The document outlines an assignment requiring students to compose a proposal pitch in APA style regarding standardized testing in the United States. It includes instructions for using in-text citations and quoting material, while detailing a grading rubric focusing on clarity, organization, and APA formatting. The proposal must argue that standardized tests do not improve educational outcomes and should be replaced by end-of-year subject tests, supported by relevant research and a clear presentation of the audience and context.

1. Week 3 APA Module Assignment
Week 3 APA Module Assignment
b. Listen to the tutorial or download and review the transcript
on APA and answer the questions below
After reviewing the presentation, compose a 2-paragraph
response in which you address each of the following points:
1. Why is APA Style used to document ideas in writing? What
is the purpose of the in-text citation? Demonstrate your
understanding of the in-text citation by providing an in-text
citation for the article you summarized for the week 2
assignment. (15 points)
2. In the article that you summarized in week 2, you may have
found some information that you want to quote directly. To
demonstrate the process for citing a direct quote, provide an
example of properly quoted material. (20 points)
Week 3 Grading Rubric for Proposal Pitch
Central Idea/ Focus: thesis statement or main exists; all ideas
consistently address this main idea. Off-topic or irrelevant ideas
should not exist. 10 points
Support/ Development of Ideas: Ideas are sufficiently developed
for each point. ideas are sufficiently developed for each point.
Three points for each of the five sections of the document. 15
points
Organization/ Structure: the internal structure of a piece of
writing, the thread of central meaning. All ideas are organized
well without any missing or incomplete components. The
answers are from one to three sentences each. 10 points

2. APA including Paper Format: correct title page, headers, second
page title, margins, alignment, spacing, font and size. 10 points
Grammar/Mechanics/Style:Grammar refers to correctness of
language usage, mechanics refers to conventional correctness in
capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Style includes word
choice, sentence variety, clarity, and conciseness. Also,
sentences vary in length and structure; ideas are clear, logical,
and concise. 5 points
Running head: YOUR TITLE GOES HERE 1
YOUR TITLE GOES HERE 3
Your Course Project Title Goes Here
First Last Name
Name of University
Your Course Project Title Goes Here
The purpose of a proposal is to highlight standout ideas, and to
do so in a manner that can convince an audience to support a
project. Proposals delivered in a workplace are often part of a
competitive process in which the strongest proposal is offered
the business. In these contexts, effective word choice and
professional delivery define the effective communication of an
idea. Your research proposal will be presented as a sentence
outline. As the name suggests, the sentence outline presents
complete thoughts in complete sentences as opposed to phrases.
In each section of the proposal, choose ideas with the goal of
persuading your reader to believe that you are interested in the
topic and ready to learn how to develop the topic into a project.

3. Use a complete sentence to provide the response to each of the
questions below. You can use first person. Use APA
documentation for the final section of the proposal to document
any sources referenced in your proposal. Remember to put at
least two items at any given level of the outline, as shown in
this template and the sample proposal.
I. Introduction
A. Topic
1) What is your research question?
2) What is your working thesis? (It answers your research
question and defines the direction of your argument.)
3) What is your angle on the topic? (Your angle is your unique
perspective or view on the issue.)
B. Context
1) Justify for your reader why the topic is important.
2) Justify for your reader why you are the one to write about it.
What do you bring to the topic?
C. Audience
1) Who is your primary audience? (These are the readers who
would be best affected by what you have to say. They can be
readers of an existing publication.)
2) Who is your secondary audience? (Identify this audience as
your professor and fellow students.)
3) Does your audience share your opinions and values?
(Determine if the audience is on your side or if they may be
skeptical.)
II. Evidence
A. What research have you gathered so far? (What have you
found that supports your purpose and angle?)
B. What research do you need to gather? (What other kinds of
information will you need as support? What will you use to
represent the opposing view?)
III. Conclusion (What are you proposing to achieve with your
project? What would you like approval on in order to proceed
with the project?)

4. IV. References (must be correctly formatted according to the
APA Publication Manual).
Running head: PROPOSAL PITCH FOR STANDARDIZED
TESTS 1
PROPOSAL PITCH FOR STANDARDIZED TESTS 2
Proposal Pitch for Standardized Tests
Proposal for Standardized Tests
I. Introduction
A. Topic
1) Research question: Have standardized tests in the United
States improved schools or demonstrated stronger student
learning achievement?
2) Working thesis: Standardized tests in the United States
have not improved schools and should be abolished and
replaced with end-of-year subject tests because they will save
time and money, lead to increased mastery of core subjects, and
diminish dropout rates.
3) Angle: Standardized testing has made the gap between
developed nations and the United States wider. Taxpayers and
employers are paying the price of poorly educated graduates. No
Child Left Behind has left nobody ahead, least of all our
country’s educational standing among other developed nations.
B. Context
1) Issues in education are in the news because budget cuts
and school closures are tied to student performance on
standardized tests.

5. 2) Though I am a novice scholar, I am a parent and care
deeply about education. I will refer to the expertise of several
sources that will establish my credibility regarding standardized
tests. The ideas of Hillocks (2002), McNeil and Valenzuela
(2001), and Ravitch (2011), who are all experts on this topic,
will help to establish my credibility.
C. Audience
1) My primary audience will be educational stakeholders who
are teachers, parents, or administrators.
2) My secondary audience is my professor and fellow
classmates, some of whom may have experienced standardized
tests or have school-aged children and will relate to the topic.
3) My audience shares my opinions and values and will likely
be on my side.
II. Evidence
A. Research collected so far
I have found support for the recommendation to remove poorly
designed tests that don’t measure what they should. Federal
mandates such as No Child Left Behind have spurred their
growth and the reward-and-punishment system that serves
nobody well, least of all the people these tests were intended to
help: students.
B. Research to be collected
I will look for additional facts and statistics to demonstrate the
gap between other nations and the United States. I will also
look for experts who agree that there are implications for
taxpayers and employers to show that the issues of schools
affect the public at large. Finally, I will represent the opposing
viewpoint and others who have suggested alternatives to
standardized tests, including no testing at all. Yearly subject
tests are better than other alternate recommendations that have
been proposed, such as portfolios, because these tests would be
objective determinants of learning rather than subject artifacts
of courses.

6. III. Conclusion
I propose that end-of-year subject tests will be successful in
raising the standards and expectations of our students while
decentralizing control of students’ learning away from the
government and politicians and in the control of teachers who
know their students best. This solution is also better than
having no assessments whatsoever, as that is unrealistic and
does not prepare students for higher education or the workplace.
The benefits of yearly subject tests include the time and money
that will be saved by switching to end-of year subject tests; the
collective energy of stakeholders in education—students,
parents, teachers, administrators, and the public—will also be
put to better use. I will develop my project to support these
claims with research.
IV. References
Hillocks, G. (2002). The testing trap. New York, NY: Teachers
College Press.
McNeil, L., & Valenzuela, A. (2001). The harmful impact of the
TAAS system of testing in Texas. In G. Ornfield & M.
Kornhaber (Eds.), Raising standards or raising barriers? (pp.
127–150). New York, NY: Century Foundation.