Carolyn French Midterm Proposal

a) Title: Unknown.

b) Abstract
Achievement Gaps in Education

Education is one of the main determining factors of a person's future career and income. Most public schools in America are failing their students horribly. I attended public schools my entire life and experienced firsthand their shortcomings. Children who attend low quality public schools are at a disadvantage from children in the suburbs or other wealthy areas which provide additional funding to their schools and children whose parents can afford to send them to private school. These children are provided with higher quality teachers, resources, and curriculum. I would like to demonstrate the ways that lack of access to a good education results in a lifetime of problems such as incarceration and poverty. I also will examine the policies that have contributed to this inequality. For example, the way public schools are funded.

c) Methodology
Visiting schools in different areas and of different types: ex: inner-city public schools, inner-city private, charter schools, suburban schools. Interviewing students, teachers, parents, administrators.

Analyzing federal, state, and local policies pertaining to education. Both their intended effect and their actual effect.

d) Media Presentation & Justification

I plan on creating a short film (under ten minutes) about this topic. I feel that this will be an effective way to educate people about this topic, spark debate, and inspire people to action. I have not decided what form my film will take: documentary, animation, a combination, or something completely different.

Films like the ones presented in the Media that Matters Film Festival (Mediathatmattersfest.org) and Professor Rafael Angulo’s course offered for graduate students in the School of Social Work, “Media in Social Work: Documentary Filmmaking as a Praxis for Social Justice” are my inspiration and models for the type of video I would like to create.