1. EWRT 1A
Class 26
Problems, Problems, Problems
What do these three words have in
common?
1. Candy—Crab—Caramel
2. Egg—Safe—Whip
2. AGENDA
• Discussion: The Problems with Education
Genre: “The Proposal” (Essay #5 + #6)
• Essay #5 Assignment
• Choosing and Narrowing a Topic
• Review: Library Resources
• Homework
3. Discussion:
Five Problems with Education
For your HW, you read two lists of 10
key problems or issues with American
K-12 education.
Now make your own individual list of
at least FIVE key problems/issues
with education.
NOT limited to American education.
NOT limited to K-12. (Can talk about
college—especially community
college.)
Then choose one of these key
problems on your list that you have
significant personal experience with.
After you’ve done this, in your
Houses:
Share your lists with each other.
Everyone should share all five of their
problems.
Each person should describe/explain
in some detail your own personal
experience with one of your key
problems.
Be prepared to share your stories
with the class.
We will share out at least 2-3
problems from each House and keep
a brainstorming list on the board.
5. Writing a Proposal in Two Assignments
In a proposal, an author presents a
problem and then offers a solution.
In Essay #5, you will complete the
first step of a proposal: presenting
a problem.
In Essay #6, you will revise your
presentation of that problem and
then propose a solution.
6. Essay #5 Assignment
In-class essay. You can
use an outline that you
will prepare in advance.
You may not pre-write
the essay
At least 750 words.
MLA-style format and
citations.
Prompt: Write an essay presenting
to your reader a well-defined
problem in education today.
Describe in detail the causes and
consequences, and convince your
audience that this is a problem
worth solving. Address your
presentation of your problem to
your audience: one or more
members of the education board,
its leadership, or to outsiders who
may be able to contribute to
solving the problem.
Note: you should not (yet) propose
a solution to this problem (that’s
for Essay #4).
7. Essay #5 Potential Topics
Common Core State Standards
Student Learning
Technology
Social Media
Politics
High Stakes Testing
School Leadership
Instructors
Curriculum
Funding and Resources
Inequity
Classroom size
Poverty
Family factors
Bullying
Student attitudes and behaviors
No Child Left Behind
Parent involvement
Student health
Which of these did we already identify in our brainstorming?
Which of these do we need to talk about now?
8. Essay #5: Research Requirement
While you can discuss your own personal experience, limit this to a single
example, and be careful not to turn this into a narrative essay about your
personal challenges in school. Rather than relying heavily on personal
experience, you should use facts, statistics, or data relevant to the larger
population affected by this problem.
To this end, quote (and cite) at least one outside source.
Harry Potter does not fulfill this requirement.
Your source should be a book or an article from a popular magazine or
newspaper.
You should locate this article using the library databases.
You should include your quote(s) and citation info from this article on your
outline.
9. Choosing Your Problem: Brainstorming
Based on your earlier list of 5
problems (and our subsequent class
discussion/brainstorming), choose
THREE potential problems.
Brainstorm at least one paragraph
about each of these three
potential in which you include
everything you know about the
issue or problem.
Be sure you pay specific attention
to the CAUSES of the problem and
the CONSEQUENCES of the
problem.
Causes
What is the cause of this problem?
Are there multiple causes?
How did this problem come into
being or how was it created?
Ex.: A cause of school traffic
congestion might be the lack of
public transportation options near
that school.
Consequences
What effects does this problem
have--on students, educators,
and/or society at large?
Ex.: School traffic may cause
students to be late to class, which
may cause them to do less well in
school.
10. Narrowing Your Problem
It’s likely that one of the topics
you wrote about seemed to
overwhelm you—especially when
you started to consider the causes
and consequences.
For example: inequity.
How many types of inequity are
there in education?
What are the causes of inequity?
What are the consequences?
These lists are long! Could you
write about all of them? (No.)
So now you need to narrow your
problem.
Consider specific situations:
Inequity of funding by school
districts in the state of California.
Do some school districts get more
money and why is this a problem?
Inequity of funding for student
tracks. Why do “AP” or “gifted”
tracks receive more resources and
what effects does this have?
Inequity of funding for academic
vs. non-academic programs. Why is
college sports funding a problem?
Inequity of funding between
programs. Why are athletics
funded more than art and music
and why is this a problem?
Inequity of teacher salaries..
11. Narrowing Discussion
Choose one of the potential
problems that you wrote about in
your brainstorming paragraphs, one
that seems too broad or
overwhelming.
Now, share that problem with your
House and discuss ways that you
could narrow and focus your topic.
Each House should be prepared to
share examples of narrowing with
the class.
Examples of narrowing:
Bullying -> Anti-gay bullying
Poverty -> Lack of resources for
school supplies or books.
Technology -> inequitable access to
technology resources.
Student behaviors -> ADHD
12. Choosing a Problem:
Putting It All Together
Choose one of your potential
problems that seems most
interesting/promising to you.
Make sure it is narrowed enough
that it doesn’t feel overwhelming.
Write the following:
A few sentences that state what
the problem is.
A few sentences that explain why
the problem is serious.
A few sentences that outline the
causes of the problem.
A few sentences that describe the
consequences of failing to solve
this problem.
13. Homework
Revise Essay #4: Due
Friday at noon
Read Essay #5 sample.
HW Discussion #26: Write
a paragraph outlining the
problem explained in the
"Problem" sample essay.
Include at least one cause
and one consequence.
Essay #4: Due at noon
Friday.
