Poverty and Education

These are the five major sections of your paper:

I. Statement of the Problem (one-half to one page)

Define/explain the problem in clear, non-technical language and also describe why this is an important problem for the Central Valley.

II. Historical Context (two to three pages)

Give enough background information about the problem so that the reader is able to grasp the way(s) in which the present situation has developed and why it has developed.

III. Analysis of the Problem (four to six pages)

Study the problem in sufficient detail and from sufficient interdisciplinary perspectives. This is where most of your data will be displayed. Use ample statistics and/or other forms of data to make it clear that you have researched the problem thoroughly, understand it well, and are able

to explain it in a coherent and interesting way. You must use an integrative approach to the problem that connects the “people” and “land” of the Central Valley (i.e. what is the importance of the physical “place” to the issue in question?). This section of the project will normally be the longest.

IV. Review of Current Problem-Solving Efforts (three to four pages)

Review the work of agencies/organizations/individuals currently working on the problem, include summary statements from two interviews with experts (or at least knowledgeable people) directly involved with the problem under consideration. Critique the effectiveness of their efforts and the validity of their perspectives.

V. Possible Solutions and Specific Recommendations (two to three pages)

Based on your own research and creativity, recommend a set, or alternative sets, of solutions, including specific action steps that you recommend alleviating the problem. Indicate obstacles to the achievement of a solution using these recommendations, and how these obstacles might be overcome. Include a timeline for implementation of recommendations, if possible.

THESE MUST BE THE MAJOR SECTIONS OF THE PAPER.

The written project will be a minimum of 15 pages of text (excluding bibliography and appendices). Note the following instructions for preparation of your paper:

Use the APA Handbook as your guide for all issues of format, grammar, capitalization, citations, etc.

Use “parenthetical documentation” rather than footnotes or endnotes, i.e. put your citations in parentheses ( ) at the appropriate place within your text. See APA Handbook for details.

Prepare a title page with your project title about one-third the way down the page. About two-thirds the way down the page, place the wording:

A senior research project submitted by (your name)
in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Bachelor of Arts in

Number the pages of your paper, beginning with the first page of text, not the title page. You may place the pages numbers at the center bottom of each page or the top right of each page.

Use bold Roman numerals and a heading for each of the five sections of the paper as follows:

Use Your bibliography should be headed ‘Bibliography” and should follow APA formatting guidelines. You should use at least 12 different reference sources for your paper. Use a variety of sources: books, journals, newspapers, internet sites. Your interviews will count as two sources. No more than half of your sources should be internet sources and avoid Wikipedia as a source. Note, however, that there is a difference between using an internet source and using the internet to find other sources.

Your report should include some statistics. When using graphs, charts, tables, etc to display data, use the APA guidelines for displaying such graphics.

The space used for graphs, charts, tables, etc. does not go towards word count connective to the minimum requirement of 15 pages of text.

You will complete the research project in stages over the next six weeks, beginning with an outline.