Research Conversation

All of the authors in my research about the differences between high school and college writing are fairly in tune with the reasoning behind the differences. I think that their ideas that standardized testing is the reason for a lack of teaching in high school is a good explanation. Because teachers in high school are demanded to teach based on a rubric for their students to pass an end of the year test it keeps them from teaching analytical skills. They teach their students so they can pass, which will give their school more money. But as students enter college, where standardized testing does not exist for the purpose of government assistance students are taught to analyze texts and think freely about what is going on. Another thing the authors are talking about is what needs to change in terms of preparation in high school for college. Some feel that taking away the standardized testing will allow teachers to really teach, but then how will government money be alloted to schools? I think that the standardized testing should be deleted from the school system, but if it needs to stay it should not be something that the curriculum is based on because it is too stressful for students and holds teachers as well as students back from their full potential.

Most of the research I found is done by college professors or high school teachers. Obviously these people are biased in their ideas because they are only seeing one side, the teachers side, of this argument. I need to remember that their is a reason these tests were created to begin with, as well as look at other reasons why writing in high school and college is different such as maybe maturation among students. Maybe in high school they are just not able to comprehend the material like college students are, but then if they were taught to analyze instead of just summarize in high school then they would not be so overwhelmed in their freshman year of college with all of these new expectations. Another problem is some papers do not have solutions to the problems they find. I feel that if you are willing to do the research to find a problem you should be willing to also offer a solution.