Research Proposal

Research Question:

How has the U.S. education system adapted to accommodate the needs of foreign speaking students since the beginning of the 20^th century and in what ways is it still being transformed today?

Why this topic deserves to be researched:

Attending a private institution, like Trinity College, has led me to a profound awakening, especially in regards to the importance of racial diversity. The racial diversity at Trinity (or lack thereof) is something I find to dominate the entire tone and nature of a college. It was only after attending Trinity that I realized how drastically the racial composition of one’s surroundings can influence a person’s perceptions and levels of acceptance.  Growing up in a very multi-ethnic and racially diverse area right outside Washington D.C., I am used to a high level of sensitivity towards the words and actions used when discussing or interacting with a different race or socio-economic class. It was only after attending Trinity that I realized that this sensitivity wasn’t as wide-spread as I once thought. Instead, there seems to be an entirely different language to the school, a language that, as derogative as it is, is accepted here as being standard. During my first few months at Trinity last year, I remember how taken aback I was when listening to the causal racial references and slang thrown out during every-day conversation around campus. Even more shocking to me, was that I was the only person asking people to stop making these comments, and when I would bring up the importance of respecting and appreciating another students ethnic and racial background, no one ever seemed to catch on and almost seemed to be a foreign concept. This was so appalling to me that it led me to write my freshman-year-seminar final paper surrounding the racial climate on Trinity’s campus. Now, a year and a half later as a sophomore, I find it even more difficult not to avoid using the phrases my peers use, and I almost find myself succumbing to Trinity’s racial language. It worries me to think that I am loosing the racial awareness that was once so expected. In a grander context, it interests me to see that the level of one’s academic intelligence doesn’t always mirror one’s social and cultural understandings, something I hope to explore further in my paper. Furthermore, I believe that the language one uses reflects their levels of acceptance as well, something demonstrated by the levels of acceptance I see here versus the greater levels of acceptance I witness during interactions in my home town. When choosing a paper topic and considering this background, I wanted to pick something that concerned racial and ethnic relations but also something that examined an area of study I haven’t exposed myself to in previous classes or in previous papers. This is why I decided I wanted to center my focus around a foreign students understanding of the U.S. education system, as I see it as a topic that could also expose the priorital assistance we give some ethnic groups and not others, as we see fit. I believe this could also shed light on the reasons why we see greater trends of acceptance in public school settings than we generally do in private school settings.

 

Research Strategy:

When addressing my research question, I plan on using google scholar and online studies to examine international relations within the public school system, a tool that has already worked well for me when beginning to conduct my research. I find it difficult to use our class readings and lectures for this topic because we haven’t studied it too closely in class.

I think it would be helpful to incorporate a good deal of case studies regarding ethnic integration in private high schools in comparison to that of public high schools, and would add greater credibility and tangibility to my research question.  I also plan to meet with a research librarian to help me conduct my research, especially since I currently don’t have much experience working with the tools and techniques offered by the library. Through further research, I hope to narrow down my research question so that it focuses more directly on the policies in place now in comparison to those of past decades. I also think it would be interesting to explore the success of the immersion programs in place, as they can be indicators of the quality of education provided in foreign speaking students classrooms as opposed to the quality of education American students experience at the same school.

 

Bibliography:

Ruiz-de-Velasco, Jorge, and Michael Fix. Overlooked & Underserved: Immigrant Students in U.S. Secondary Schools. Publication. Web. <http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED449275.pdf>.

Howard, Elizabeth R., Julie Sugarman, and Donna Christian. Trends in Two-Way Immersion Education: A Review of the Research. Publication., Aug. 2003. Web. <http://www.csos.jhu.edu/crespar/techReports/Report63.pdf>.

The Editorial Board. “Why Other Countries Teach Better.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 17 Dec. 2013. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/opinion/why-students-do-better-overseas.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0>.

Wilde, Marian. “Global Grade: How Do U.S. Students Compare?” GreatSchools. Web. 03 Apr. 2014. <http://www.greatschools.org/students/academic-skills/1075-u-s-students-compare.gs>.