Policy P

ChAD 195 Senior Seminar

Policy Paper Instructions

Total Points for the Paper = 75

Reminders: Submit the paper to Canvas and bring a blank copy of the rubric to class on the due date. If you have any questions, problems, or concerns about the paper, you should:

Make an appointment to talk with me

Send me an email/Contact me on Canvas

Call me or see me before/after class

The paper must be at least 12 pages of text (title page, reference pages do not count) but no longer than 16 pages of text . The paper requires a minimum of 15 references (see below). Both in-text and full references should be in correct APA format. Use a reasonable 12-point font (Times, Times new Roman, Palatino) and one-inch margins. An Abstract and cover page are not required.

Format/Content of Written Policy Paper

Step 1 – Overview of the assignment:

Review current educational issues facing children in CA today. Decide on the issue that is most important or interesting to you and narrow down the topic to a reasonable scope. You will be preparing a document to take (hypothetically) to the Santa Clara County Board of Ediucation to implement in the following school year.

Step 2 – Paper Preparation

* After you have chosen a topic, find your references. You must have at least:

12 peer-reviewed research articles

2 policy references + 1 scholarly reference that guides the critical analysis of the existing

policies

2 statistics references (not from an article) from a credible web-site (UN, CDC, WHO, etc.)

Cite/discuss the UN Children’s Right’s Convention (see Canvas)

* Prepare and submit the Paper Proposal

* Prepare and submit the Paper Outline

Step 3 – Write the Final Draft

Introduction to Paper

Begin with an introductory paragraph that lays out the format and direction of the entire paper

Description of the educational issue/problem the policy will address (cite from your lit review)

Discussion of the importance of the topic in the context of child development research – provide

one or two sample results/citations and a sample statistic that shows the extent of the problem

Brief description of the policy you are proposing

Specific and concrete over-view of the paper content – “This paper will …..”

The introduction should not exceed 1 page.

Background/Statistics Related to Why this Policy is Necessary:

You will need to use background statistics to help you build your case for why this policy is necessary. That is, describe what we know about children, families, and communities that is directly relevant to your your education relevant policy. For example, if you were looking at “achievement gaps in English Language Learners” you will want statistics on the percent of children who are ELL, the percent of children who are ELL who are retained a grade, placed in special education, etc. Make sure that your statistics come from credible sources. Examples of credible sources include: The United Nations (UN/UNICEF), The Center For Disease Control (CDC), any federal, state or local governmental agency (look for a .gov), Kids Count, and Trends in Well-Being of America’s Children and Youth.

Research Based Rationale for the Policy:

Find and use child development research (broadly defined) that presents data showing that the elements of the policy are an effective way to improve children’s education. (For example, an article showing that children who eat breakfast are more likely to pay attention in class; children who get enough sleep have fewer academic difficulties). You may also want to present research showing that children who do not experience the elements of the policy are at higher risk for negative outcomes (e.g., children who do not have access to arts education are more likely to drop-out of high school). In the lit review you will need to review a minimum of 12 peer-reviewed, empirical articles. The review should be integrated, with multiple related articles discussed in a paragraph, rather than a list (i.e., one article per paragraph). Make sure you describe the goals, subjects, and specific/relevant results for each study. The section should be divided into sub-sections (theme/content based). At the end of each section, provide a summary of key points and indicate how and why those key points support/justify/provide evidence for the policy you are proposing.

Review of Existing Policy

For this section you will want to review existing federal, state, and county education policies that are relevant to your topic. Provide a critical analysis of at least two existing, relevant policies; that is discuss their strengths and weaknesses and indicate how your policy will draw on those strengths and address those weaknesses – support this disucssion with results from the lit review you provided in the previous section. You will need to cite the actual policies and at least one scholarly paper that discusses policy relevant to your topic and helps show the context or background or rationale for these policies. A strong paper will provide a review of more than one scholarly work that discusses relevant policies.

Detailed Components of the Proposed Policy:

Describe in detail what you are proposing to do. That is, don’t just say “have green places for plants and

animals”. Propose a specific way of implementing the policy at the school, district, or county level. For example, “Create vegetable and fruit gardens on all elementary school campuses. Teachers will supervise student gardeners and will create at least one garden-based environmental/earth studies science lesson plan per week”. Provide lots of details about what you are proposing, (who, what, how, where, when) and justify the inclusion of these elementse by referring back to the research and statistics you have already reviewed. For example: “Green (2020) found that children who attend schools with fruit/vegetable gardens are more physically fit, healthier, and have greater understanding of a healthy diet. Thus, each school will be required to create fruit and vegetable gardens.” The policy section must include a set of clearly articulated outcome goals (e.g., “Children will increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables. Children will also increase their knowledge of environmental science”). The goals should also be derived from the statistics and research reviewed in previous sections.

