Comparing Better 'And Brent Staples' Our Schools Must Do Better

What will make the education system great? This is a question that has no simple answer, but several have attempted to solve. Bob Herbert, author of “Our Schools Must Do Better,” and Brent Staples, writer of “Why Colleges Shower Their Students with A’s,” have both analyzed this question and formulated their idea of the perfect solution. Herbert’s article, which was published in the New York Times in 2007, states that the solution to this problem revolves around the hiring of competent and qualified high school teachers and refraining from hiring teachers based solely on their qualifications (Herbert 89-91). In contrast to Herbert, Staple’s article, which in 1998 was also published in the New York Times, argues that the education system is failing

Although both authors agree that there are problems within the education system that is almost where the similarities between the two articles end. There is a distinct difference in the credibility of these articles, which can be seen in the usage of supportive evidence and in the appearance of logical fallacies. Arguments, no matter how convincing, always fall flat when there is lack of evidence. Reliable and factual evidence is the key component in making an indisputable argument. The goal a “perfect argument” is to support all claims with irrefutable evidence so that an opposition is almost nonexistent. Both Herbert’s and Staples’ articles have examples of claims with great supportive evidence and claims that are lacking evidence. An excellent example of a claim followed by supportive

When writers make a claim they must provide evidence and support, but in some cases there is no data, documents, or other research to support claims that are made. In these cases we typically see logical fallacies at work. Logical fallacies refer to faulty reasoning or a breakdowns in the logic of an argument. Fallacies usually take the form of illegitimate arguments or irrelevant points which are used in attempt to hide the fact that there is no credible evidence to support the claim being made. In “Why Colleges Shower Their Students With A’s,” there are a few prominent logical fallacies. For example, a hasty generalization, a logical fallacy, takes place in the beginning of the article. Staples is beginning to discuss the issue of grade inflation when he states that, “Professors at every level inflate to escape negative evaluations by students, whose opinions now figure tenure and promotion decisions” (Staples 935). This statement is a conclusion based on inadequate and partial evidence. Staples produces no credible evidence to prove that these are the only reason teachers inflate grades, and he also does not identify how many professors are involved in this inflating grade situation. The reader does not know whether there are only a few professors who are taking part in this or if there are hundreds,