Kim Jurczyk
05/16/13
Tracking in America’s Public Schools
-Audience
The audience for this advocacy project would be primarily families with children or, more specifically, people who are directly affected by tracking, such as families with children already in the public school system.
-Justification of mode
I envisioned the advocacy project playing on YouTube and Facebook in order for the petition to be easily accessible. If I had created a website then the videos could have probably been aired on the television (if the quality was better) with the address for the website. In the videos, I wanted to make sure that the definition of tracking was explained and the consequences of tracking were explained in order for people to really understand what the petition/issue is about. I also wanted the commercials to be pithy enough so that people wouldn’t lose interest and it could be shown to more people. I used puppets to spread the message mainly to make it more entertaining.
-Justification of message
Tracking has already done enormous damage to American students and a large majority of people isn’t aware of what tracking is and how it’s affecting the America’s public schools. This message is meant to spread awareness and persuade people that they can make a difference by taking part in the petition.
-Topic exigence
I have already commented on the damage tracking has done to the system so I suppose the exigence would be that if the tracking system does not change more students will drop-out of high school, receive poor educations, and never be given the opportunity to mold a new life for themselves. Not only that, but if less people go to college and become a part of America’s qualified workforce then there is less economic growth for the country, which makes the dilemma of tracking an even greater issue.
-Constraints (audience, topic)
Professionalism of the commercials could have been better (I wish I knew how to use a fancy video camera). Also, the issue of tracking could affect viewers’ children maybe in the future but if an audience member is in college they’re not going to be thinking about tracking. Also, well-off families who don’t have to deal with tracking might not be able to relate to the topic.
Tracking in Public Schools: Meet Jenny and Sally
