7 PAGES DUE FEB. 11TH, at 6PM EST. Please read the following attachments and ask me if you need any clarification No Plagiarism and must attached the Turnintin Report

Topic: Can School Finance Reforms improve long term earnings?

• School finance reforms increase school spending in low income

school districts.

  How will your final paper be graded? The rubric below — which will be used for the first draft as well as for the final paper — gives a more formal answer to that question. But here basically is what we are looking for.

· Researching the topic: Did you find and master relevant scholarly reference materials? We will talk in class about what “scholarly” means. Briefly: it means professional books and journal articles. I recommend 
Google Scholar
 as a good starting point. “Scholarly” specifically excludes the kind of unmonitored websites that turn up in ordinary web searches. “Joe’s website about economics” is not a scholarly source, even if Joe is a professor of economics somewhere. You get precisely one Wikipedia citation for the entire paper. Watch the “Citing Sources
” video lecture.

· Documentation and Citation: Did you document and cite all sources appropriately? You are responsible for providing proper citation for all direct quotations, paraphrased ideas, and statistical and other information coming from other sources. (Note that you have to cite an idea even if you paraphrase it rather than quote an author directly; and, in general, you ought to paraphrase not quote.) Make sure to include at the end of each paper a list of works cited. You must format properly both your in-text citations and list of works cited. Watch the ”
Citing Sources
” video lecture.

· Argument: Is there a central idea, a thesis that you sustain consistently throughout the paper? How clear, sophisticated, and original is the idea? Does it convey a clear knowledge of the material and a recognition of alternative perspectives?

· Support: How well do you support your argument? Are your sources clearly and consistently relevant to the thesis? Do you use examples, quotations, statistical and other information skillfully to support the argument(s)?

· Organization: Is the paper well-organized? Make sure that your objective is clear at the beginning, that each section has a clear role in meeting the objective, and that ideas flow logically from one paragraph or section to the next.

· Paragraphs: Are the paragraphs coherent and well-organized? Is there one clear idea per paragraph, introduced by a clear topic sentence and developed consistently by other well-connected sentences?

· Sentences: Are the sentences efficient and well-constructed? Work on constructing clear, concise sentences by avoiding words and phrases that do not fit well. Use vague pronouns and passive voice only when absolutely necessary.

· Mechanics: Are the mechanical elements of writing (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.) free of errors? Using your word processor to check spelling and grammar before printing the paper can go a long way. But be careful: your word processor does not know if you meant “there” or “their.” In the end, there is no substitute for human proofreading.

· Data: Your paper MUST include some form of data presentation — either a table, a graph, or both — and you must present those data in a way that is professional and understandable to the reader.

                                                                                                                   You will be graded according to this rubric. A grade of 3 is average and is equivalent to a score of 80 out of 100 (5=100, 4=90, 3=80, 2=70, 1=60, 0=0).

CLEAR THESIS: Identifies and addresses a clear central thesis, expressed early in the paper, either directly in a topic paragraph or indirectly through an appropriate rhetorical device (like an anecdote). Argument clearly expressed and sustained throughout paper.

DEPTH OF ARGUMENT:Body of paper supports central thesis; brings to bear appropriate and persuasive evidence. Conceptual sophistication and engagement with topic; recognition of limitations and counterarguments; thoughtfulness; originality of ideas; appropriate number of pages. Explicit use of economic theories, models, and data.

USE OF SCHOLARLY SOURCES: Marshals sources that are scholarly and reliable by the standards of the Economics profession (like journals, working papers, scholarly books, government and NGO websites); sources are adequate in number and appropriate for the paper’s argument. Sources are integrated into the flow of the argument and used appropriately in the context of the argument.

STRUCTURE OF PAPER: Presentation is well organized: clear topic sentences; good transition between ideas; all sections of paper tie together.

STYLE: Style is direct, concise, and lively; avoids excessive and unexplained jargon and acronyms; refrains from clichés and bureaucratic formulations.

LANGUAGE: Tone, terminology, and other language choices appropriate to professional economics, to intended audience, and to type of writing.

PRESENTATION: Grammar, mechanics, diction, spelling, punctuation, proofreading, and formatting. Consistent and appropriate verb tense; crisp pronoun and clause references; correct parallel structure.

