geetgmat wrote:
Candidate: Our city's students have suffered long enough. Over the mayor's four years in office, our district's math and science scores have hovered well below the national average, even while our average teacher's salary has increased. Our student-per-class ratio is laughable, yet he has made no progress on building a new school. He simply cannot be trusted with our children's future; if you care about education, I am the only candidate you can support.
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.
My response:
The given argument is flawed because it lacks information that is vital for the proper evaluation of the situation at hand.
Firstly, the candidate above suggests that the ineptitude and incompetency of the incumbent mayor has resulted in an unfavorable state of affairs for the education of the city. However, he fails to provide adequate statistics in support of his claim. To suggest that the grades of the students have suffered because of an unfavorable student per class ratio without providing information on it is incorrect.The ratio must first of all be mentioned and then compared with the ratios in other cities of the state. If the ratio in other cities is the same, then the quality of education in the current state is at fault.Additionally, there might be a dearth of availability of teachers in the cities. Maybe the incumbent mayor has attempted to increase the number of people entering the teaching profession by increasing their salaries, which will ultimately help in reducing the student to teacher ratio. Hence, the objection to increment in salaries of teachers is unwarranted.
The argument also lacks information regarding resources such as land and budget available, resources vital for the construction of the new school. The candidate assumes that the new school will solve the problem of over crowded class rooms. The school may accomodate the surplus students, however, it will simultaneously require skilled teachers to impart education to those students. The candidate must mention what he intends to do to improve the class size and the student to teacher ratio.
Lastly, the low grades of the students might be the result of more emphasis currently being laid on other activities such as sports, which are also necessary for the all round development of an individual. Additionally, It could be that the population of the city and hence the number of students that has increased is resulting in greater number of cases of lower grades being reported. They might be within acceptable range of the national average. The figure for the average has also been omitted that does not help us in evaluating his claim.To strengthen his case the candidate must provide adequate statistics on number of students and teachers and a rise in their population since the start of the tenure of the current mayor and also data on land and budget to evaluate the possibility of building another school. He must also state his plan of action to improve the current state of affairs.
I would really appreciate it if someone can review and rate this and provide suggestions on how to improve.
Thank you for your time and effort to help me out!!!:))))))
Hi
In my opinion, you have adequately described the assumptions and flaws and suggested ways to improve the argument.
Also, u have suggested to indicate the average in order to compare the ratio whether adequate or not.
Overall i feel u have done a very good job. Ur essay may be in the range of 5.0.
Please revert by giving kudos if u like my evaluation.