18 Year Research Paper

There is a widespread concern over the condition of education in this country today. Over one fourth of students drop out of school before graduation. Some 13 percent of the nation's 17 year olds are functionally illiterate. Achievement tests given to students in 13 industrialized countries show American students rank 11th in Chemistry, 9th in Physics (for students who have taken two years of physics), and last in Biology. Average Japanese 12th graders have a better command of mathematics than the top 5 percent of their American counterparts generally do.
The Study of Economics: Principles, Concepts and Applications by Turley Mings and Matthew Marlin

Main Idea in the Middle Sometimes, writers place the main idea closer to the middle of the
Every morning, she searches for a decent parking place at her local community college. She commutes to school, holds down a full-time job and is raising her two daughters while trying to study. She is only one example of a current in American education: More students whoo are attending college have adult responsibilities than ever before, and their concerns are somewhat different from the 18-year-old typical college freshman of earlier decades. Very often, these older students are not as interested in sports or extra-curricular activities that most campuses offer. They are more concerned with having classes available to them both day and night, and with achieving their goal of getting from school to a good job as quickly as possible. In addition, since these students are usually not receiving aid from their parents, the cost of their education is an even more important factor to them.

The main idea is stated in the middle while the rest of the paragraph goes on to explain in examples how the concerns of college students in America today and in earlier decades are different: less interest in sports and extra-curricular activities and more concern with flexible class schedules, the cost of their education, and the possible job to land