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Reduction in the number of coursesTopic 509: The following appeared in an editorial from a newspaper serving the town of Saluda. "The Saluda Consolidated High School offers over 200 different courses from which its students can choose. A much smaller private school down the street offers a basic curriculum of only 80 different courses, but it consistently sends a higher proportion of its graduating seniors on to college than Consolidated does. By eliminating at least half of the courses offered there and focusing on a basic curriculum, we could improve student performance at Consolidated and also save many tax dollars." Discuss how well reasoned . . . Etc. | Score & Analysis The newspaper suggests that by halving the number of courses at Consolidated, it would be able to both be able to increase the number of students that go on to college and save tax dollars. However, its line of reasoning is based on some assumptions that may not be true. A discussion on the newspaper's line of reasoning is as follows. Firstly, the newspaper suggests to halve the number of courses at Consolidated. It assumes by offering too many courses, students at Consolidated may not be able to benefit from it as opposed to a smaller number of courses. It assumes that there is sufficient competent teachers who are able to teach the courses and that the conundrum lies in having too many courses. On other hand, the private school, which charges a higher school fees per student, would be able to hire more competent teachers or better qualified teachers to teach the necessary courses, as compared to Consolidated, who may have a lower-educated teaching staff. Hence, lowering the number of courses does not reflect the increase in standard in teaching staff. Secondly, since the private school is more expensive as compared to Consolidated, it would be able to afford private tuitions for students who seems to be lagging behind in certain courses. This may not be replicated in Consolidated since this will certainly involve higher costs in hiring additional teaching staff or to ask the present teaching staff to stay back after school to give private tuition. If this is true, then the newspapers claim that costs will be reduced in order to send more students to college will no longer hold. Thirdly, the newspaper does not cite the actual number of students that actually attend both Consolidated and the private school. It only cites that the number of students from the private school actually go on to college. However, the actual percentage of students, that is number of students going on to college divided by the total number of students at each school, may actually be higher at Consolidated than at the private school. The lack of this statistical evidence does not make for a compelling comparison. However, if it is indeed that the number of courses being offered at Consolidated is too many and that there is a strain on the availability of teaching staff, then a reduction in the number of courses will definitely free up the time of the teaching staff at Consolidated so that they would be able to focus more time on the weaker students. In the final analysis, the newspaper has some merit in proposing to do away with courses at Consolidated if there is indeed proven that it strains the availability of the teaching staff. However, the assumptions of Consolidated having both competent and qualified staff, and providing private tuition, and the actual percentage of students who actually go on to college seem to demerit the argument more. Hence the argument is flawed in that it does not flow from the limited evidence it presents. - written by sunslinger | Computer score: 4 What to do: |
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