Resources for Black Boy Research Project

What is Public Policy?
Public policy is an attempt by the government to address a public issue. The government, whether it is city, state, or federal, develops public policy in terms of laws, regulations, decisions, and actions. There are three parts to public policy-making: problems, players, and the policy.

The problem is the issue that needs to be addressed. The player is the individual or group that is influential in forming a plan to address the problem in question. Policy is the finalized course of action decided upon by the government. In most cases, policies are widely open to interpretation by non-governmental players, including those in the private sector. Public policy is also made by leaders of religious and cultural institutions.

Academics continue to contemplate the definition of public policy, since there is currently no consensus. The study of public policy began in 1922, when Charles Merriam, a political scientist, sought to build a link between political theory and its application to reality. Numerous issues are addressed by public policy, including crime, education, foreign policy, health, and social welfare.

Definition from wisegeek.com

Use the following online resources to help with your project.

Public Agenda
Two easy ways to use this website:

1. Click on Issue Guide and choose the topic from the drop down menu that matches yours. Really explore the issue guide. On the left hand side you'll find links to things like Overies, Get the Facts and Public View. Also click on Sources and Resources to find more research information.

2. Enter your topic into the search box in the upper right hand corner.

Also try:

City of Minneapolis web site
Use the search box at the top to search for your topic, you may need to try different combinations of key words

City of Minneapolis 2011 Legislative Agenda
How do the issues and items of the city's legislative agenda align with your topic?

City of Minneapolis Legislative Affairs Fact Sheet

Minnesota Demography
An A to Z listing of demographic data for the state.

Minnesota Department of Corrections--Statistics
Click here to find statistics about the inmates in Minnesota state prisons. Each prison has a Daily Adult Inmate Profile Reports and in the report you'll find a breakdown by race of the inmates, as well as age, educational level, types of crimes, etc. Make sure to look at more than just one prison to get a good view. Stillwater houses the largest number of prisoners.

Minneapolis Public Schools Strategic Plan, 2007-2012
With links to an action plan, updates and school improvement plans

Minneapolis Public Schools Reports and Data
With links to district demographics and graduation rates

Final Project
For this project, you will be creating a powerpoint presentation. For your final product, remember these rules:

Quick rules for PPT presentations:

1. Don’t read the slides.

2.Don’t make your audience read the slides either. Keep text to a minimum (6-8 lines per slide, no more than 30 words per slide). The bullet points should be headlines, not news articles. Write in sentence fragments using key words, and keep your font size 24 or bigger.

3.Make sure your presentation is easy on the eyes. Stay away from weird colors and busy backgrounds. Use easy-to-read fonts such as Arial and Times New Roman for the bulk of your text, and, if you have to use a funky font, use it sparingly.

4. Stick with simple animations if you use them at all.

5. Proofread, proofread, proofread.

6. Practice, practice, practice. .

Adapted from: Conference Handouts

And, don't be a Jane!