Assignment:
Overview
Students are to write a scholarly Research Paper 8 to 10 pages in length that contain at least five K¬12 school finance related peer reviewed articles. Discuss your significant learning from your work on your research paper. You Must include your informed opinion about the author's views, paradigm. bias, optimism/pessimism, and issues with the topic. Critical thinking can be tough because it is easy to agree with the author...but take a critical eye on research in your discussions to produce the opportunity to increase your reflective knowledge. Select a topic below, or a different topic, but it must address k-12 school finance issues such as: Sources of Revenue, Challenges of Revenue Streams, Vouchers and school choice, Charter schools, Year-around schooling, Every Child Succeeds Act versus No Child Left Behind, Title I funding, funding for NBCT / highly qualified teachers/ Professional Development, Special Education funding. Equity and Adequacy in school finance. Litigation involved in funding AZ's schools. Any other similar topics related to School Finance.
Note:
Research Paper: What it is!
A research paper is the culmination and final product of an involved process of research, critical thinking, source evaluation, organization, and composition. It is, perhaps, helpful to think of the research paper as a living thing, which grows and changes as the student explores, interprets, and evaluates sources related to a specific topic. Primary and secondary sources are the heart of a research paper, and provide its nourishment: without the support of and interaction with these sources, the research paper would morph into a different genre of writing (e.g., an encyclopedic article). The research paper serves not only to further the field in which it is written, but also to provide the student with an exceptional opportunity to increase her knowledge in that field. It is also possible to identify a research paper by what it is not.
Research Paper: What it is not!
A research paper is not simply an informed summary of a topic by means of primary and secondary sources. It is neither a book report nor an opinion piece nor an expository essay consisting solely of one's interpretation of a text nor an overview of a particular topic. Instead, it is a genre that requires one to spend time investigating and evaluating sources with the intent to offer interpretations of the texts, and not unconscious regurgitations of those sources. The goal of a research paper is not to inform the reader what others have to say about a topic, but to draw on what others have to say about a topic and engage the sources in order to thoughtfully offer a unique perspective on the issue at hand. This is accomplished through two major types of research papers.
Organization of the Research Paper
• The paper will be 8 to 10 pages, double spaced, excluding a cover page and a List of References page
• 12 pt. Times New Roman Font
• APA 6th Edition style is expected
• UCF Style is expected
o A cover page including title of course, name of the university, students' names, instructor's name
o A List of References page