Program Evaluation:

Describe, in detail, how you will (1) evaluate the extent to which the policy has been implemented correctly (process) and (2) evaluate the impact this initiative has on children (outcomes). Thus, the evaluation should be linked to both process (the policy components, policy implementation) and outcomes (policy goals). For example, using the fruit/vegetable garden example, process evaluation would involve a plan to ensure that each school has a gardem, that students are the gardeners, and that teachers have weekly garden-based science lessons. Again, using the using the fruit/vegetable garden example, outcome evaluation would involve a plan to test the extent to which children have increased their consumption of fruits and vegetables and the extent to which they have improved their understanding of environmental science concepts for their grade. The following web-site can help you with developing and evaluation plan: Program Evaluation 101.

Conclusion:

Briefly summarize key points from the background statistics, existing policy, and research review. Then summarize main points from your policy proposal. Indicate how this policy fits in the bigger picture of improving children’s well-being (long-term outcomes) by, by improving their educational experiences. Finish by discussing how your policy proposal will will promote children’s rights in a more general sense (refer to the UN document on the Children’s Rights).

How to Write a Better Paper

Questions to Ask Yourself as You Construct the Policy Paper

Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2004). The miniature guide to critical thinking: Concepts and tools.

Dillon Bdeach, CA: The Foundation for Critical Thinking

1. Clarity: Without clarity, a reader cannot judge accuracy or relevance.

An example of an unclear thesis statement: “What can be done about the education system in

America?” What does the author consider a ‘problem’? A clearer statement would be:

“What can educators do to ensure that students learn the skills and abilities which help them function

successfully on the job and in daily life?”

A. Can I elaborate further?

B. Can I provide an example?

C. Can I illustrate what I mean?

2. Accuracy: Statements may be clear, but not accurate. For example: “Most overweight cats weigh

over 300 pounds.” This is where referencing and using scientific data is important.

A. How can we check that fact?

B. How can we find out if it is true?

C. How can we verify or test that?

3. Precision: Statements can be clear and accurate but not precise. Sometimes, precision makes a big

difference. For example: “Jack is overweight”. (Is he 500 pounds or 5 pounds overweight?)

A. Can I be more specific

B. Can I provide more relevant details?

C. Can I be more exact?

4. Relevance: How is the information connected to the question, thesis or topic? Statements can be

clear, accurate, and precise but not relevant. For example: {In a paper on education reform} “To meet

their emotional connectedness needs, research has shown that teachers often have pets, especially

small dogs such as Pugs and Chows or indoor short-hair domestic cats (ASPCA, 2007).”

A. How does this relate to the problem?

B. How does this bear on the problem?

C. How does that help with the issue?

5. Depth: Statements may be clear, accurate, precise, and relevant but lack depth and are superficial

because they over-generalize and fail to acknowledge the complexities of an issue. An example is the

anti-drug use campaign slogan “Just Say No”.

A. What factors make this a difficult problem?

B. What are some of the complexities of the problem?

C. What are some of the difficulties we need to deal with?

6. Breadth: Statements may be clear, accurate, precise, relevant, and deep, but lack breadth (i.e., they are

one sided). An example would be an explanation of an issue from either the liberal or conservative

perspective. The explanation may thorough and deep, but it only presents one side of the story and,

thus, may omit important information.

A. Do I need to look at this from another perspective?

B. Do I need to consider another point of view?

C. Do I need to look at this in other ways?

(Continues on the next page)

7. Writing Quality: Avoid basic writing errors that obscure your points and are awkward to read. These

include:

A. Using more than two direct quotes

B. Citing the literature review in an article rather than the results of the study (i.e., using “cited

froms”

C. Using the name of the article in the text – just cite by author(s) last name(s) and year

D. Using phrases like “The authors, Smith and Greene, they found that” (see clarity above)

E. Writing the literature review like a list (e.g., “The next article is…”)

8. Logic: When we think, we bring a variety of thought together into some kind of order. When the

combination of thoughts is mutually supportive, connected, and coherent it is “logical”. When that

combination is not mutually supportive, disconnected, contradictory, then it does not “make sense” or

is “not logical”.

A. Does this make sense as a whole?

B. Does the first paragraph fit with the rest of the paragraphs?

C. Does what I say follow from the evidence?

9. Significance: Does this issue really matter?

A. Is this the most important problem to consider?

B. Is this the central idea to focus on?

C. Have I focused on the most important facts?

10. Have I included all the required paper elements?