Problem Identification – Clark County Public Schools Overcrowded Schools

Problem Identification – Clark County Public School District – Overcrowded Schools

For this essay, you want to identify a pressing problem in the urban district that you’re studying. The goal is to show the depth of that problem and the urgency surrounding it. You achieve this by showing the juxtaposition between what we would expect from an ideal society and what we’re actually seeing in practice. You want to highlight the distance between democratic or human rights principles and the challenges that students, parents, teachers, and/or administrators are experiencing in your district on a daily basis. Then you want to provide a mixture of information that shows the empirical nature of that problem.

Begin with something that highlights your problem in a compelling way (a very short narrative; a news story)

Establish some sort of normative baseline for your problem

o Is this story illustrative of a democratic failure?

o Is this a story of a human rights failure?

o Show the reader that there’s a certain expectation for an ideal society that this story is not living up to

Connect the compelling story and normative expectation to evidence of a larger trend (survey result, performance-related data trend, behavior-related data trend)

o Give us some sort of empirical indication that the narrative illustrates a larger trend

Clearly argue for what you believe amounts to a pressing problem that is not being addressed – what is the fundamental problem that the story and trend both speak to?

o Tell the reader of two specific types of information/trends we can point to in the district that underscore the severity of the problem

Go into depth with the 1st information/trend

o Clearly re-state this first problem indicator

o Provide more empirical evidence that this is a problem

o Say something about the larger negative implications of this trend

Go into depth with the 2nd information/trend

o Clearly re-state this 2nd problem indicator

o Provide more empirical evidence that this is a problem

o Say something about the larger negative implications of this trend

Give the reader an elevated conclusion

o Clearly re-state the problem

o
Acknowledge any shortcomings/counterarguments

Are there problems that one might think are more pressing? Is there information/data that was unavailable?

· Is it unavailable data/information that would speak even more clearly to the nature and depth of this problem?

o Tell us why, despite any shortcomings, this is the problem that should be addressed

o Leave us with the larger implications

What are the potential costs of inaction?

What will be the consequences of getting this wrong?

Helpful links

https://new.ccea-nv.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/CSR_Brief.pdf

https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/local/large-class-sizes-remain-persistent-problem-for-ccsd-going-into-new-school-year/article_ba4ac0fc-bb2d-11e9-a11a-e3c03ddd67cc.html

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2014/apr/25/five-things-you-should-know-about-school-overcrowd/

https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/local/new-report-overcrowded-classrooms-remain-persistent-problem-in-clark-county/article_0637f0b2-cae6-11e9-82bc-830c20fd2ffd.html

https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/ccsd-plagued-by-shortage-of-teachers-largest-class-sizes-in-country-district-hopes-to-fill-vacancies/

https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/election-preview-during-critical-time-in-education-four-clark-county-trustee-seats-up-for-grabs

https://www.ccsd.net/departments/government-affairs/student-enrollment-and-school-capacity

https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/study-nevada-has-largest-class-sizes-in-nation/

https://mynews4.com/news/local/spread-out-desks-half-empty-buses-schools-plan-to-reopen

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/05/06/402886741/what-happens-in-vegas-includes-crowded-struggling-schools

https://apnews.com/article/191224822bff477c927c05efa11da0df

https://www.ktnv.com/news/raising-the-bar/las-vegas-parents-discuss-quality-of-education-in-clark-county

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2019/apr/29/with-limited-ccsd-resources-some-students-learning/

https://www.npri.org/commentary/nevadas-education-woes-reflect-a-lack-of-accountability-not-insufficient-funding/

https://edlawcenter.org/research/nevada/nevada-funding-formula.html

https://guinncenter.org/clark-county-school-district-a-super-sized-district/

Data firm’s conclusion on class-size reduction: Nevada should actually try it

https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/clark-county-school-district-101-from-governance-to-performance

https://guinncenter.org/photo-essay/per-pupil-funding-at-the-clark-county-school-district-over-time/