The goal of this course is to provide students with an opportunity to get their hands dirty with actual policy work, both as a way to utilize some of the skills they have learned in their other courses as well as to help them learn about many of the political and practical issues involved in doing real policy. In this course, students will work with a client agency or oganization in the education sector to carry out a policy-related research and/or analysis project. Students will work in groups of 2-5 students on projects determined by their individual interest and expertise. The projects will likely range from statistical evaluations (e.g., evaluating the effectiveness of a particular service) to political analyses (e.g., writing a set of case studies focusing on how other states have managed to fund and implement early childhood education programs in order to provide guidance to a client considering this type of program.) clients will include individual schools, school districts and non-profits in the education sector.
