What Kind of Arguments Will Be Evaluated?

Walt Gardner:

If the instruments used require that students write a persuasive letter to the editor, for example, then it behooves teachers to give their students ample practice doing precisely that, followed by constructive feedback. This is teaching to the test, but students do not know beforehand the topic they will be asked to write about in the letter to the editor.

The problem with this is that the standards rather pointedly do not include letters to the editor, or persuasive writing at all outside the context of an academic argument.