Olin Library Research Guides: Education: EDU 271 School and Society

Assignment

Advocacy Essay

You will write a paper that advocates for a certain group of “invisible children” whom you have investigated. There are 3 sections to the paper:

You will describe the general educational and social context for this group of students (taking into account the great amount of intra-group diversity). What are some educational challenges that the students often face? What are some social and economic challenges that their families face? Use accurate and up-to-date data for this section.

Then, you will describe and analyze one educational initiative that has been developed to help the students in this group.

Finally, you will state your recommendations for what educators can do to improve the students’ formal learning experiences. You may focus on educational policy, programs, or practices.

At the end of the paper, following your Reference section, you will need to provide a short rationale for why you chose each source that you used in the paper.

Topic Statement: This document identifies the group of children whom you will learn about, why you want to learn about them, and several sources of information that will guide your learning and writing. The Topic Statement will be returned. There are no points for this assignment.

First Draft: It should be at least 8 pages long, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins and 12-point font. The paper will be returned. This draft is worth 5 points.

Final Draft: This final draft is worth 25 points.

Note: You will receive substantial written feedback on the first draft of this paper. If my comments seem insufficient or unclear, you may talk with me about what is needed. I welcome appointments to talk about your writing at any time during the semester, in person or online.

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Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Academic Search Ultimate offers an extensive collection of peer-reviewed journals, magazines, reports, books, and videos covering various subjects like astronomy, engineering, health, law, mathematics, and more. It's a comprehensive resource for scholars in many fields.
SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new window
SocINDEX with Full Text features more than 2.1 million records with subject headings from a 20,000+ term sociological thesaurus designed by subject experts and expert lexicographers. Access contains full text for more than 860 journals dating back to 1908, 830 books and monographs, and over 16,800 conference papers.
ERIC This link opens in a new window
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ERIC is an easy-to-use, searchable, Internet-based bibliographic and full-text database of education research and information. It is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, images, and primary sources.

Data and Statistics

Roper Center iPoll This link opens in a new window
From the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, Roper iPoll is the largest collection of poll data anywhere—from 1935 to present. Contains data from U.S. and international polling firms with broad topical coverage of opinions and behavior on social issues, politics, pop culture, international affairs, and more. Datasets available for download.
The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is the leading educational facility in the field of public opinion.
Statista This link opens in a new window
A statistics portal that integrates data on media, business, finance, politics, and a wide variety of other areas of interest or markets on thousands of topics from a wide variety of sources.

Kids Count - Data Center
The Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT Data Center includes community-level data in addition to city, state, and national data. Find more than 100 indicators of child well-being, including economic status, health, safety, and risk factors. Create your own maps, graphs, and charts for use in presentations or on your own website.
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. NCES is located within the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences.
US Census
Locate national, state and local education and demographic information.