Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills is a state based test which grades third through eleventh are required to pass.  TAKS tests on their studne’ts kowlege of reading, writing, math, science, and social studies.  Teachers are being forced to teach their students this test throughout the entire year.  Students do not go to school to get an actual education for thier future anymore, they are going to learn how to takt his test.  The state of Texas should replace the TAKS test with a curriculum based assessment that will measure what the students are learning in the curriculum rather than smiply being taught how to take this test.

Reformatting the TAKS test would benefit the students by not only preparing them for the test but also for college and the rest of thier lives.  In high school teahcers spend some time teaching MLA format for their papers, but on the TAKS test there is no specific format.  So the students feel that what they learned the entire year does not amount for anything because that will not help them pass TAKS  so they see no reason to actually retain the information and it all goes out the window.

 

REVISED VERSION

Erin Shepeard

Ms. Foster

English 1304

27 October, 2009

Practical Proposal Rough Draft Pg. 1

 

            Anyone and everyone who attended a Texas school system from elementary to high school at one point, remembers taking the TAKS test.  The dreaded week where you were stuck in a classroom for hours on end staring at a thick packet of papers which eventually determined whether you would make it to the next grade or not.  TAKS, which stands for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, is a state based test where grades third through eleventh are required to pass.  TAKS tests on student’s knowledge of reading, writing, math science, and social studies.  Unfortunately, nothing from the test is actually based off the curriculum taught in the classroom.  Therefore, teachers are forced to switch their lesson plans over in the middle of the year.  Students are not going to school to get an education for their future anymore; they are going to learn how to take the test.  The state of Texas should replace the TAKS test with an end of course exam (EOC) that will measure what the students have learned rather than simply being taught how to take this test. 

                Changing the TAKS test to an end of course assessment will not only benefit the students by preparing them for the test, but also for college and the rest of their lives.   A big question that is asked is, does TAKS prepare students for college?  According to Dr. Raymund Paredes, Commissioner of Higher Education in Texas, it does not.  He expresses this when he says “basic proficiency on the TAKS is not an adequate measure of college readiness” (Mandate Achievement Test…). …………………………………………

 

Practical Proposal Topic

The topic I have chosen for my practical proposal paper is the TAKS test issue.  This topic interests me because my mom is a teacher in AISD and she is always complainging about how she hates it and is only allowed to teach her students for that specific test.  I myself had always disliked taking the TAKS test in school so I decided to choose it as my topic.  The way the test is now is a problem becuase students are only learning how to take a test to the state of Texas’ standards.  They are not learning anything that will actually help them in the future, but just at the end of the year.  This problem is a problem not only for the students but for the teachers as well.  These people will suffere because students will continue on until graduating high school only the knowledge pertaining to one single test.  The teachers will suffer because they wills tart to feel that they can be replace by any one that has taken the test before.  They did not major in TAKS testing after all.  The state of Texas has the power to solve this problem. The problem hasn’t been solved because the state is selfish and wnats to prove that people can pass by in an education following only their guidelines.  The problem can be solved by replacing the TAKS test with a curriculum based assessment.  The probable benefits would be that students would get to learn things that would actually be helpful not only on the placement test but later in their lives as well.  The teachers would feel more appreciated and useful.  The costs would be having to redo the entire test fro all grades.  The writers of the Texas tets would bear those costs.  This proposal should be enacted because it will be better and more helpful to everyone in the end.  This proposal is better than alternative ones because it ensures the best of both worlds.  Not only does the state get to have their test, but the students and teachers get to have their way too.

Essay Topic

The topic I have chosen for my first major essay is marriage in college.  My research question is, why you should wait until after college to get married.  This topic is interesting to me because I have known friends that have been or are in this situtation and I can see all the struggles they endure.  I used to be all for getting married as soon as possible.  I think I just assumed I would.  While in a long-term relationship, you think about it.  But as of recently I have realized that is is definitely not something I want.  The ideas I have for this paper so far are, the different consequences that come along with tieing the knot young and I have a couple of example stories I have been thinking about to chose from.  The consequences consist of ideas like the resentment you will feel toward your spouse later in life for always thinking “what if”, the financial responsibilities that tend to come along with it, the stress and added presssure, not being able to live on campus (if you go to an university with dorms), and the increase in likeliness to become pregnant and have children.  As far as the financial difficulities I have sub-points for those, parents are less willing to help out financially, the couple will most likely have each of their own student loans to pay off, and if the women has anything to do with it, a high wedding bill they will need to pay off.  Also, to eventually pay those things off the two will probably have to each have their own full time job, again adding stress and no time to study.

