Barron Test1 Integrated Writing

The author of the passage cites that schools education is separated into three phases: primary education, intermediate grades and secondary grades. However, the speaker of the lecture points out several deficiencies of this system.

Firstly, this 12-graded education system doesn't take differences into account. In this system, all students are reckoned as the same. But the speaker says that it ignores individual distinctions between students. According to the speaker, some students may be not physically developed enough to attend schools; however, some other students who are 4-year-old are able to study. Moreover, the speaker holds that the difference of boys and girls on maturity is also neglected by the education system. There are physical and social differences between different genders.

Secondly, in the passage, the author points out that students who are not able to meet minimum requirements for a peculiar grade may have to repeat the year, which is also doubted by the speaker of the lecture who says that drop out rates of students throughout 12 grades are not concerned.

Thirdly, the speaker believes that standardized tests of the system also have flaws. The author of the passage doesn’t mention exception of grading method, which is critiqued by the speaker. The speaker says that the standard grading system focuses on group, and fails to notice differences between individuals and groups.

Finally, in the lecture, the speaker also casts doubt on the syllabuses of courses. In the passage, the author only cites the time of education system: 12 years, but fails to mention what content are taught in each grade. And the speaker says that this restricted 12 years' time may repeat teaching students what they have already been lectured in previous grades.