Expository (Research) Topics for Senior Thesis
Some aspect of education researched (4 pages). Research needs to respond to a specific, focused,
student-generated question or series of questions about one of the following topics:

Standardized testing

Single sex schooling

Innovative education

Brain research and education

Connection between academics and music or sports or art

Private schools vs public schools

Credentialing for teachers

Home schooling

Wilderness education

Boarding schools

Violence in schools and programs to combat it

School clubs and their role in education

Student leadership

School and relationships, friendships (possible subtopic: bullying, cliques)

Racial segregation in education

ELD programs, immigration and public schools

College admissions

Mental health issues and schools

Special education

Mentoring

Schools and technology

School culture—what shapes it; how to change it (possible example: Camp
Everytown)

Pedagogy in any subject

How schools are financed

How schools are governed

Parents’ role in their children’s education

Sex, drugs and rock n’ roll—where adolescence meets the classroom

Education and spirituality, faith, philosophy, values, beliefs

Role of international experience in education

The drop-out problem

AVID

Cheating and plagiarism

Work and school

Community service projects

No Child Left Behind

Military recruitment in high schools

Gifted students in US public schools

Classroom Discipline

Educators as Social Workers—dealing with home issues at school
Guiding Questions for Compare/Contrast (Research) Segment of Senior Thesis
Compare/Contrast—US educational system with one other country (each student, or pair of
students if working together, picks a different educational system) (3-4 page). Include the
following:

What is the school calendar?

How much money is spent on each student?

Where does the money come from?

What percentage of the students go on to higher education?

What are the subjects taught?

How is the curriculum typically delivered in this system? (methods of
teaching)

Is the system equitable to all?

What are some of the problems in the country’s education system?

What does the typical school day look like for students there?

How is success measured?