Visual Argument

The new TV musical show, Glee is turning the pages, or should I say channels, int he television world by introducing an unusual type of entertainment.  Glee is breaking ground in other ways because of its musical content, unique story lines, its reaching out to all types of audiences and its keeping up with new age television.  However, I feel as though Glee is trying way too hard.  Compared to other comdeies on TV right now like, The Office and How I Met Your Mother, Glee does not hold a candle.  The type of humor they portay is nothing to get excited about, just sentences in the scrip to fill in the gaps.  It is kind of just awkward.  Take out the music and all you get is another show on FOX. 
Glee is desperately trying to relate to the high school students of 2009, but is failing miserabley.  Take the show Freaks and Geeks for example, the whole show was about relating AND they played awesome music.  By taking stories that can and do actually happen in real life they connect with their appropriate audiences, instead of this random stuff that is just kind of out there and doesn’t make sense.  What ever happened to programs like that?  In one sense I do believe Glee is doing something new and interesting, but on the other hand covering familiar and boring ground.  Thew new and interesting part bieng the musical side of it.  Who wouldn’t like to listen to decent music AND watch TV at the same time?…but that is about it.  The boring and familar part pops up with Glee’s characters, acting and its awkwardness.   As far as the characters go, definitely stereotypical.  There is a jock, cheerleader, Miss Perfect, the nerd, and the African American girl.  If that is not stereotypical and used then I don’t know what is.  A perfect example of that lineup is the famous show Saved by the Bell.  They’ve got a jock (Slater), a cheerleader (Kelly),  Miss Perfect (Jessie), the nerd (Screech),  and the African American girl (Lisa).  As far as the acting goes in Glee, there isn’t any.  Apparently it is hard to find a cas taht can actually act these days.  I might be poor editing, but it seems to me as though these ‘actors’ walked on stage (litterally) assuming al they needed to know was how to sing.  What is worse is the casting directors fell for it! 
According to a fan critic on Metacritic.com, about Glee, Andy L says, “Wall to wall unsubtle, sexual innudendo, snickering digs at mental illness and disabilities, bigoted portrayals of Christians — how is this different than every other comedy on TV?  Oh, yes, music. Poorly dubbed music, but music.  That’s why I give it a two instead of a one”,  I honestly couldn’t agree more.   The only difference IS the music.

Believing/Doubting

BELIEVING

In this article, Mike Rowe from the television show “Dirty Jobs” gives different examples of jobs that don’t cause for college degrees and ones where he has experienced first hand.  He reveals this when he says, “He has done them all: from steel-mill worker and pig-slop processor to hot-tar roofer and sewer inspector.”  He also uses actual true facts focusing on the average turnouts of the American college graduates when he states, “It’s true that, on average, a college grad will make much more money and significantly greater job security than his high school counterpart.”  Rowe puts forth other types of education other than just college in this article, as he says, “Even- perhaps especially- for those in the trades, community college and certification programs are important, and generally lead to higher earnings.”  In the article gives a good example of someone without a degree from the college persuing an enterprunrership.  It is expressed when the author says, “a young man still in high school blanketed our New Jersey neighborhood with a flier offering to do yard work so we hired him, and found him to be honest, dependable and good at what he does.  Mr. Rowe makes sure to not put down the education system when he says, “None of this diminishes the value of education. But this Labor Day, it bears remembering that arguably the most valuable skill in todays economony is the ability to learn new skills-whether that means working for an advanced degree, completing the requirements for a technical certification, or simply having enough smarts to let an accomplished mentor teach you the tricks of the trade.”

 

DOUBTING

1.  I feel that Mike Rowe is assuming that these ‘dirty job’ workers did not attend college just because of what they ended up doing.
2.  When the article says “over the years, however, Labor Day has morphed into little more than a three-day weekend signaling the end of Summer.  To me, he doesn’t really explain exactly what it is morphed into.  It is kind of just left there. 
3.  He says the union jobs seem to disapearing but then goes later in the article and says that “American employers continue to complain about a shortage of workers with the kinds of skills these jobs demand”.
4.  The article goes back and fourth between going to college and not, decides what life career you can get.  For example, he disagrees with the idea of college being the remedy for a good job when the article states, “We’ve convinced ourselves that ‘good jobs’ are the result of a four-year degree.  That’s bunk.”  The article then goes on to say, “For most Americans, it’s also true that the likeliest path to upward mobility runs through the college quad.” 
5.  The article does mention a high school student that did yard work around the neighborhood as an example of entrepenuership without a college degree.  The keywords being ‘high school’.  The student has not yet attended college.  Therefore, this was not a good example.
6.  I don’t feel the aricle follows the title.  The subject, Labor Day, is thrown into the article trying to piece it all together.  Which, in my opinion, doesn’t work.