DATA: Where appropriate, presentation and analysis of data (including econometric results) in conformance with the style and norms of writing in Economics. Tables and graphs clearly labeled and attributed.

CITATIONS: Appropriate, accurate, and consistent in-text citations and list of works cited. Command of name-date style of citation used in Economics.

HOLISTIC RATING: Assessment of the paper as a whole, including the soundness and sophistication of its arguments and its fit with the rhetoric of discourse in Economics.

ECON2500W Writing in Economics

Why do we cite sources?

• To give proper credit to those who have created ideas and
generated research results.

And avoid plagiarism

Plagiarized words: copying how something is written, either
word-for-word or too-close paraphrase.

Plagiarized ideas: claiming ownership of a unique idea that is
not yours.

Unintentional: Plagiarism that occurs by mistake

– Usually as a result of not learning the art of citation.
Intentional: plagiarism done on purpose

– Copying words from a text or the web out of laziness or
desperation

• To demonstrate your command of the literature.
• To provide factual and rhetorical support for your own

thesis.

What should you cite?

• Not the direct results of your own research and analysis.

This can include both background facts (what the federal
funds rate was in the first quarter of 2007) and analytical
claims (that the policies of the Federal Reserve contributed
to the financial crisis 2008)

• Not self-evident or widely known and agreed upon.
Example: economist use supply and demand analysis.

How should you cite?

• The right way:

“Duplicating the problem-solving and information-handling
capabilities of the brain is not far off; it would the

surprising if it were not accomplished within the next
decade” (Simon 1960, p. 32).

• The wrong way:

“Duplicating the problem-solving and information-handling
capabilities of the brain is not far off; it would the
surprising if it were not accomplished within the next
decade” (footnote).

What should you cite?

• When you are using the exact words of yours source- a
direct quotation.

• Even when you are not using the exact words of your
source- a paraphrase.

A paraphrase is always better.

Don’t quote things that are so unoriginal as to be ovious.

Ways to paraphrase:

In the 1960s, some computer scientist began to believe that
machines would quickly catch up to humans in the ability to
solve problems and handle information (Simon 1960, p. 32).

Herbert Simon (1960, p. 32) boldly predicted that within ten
years computers would catch up to humans in the ability to
solve problems and handle information.

Alchian and Demsetz (1972) argue that ….

Halper et al. (1999) state that

Et al means and others.

References: …

1

ECON 2500W Writing in Economics
Key Points

• Cite Sources
• Analyze, Don’t Summarize

– Clear, principle argument
– Good logical argument

• Write actively
– Write in Anglo Saxon
– Avoid the passive voice
– Avoid weak verbs and nominalizations

• Edit, Edit, Edit
• Coherence and Flow

Paper Structure

1. Introduction
1.1. Introduction – open the paper and introduce the topic
1.2. Overview – in a few sentences describe the overall problem and cause, potential

solutions and how they work

1.3. Thesis – state your case for which solution is best & why in 1-2 clear sentences

2. Problem
2.1. Describe problem & argue why it is a problem
2.2. Explain why this problem exists, how it came to be, and why it doesn’t resolve
2.3. Detail who is involved and especially who suffers from this problem
2.4. Show some evidence (data, tables, graphs)

3. Potential Solution #1
3.1. Describe solution & how it would work (How would it resolve the problem?)
3.2. Advantages of this solution?
3.3. Disadvantages of this solution?
3.4. Who is involved with and who is affected by this solution?

4. Potential Solution #2 (& #3)
4.1. …

5. Comparison
5.1. Compare solutions against each other
5.2. What type of considerations would lead to choosing one solution or another?

6. Preferred Solution
6.1. Say which solution you prefer and argue why it is the most beneficial overall
6.2. Describe why you prioritize the advantages/disadvantages of your solution over others
6.3. Discuss any reluctance you have about your solution & how you might address it?

7. Summarize & Conclude

7.1. Remind readers of scope of problem and possible solutions
7.2. Recap which factors are most important in making a decision about the solution to

choose

7.3. Connect those factors to your chosen solution and summarize why it is the best option

First Paper:
Can School Finance Reforms improve long term earnings?

• School finance reforms increase school spending in low income
school districts.

Reference List?

1