Improving the health and wellbeing of young children of immigrants

Writing Project #3:  The Policy Paper

Draft Due:                  Jan. 25 (11:59 pm)

Requirements            APA format, 12pt. Times New Roman font, Double‑Spaced, 2000 words*

* Papers that fail to meet any one of these requirements will be returned to the student ungraded

Total Points:  30 (30%)

Source Requirement:  the paper must include no fewer than seven (7) sources—there is no specific requirement for whether the sources are peer-reviewed or not, but source selection will be part of the evaluation process.

Recommendation:  split your sources between background and literature review sources.  The literature review sources are peer-reviewed sources on your topic, and six would be a good number to aim for in this section of the paper.

The other sources I would recommend using for background on your target audience, exigence (a popular source discussing the problem), and sources that help you with the cost/benefit analysis:  interviews with staff, websites that list costs or popular sources that list similar plans.

Definition:

For this paper, you are asked to demonstrate everything you have learned this semester by writing a policy paper for a contemporary issue.  A policy paper is a researched essay in which you propose a policy for dealing with a current problem.  By definition, a policy is “a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes,” which a specific organization will implement (a school, a government agency, a nonprofit, etc.).

Directions:

In this sense, you are offering a recommendation based on the research conducted.  And so, you will know (and identify in the paper) your audience and your audience’s goals, usually an organization like a government agency (EPA) or public institution (school district).  Use the notes effectively to help you organize the sections of the paper with the required headings

1. Introduction: what is the exigence, describe the problem, offer a thesis that states clearly your plan.
2. Literature Review: show your audience that you have done your homework by summarizing peer-reviewed articles used to help you shape your ideas.
3. Methodology: provide a detailed presentation of your plan
4. Analysis: discuss the cost/benefit analysis of your plan (where you really pitch your ideas)
5. Conclusion: discuss what the audience has learned, why it matters to your audience, and what you want them to do with the information.

Your research will then focus on collecting information necessary for understanding the organization’s problem or need, the possible solutions to the problem (all of which must be outlined in the paper), and finally evaluating the cost-benefit of implementing such a policy.