What are some good topics to focus on as I write a proposal for my MA degree in English curriculum and instruction?

I remember having to do the same thing.  It was not fun.  I ended up submitting three different proposals, because the first two were denied.  

Based on my experience, you need to walk a thin line.  You need to pick a topic that has some research in it already.  That makes sense, since you need information and sources in order to compile something for your master's thesis.  The trick though is that you don't...

I remember having to do the same thing.  It was not fun.  I ended up submitting three different proposals, because the first two were denied.  

Based on my experience, you need to walk a thin line.  You need to pick a topic that has some research in it already.  That makes sense, since you need information and sources in order to compile something for your master's thesis.  The trick though is that you don't want a topic that has a lot of research in it already.  Your professors will likely deny any proposal that is a simple rehashing of many, many studies.  

Off the top of my head, you could go with something bold and confrontational.  Argue that Shakespeare should be removed from the curriculum.  Of course that will upset a lot of people, so you would want to argue that he should be replaced by something else, and prove why.  

Regarding English curriculum in the high school that I teach, I have begun thinking that reading 1984 is outdated curriculum.  I believe that Huxley's Brave New World is much more applicable in today's society.  I also believe that his predictions have come more true than Orwell's predictions.  

Those are both very specific topics.  You could go broader.  "Writing across the curriculum" was a big push in education about fifteen years ago.  It has dropped off of pedagogy radar in recent years.  Perhaps you could research into whether or not writing across the curriculum actually benefited student learners in the way that it was supposed to.  

A possible different broad topic is regarding grammar.  Is teaching grammar at the high school level beneficial to student learners anymore?  There is no shortage of spelling and grammar auto-checking that goes on, and basic sentence diagramming has disappeared from standardized testing.  So should intense grammar teaching be dropped in favor of more writing? Especially since tests like the SAT now have such a huge writing component.  

I wish you luck in the pursuit of your MA.