Research Writing Process (Book)

SAMPLE FINAL OUTLINE

Johnny Johnson

Ms. Doe

English 12

31 March, 2010

Education: Why does it seem everyone is against it?

Thesis Statement: Poverty, segregation of minorities, and changes in federal funding policies negatively affect education.

I. The schools from low-income communities lack the revenues to provide students with equal opportunities.

A. Schools in low-income areas usually have limited resources, which makes it difficult to provide students with quality education.

1. Those schools usually have under-qualified teachers.

2. Those low-income communities supporting the school do not bring in enough revenue to provide the schools with proper curriculum, supplies, and extra-curricular programs.

B. Students from schools in low-income communities have less of an opportunity to get a decent job later in life.

1. When students are not equally educated, the economy suffers due to a lack of competition in the job market.

2. Those students from under-funded schools are usually born into the bottom of the economy and are not given the proper opportunities to better themselves.

II. The majority of the population of poverty stricken schools consists of minorities.

A. In most urban centers, minorities are the majority

1. Urban school serving minorities contain the greatest number of teachers teaching outside of their training.

2. Many of the minority students attending these schools believe society does not care to give them the resources they need to succeed.

B. The achievement gap between white students and minorities is large.

III. The quality of education suffers due to changes in policies, such as the addition of the “No Child Left Behind Act.”

A. The “No Child Left Behind Act” usually forces schools to make choices to lower standards in order to avoid sanctions and retain funding.

1. Many times teachers are forced to abandon the normal curriculum in order to focus on teaching the students what the government decides is most important.

2. NCLB has caused much controversy among educational systems.

B. Standards established by the “No Child Left Behind Act” are hard to develop and enforce because curriculum differs all over the country.

1. The government should not be responsible for developing the standards because they are not the trained educators.

2. Standardized tests are not a fair or accurate way of measuring how much children are learning due to the variation of curriculum throughout the country.

C. The “No Child Left Behind Act” does not work properly because it is not adequately funded by the federal government.

1. The government provides only two-thirds of the money originally promised making states responsible for the rest.

2. The federal government often cuts money for education funding.