The culminating assessment for the Synthesis of Educational Theory domain is a research paper that identifies a problem in education, clarifies relevant ways to address the problem, and explores different perspectives regarding the future of education.
A. Provide an introduction in which you do the following:
1. Identify an open-ended problem in education.
a. Explain your current thinking about the future of education posed by the open-ended problem you have identified, supporting your explanation with research-based evidence.
B. Choose five aspects that influence your open-ended problem, which can include but are not limited to the following:
• teachers and standards
• high-stakes assessments
• curriculum/instruction
• methodology
• technology
• bilingual/ELL
• special education
• public policy
• diversity and inclusion
1. Identify two possible approaches and discuss how they address the open-ended problem, using each of the 5 aspects chosen in part B.
a. Provide evidence to support your discussion from part B1.
i. Discuss the quality of evidence, including the credibility and bias of the provided information or evidence relevant to the possible approaches presented in part B1.
b. Discuss the underlying assumptions of the possible approaches presented in part B1.
2. Discuss how two of the influencing aspects chosen in part B and the possible approaches from part B1 impact each other.
3. Analyze the pros and cons of implementing each of the possible approaches from part B1.
4. Propose your solution to the open-ended problem identified in part A1.
a. Discuss potential criticisms of the solution you proposed in part B4 and ways of addressing those criticisms.
5. Reflect on what education would look like in the future if the solution from part B4 were implemented.
Sample Solution
