Aviles 1

Education Reform
Jonathan Aviles
2/23/16
Montgomery College

Education Reform

Aviles 2

Education reform is a topic that is being talked about more these days. The education
system in the United States has its flaws and needs to be reevaluated. In the article,
Accreditation Should Be Reformed in Higher Education, Burke and Butler use ethos,
evidence, and organization to help support their argument for education reform. The evidence
and solutions help explain the authors viewpoints and to create an effective article.
The authors use ethos to help support their thesis statement. One author is part of the
domestic policy studies department, of the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C. While the
second author is the director of the Center for Policy Innovation, of the Heritage Foundation in
Washington D.C. Another example used in the article is persuasiveness. The evidence used to
help persuade the reader is taken from the research done at the Heritage Foundation, to review
the standpoint of how the education systems are in the United States and how they can improve
upon. In addition to persuasiveness, the authors also use credibility to help support their thesis.
By demonstrating credibility they also use consistency and credentials. Informing the reader
about the topic helps them to understand it and shows that Burke and Butler know what they are
talking about. As well as credentials both authors work in the Heritage Foundation, in their own
departments, which shows how much they actually know about the topic. One is in the specific
department and the other is the director.
A second point in the article used by Burke and Butler is evidence. Facts help support the
evidence by showing what some problems are. An example would be student loans. Since
colleges/universities are expensive to attend, some people have to get a loan in order to pay off

Aviles 3

classes, and then have to pay off these immense debts. In addition in todays advancing society
there are skills sets needed for higher end jobs, companies, and organizations. To acquire theses
skill sets one has to attend college in order to just be able to work at these places. Furthermore
statistics also help out with evidence, Over half of all graduates with bachelors degree incur an
average of $23,000 in debt, and cumulative student loan debt now exceeds credit card debt (3).
This quote shows how much the average American has to pay off once they have graduated from
college or university. In order to lower the stress of paying back these loans, there are college
saving plans to help to reduce the amount of money required to be paid back. Additionally
another point to help with evidence is observation. In this advancing society, there is higher
criteria needed for high end jobs. In the current society, people are noticing that applicants need
to be more educated or informed in the job they have applied for. Since the economy advances
quickly, people need to keep up by better educating themselves. Another trendy observation is
that some people tend to take college classes online. Classes online are less expensive, since they
dont have to attend the actual college campus itself and can be done on their own personal
schedule. But yes it has its ups and downs an example being that one cant really communicate
with a professor like in a class environment.
A final point used in the article by the authors is organization. The organization used in
the article helps the reader understand the key points of education reform. For example, the
article starts off with giving a brief background about the two authors. Like their names, where
they work at, and what they do. Then it gives some information on colleges and educational
reform. After the background information, the article then goes and states the thesis of why
education should have a reform. After explaining the authors background and thesis, comes the
explanation of the problems.

Aviles 4

By explaining the problems Burke and Butler show they recognize both sides of the argument.
Some problems that are stated are money problems. According to the Burke and Butler, the
average Americans debt after college is an absolute insane amount of money that needs to be
payed back. Not only is it debt problems but it is also accreditation. Accreditation is how
colleges or universities are evaluated. Accreditation is a problem since it sets standards in which
institutes are evaluated. For this reason students also have trouble getting federal aid since they
dont meet the requirements. Finally at the end of the article are some solutions to some of the
problems. A solution given for money problems is, encourage investment in 529 college savings
accounts (12). Which helps out colleges with giving federal aid to students who need it. A last
solution for accreditation is, that colleges should offer different enrollment plans for different
people in different situations, like taking college credit classes in high school or online courses.
To summarize the evidence and solutions given in the article can help back up the thesis
statement of both the authors and create an effective article. Ethos, evidence, and organization
used in the article help convince the reader to think about educational reform. Overall, the
authors are informing readers about educational reform, what needs fixing, and how it can be
fixed. Education reform should be a topic more talked about to better the system in the United
States.

Aviles 5

References
Burke, L., & Butler, S. M. (2015). Accreditation Should Be Reformed in Higher Education. In R.
Espejo (Ed.), At Issue. What Is the Future of Higher Education? Farmington Hills, MI:
Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Accreditation: Removing the Barrier to Higher Education
Reform, Backgrounder, 2012)