Research Proposal

Andrew Grande
English 123 Intermediate Composition

In todays society we face a dilemma of mass incarceration with our jail systems
becoming over populated with inmates. The United States of America is the number one
leading country in the world with over two million people incarcerated.
Eighty percent of those incarcerated do not have high school diplomas because they
either dropped out or got expelled from school. My research proposal is the school to
prison pipeline issue of zero tolerance policies that expel students from schools and leads
them to a direct path to prison. I will research the historical roots of the establishment of
zero tolerance, the effectiveness of zero tolerance policies, and if it is actually beneficial
to our school systems, or just causing imbalances to society. I will create a rhetoric report
on why the school systems are failing our students and how it is feeding the increase of
mass incarceration. After creating a thesis establishing that zero tolerance policies are
negative affecting our society, and is leading to a direct pipeline to our correctional
facilities; I will support my thesis with accredited sites, and scholarly journals. Included
will be solutions that will support in attempt to decrease mass incarceration from schools.
I chose this topic because I am a physical education coach at a charter middle school who
loves making a difference in students lifes, and as an Christian educator I will find
solutions to prevent children form going down the school to prison pipeline.

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