In terms of the nature of the situation, I think that my issue brief can be tailored to consider how standardized testing requirements have been affected by the pandemic. There have been a lot of new considerations about standardized testing in the college admissions process because the pandemic has significantly limited access to tests among other factors. Schools have increasingly dropped their testing requirement, so the results of the pandemic may make it significantly easier for colleges to consider the practicality of removing their testing requirements permanently. I may also touch upon the general trend of schools getting rid of their standardized testing policies, even before the pandemic. I think that both of these rhetorical situations will work in favor of solving this issue and make my audience more willing to consider this change.
In terms of audience, I think that this issue brief would be best tailored to admissions officers at public higher-level institutions. However, as I am particularly interested in public college programs, my audience may also include members of the state government. The only problem with having the state government officials as the audience is that authority over state schools greatly varies by state so it may not be incredibly effective across the board. So, I think the best way to go about presenting this issue is by targeting the public college administration directly because they universally have the most information about admissions and policies for admissions.
Your ideas look great! I think that involving the pandemic in the rhetorical situation would be extremely beneficial to your issue brief. I am taking a similar approach in the aspect of incorporating how the pandemic affects schools nowadays, so I really like your idea. I also agree that your target audience should be public college administration. I feel that this group has the most impact on this situation, therefore it would benefit you to have them in mind when writing your brief. These are really great ideas Anna! Thank you for sharing!
These are solid ideas, I think that you are right on with the rhetorical situation and audience. I think that college admissions officers is the right route to go, however maybe also include school administration since a lot of the times the people looking over applications are grad students at the university and do not really have a lot of power. I know from my personal experience, I am an awful test taker so I did not have a super great ACT score, so I am very supportive of your topic and changing it up. Another audience you could target is scholarship foundations because I know that a lot of schools did not take standardized test scores this year but scholarships still require it which is rough. Looking forward to seeing how your brief turns out!
Hi Anna, I love your ideas! I am also focusing my issue brief in terms of Education. I am very excited that you have chosen Standardized testing in the college admissions process. I know for so many this is such a crucial time in their life, and in some ways it is unfortunate for those who are bad test-takers and aren’t able to measure up to their potential in those 4 hours. As far as your audience goes, I think you did a great job at picking. I feel that targeting admissions officers will help really make an impact, and I also liked that you included the idea of incorporation of the pandemic. I think this not only adds useful information for your issue but a solid rhetorical situation