Students will examine a policy or a single policy component of a comprehensive state or federal law (ex. IDEA) and write a paper of 6-8 double-spaced pages aligned to the following components:
1) Description: Identify and describe the policy being examined in greater depth
2) Summarize: Briefly summarize key details about how the policy came to be (how did it get on the agenda, who championed it, was there a window, what political compromises were made, etc.) and if it is still in place
3) Policy Formulation: Identify what this policy is/was supposed to do (its intended goal or goals)
4) Policy Implementation: Identify how this policy is/was supposed to accomplish the goals and who/what entity was responsible for implementing the policy
5) Policy Evaluation: Summarize the evidence available regarding whether the policy “worked” (review at least 3 research articles/sources on the topic. Try to locate the “big” evaluation study/ies that are commonly cited for this topic)
6) Change Proposal: On the basis of the evidence, propose a change that will either make the policy more successful in attaining its goals or move the policy in a direction of a new and better goal. Students will present their Examination of a Policy Making Process in a 7-slide max., 15-minute PPT presentation.
Possible Policies Include:
Class Size Reduction Policies
School Voucher Policies or Lottery Choice Programs
Accountability Policies (ex. ESSA, but select some aspect to examine)
Student Retention (vs. Social Promotion) Policies
Teacher Certification Policies
Teacher Merit Pay Policies
Universal Pre-K Policies
Bilingual Education Policies (ex. limiting the number of years a student can be in bilingual education)
