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.You might end with a brief summary and anexplanation of how the guidelines as a group have helped.If you decide to focus on onerule, include at least two or three experiences that help to illustrate your point.To prepare for this assignment, spend some time freewriting about the rules orguidelines you have set up for yourself.Continue writing until you feel you haveCopyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.All rights reserved.a central idea for which you have plenty of interesting support.Then organize that supportinto a scratch outline, such as this one:Thesis: I have one rule that keeps me from staying in a rut Don t let the size ofa challenge deter you; instead, aim for it by making plans and taking steps.Topic sentence 1: I began to think about my rule one summer in high schoolwhen a friend got the type of summer job that I had only been thinking about.Topic sentence 2: After high school, I began to live up to my rule when I aimedfor a business career and entered college.Topic sentence 3: My rule is also responsible for my having the wonderfulboyfriend (or girlfriend or spouse or job) I now have.Let s Really Reform Our SchoolsAnita GarlandA few years ago, a National Commission on Excellence in Education published A Nation at Risk, inwhich the commission reported on a rising tide of mediocrity in our schools.Other studies havepointed to students poor achievement in science, math, communication, and critical thinking.What canour schools do to improve students performance? Anita Garland has several radical ideas, which sheexplains in this selection.As you read it, think about whether or not you agree with her points.American high schools are in trouble.No, that s not strong enough.American 1 high schools aredisasters. Good schools today are only a rite of passage for American kids, where the pressure to lookfashionable and act cool outweighs any concern for learning.And bad schools heaven help us are havens for the vicious and corrupt.There, metal detectors and security guards wage a losing battle againstthe criminals that prowl the halls.Desperate illnesses require desperate remedies.And our public schools are des-2 perately ill.What isneeded is no meek, fainthearted attempt at curriculum revision or student-centered learning. We needto completely restructure our thinking about what schools are and what we expect of the students whoattend them.The first change needed to save our schools is the most fundamental one.Not 3only must we stop forcing everyone to attend school; we must stop allowing theattendance of so-called students who are not interested in studying.Mandatoryschool attendance is based upon the idea that every American has a right to basiceducation.But as the old saying goes, your rights stop where the next guy s begin.A student who sincerely wants an education, regardless of his or her mental orphysical ability, should be welcome in any school in this country.But studentswho deliberately interfere with other students ability to learn, teachers abilityto teach, and administrators ability to maintain order should be denied a place inthe classroom.They do not want an education.And they should not be allowed tomark time within school walls, waiting to be handed their meaningless diplomaswhile they make it harder for everyone around them to either provide or receive aquality education.By requiring troublemakers to attend school, we have made it impossible to deal 4with them in any effective way.They have little to fear in terms of punishment.Suspension from school for a few days doesn t improve their behavior.After all,they don t want to be in school anyway.For that matter, mandatory attendance is,in many cases, nothing but a bad joke.Many chronic troublemakers are absentso often that it is virtually impossible for them to learn anything.And when theyare in school, they are busy shaking down other students for their lunch money orjewelry.If we permanently banned such punks from school, educators could turntheir attention away from the troublemakers and toward those students who realizethat school is a serious place for serious learning.You may ask, What will become of these young people who aren t in school? 5But consider this: What is becoming of them now? They are not being educated.They are merely names on the school records.They are passed from grade to grade,learning nothing, making teachers and fellow students miserable.Finally they arebumped off the conveyor belt at the end of twelfth grade, oftentimes barely literate,and passed into society as high school graduates. Yes, there would be a need foralternative solutions for these young people.Let the best thinkers of our countrycome up with some ideas.But in the meanwhile, don t allow our schools to serveas a holding tank for people who don t want to be there.Once our schools have been returned to the control of teachers and genuine 6students, we could concentrate on smaller but equally meaningful reforms.A goodplace to start would be requiring students to wear school uniforms.There wouldbe cries of horror from the fashion slaves, but the change would benefi t everyone.If students wore uniforms, think of the mental energy that could be redirected intomore productive channels.No longer would young girls feel the need to spend theirevenings laying out coordinated clothing, anxiously trying to create just the rightlook.The daily fashion show that currently absorbs so much of students attentionwould come to a halt.Kids from modest backgrounds could stand out because oftheir personalities and intelligence, rather than being tagged as losers because theycan t wear the season s hottest sneakers or jeans.Affluent kids might learn theyCopyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.All rights reserved.have something to offer the world other than a fashion statement.Parents would be relieved of the pressure to deal with their offspring s constant demands for wardrobeadditions.Next, let s move to the cafeteria.What s for lunch today? How about a Milky 7 Waybar, a bag of Fritos, a Coke, and just to round out the meal with a vegetable, maybe somefrench fries.And then back to the classroom for a few hours of intense mental activity,fueled on fat, salt, and sugar.What a joke! School is an institution of education, and thateducation should be continued as students sit down to eat.Here s a perfect opportunity toteach a whole generation of Americans about nutrition, and we are blowing it
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