Child Poverty in Rochester, NY
Webquest project
By Diane Meade
Cobblestone School
INTRODUCTION:
“Rochester City School
District and many of its families face difficult conditions. According to 2000
census data, out of America's 245 largest districts, Rochester had the 11th
highest child poverty rate, with 38 percent of its children ages 0-17 living
below the poverty line.1 Of the nearly 37,000 students enrolled during 2002-03, 78
percent qualified for the free lunch program . .”
(taken
from: http://www.ed.gov/admins/comm/suppsvcs/sesprograms/report_pg13.html
)
The city of Rochester
has one of the highest child poverty rates in New York State. You are consultants working with the
Rochester city council charged with studying the child poverty problem and
creating a new policy(ies)
to address the problem.
THE TASK:
You are to research
the problem and create a ten-slide PowerPoint presentation that shows your
findings. Your slide show must focus on
the problem of child poverty that currently exists in Rochester, NY. You are to use the 6-step public policy
analyst (PPA) approach outlined below which can be reached using the link: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/welcome.html
This type of
analysis includes the following steps:
1.
Define and describe the problem
2. Gather evidence for this problem
3. Identify the causes for this problem
4. Describe and evaluate past public policies and
present-day
Rochester
public policies regarding the problem
5. Develop alternative policies that would address
the problem
6 Select the best public policy/solution
for this problem.
THE PROCESS:
You
are to work independently to research and give a presentation on the problem of
child poverty in Rochester, NY with proposed policy suggestions. Refer to the following guidelines for the
completion of your research and presentation:
Guidelines for
your 10-slide PowerPoint Presentation:
Ø
Your 10 slides should be original
Ø
Your slide show must consist of 9 slides and 1
credits slide
Ø
Your first 9 slides must focus on the 6-step
public policy approach (PPA) and should include at least one slide per PPA step
o
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/tips/welcome.html
Ø
One slide should include an Excel graph or
pie-chart to illustrate the factual data
Ø
Your last slide or the “credits slide” must
contain your name and a list of the sources you used
Ø
You must also
submit the “slide boards.” These are the printed copies of your
PowerPoint slides
Ø
You are to present your slide show in front of the
class on the scheduled presentation date
Ø
Your oral presentation must be a dynamic talk that
enhances your slide show - Avoid reading the slides to the class
Ø
Your slide show should have pictures from “Clip
Art” and pictures that you downloaded from the Internet
Ø
Each slide should use color in the background
and/or font
Ø
At least one slide should use “Word Art”
Research Questions:
1)
List
some children’s agencies that exist in Rochester, NY
2)
Explain
these agencies’ missions
Resources:
TIPS on PPA
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/welcome.html
General Search Engines
www.amazon.com (For downloading
pictures)
Child Poverty in Rochester sites:
Faces of Hunger in Rochester
www.thirdpresbyterian.org/outreach-service/hungerfaces.shtml
Innovations in Education: Creating Strong Supplemental Educational . .
.
www.ed.gov/admins/comm/suppsvcs/sesprograms/report_pg13.html
Legal Aid Society, Golisano
Children’s Hospital at Strong Partner . . .
www.urmc.rochester.edu/pr/news/story.cmf?id=787
Projects – JOSANA Neighborhood Renewal
– Flower Cit Habitat for . . .
www.rochesterhabitat.org/projects/pr_JOSANA.shtml
St. Joseph’s Villa helping at-risk
youth in Rochester NY
www.stjosephsvilla.org/youth_endowment.asp
District Profile
www.rcsdk12.org/district/profile.htm
MCTP Youth Profile
www.metrocouncil.us/youth_profile.html
Evaluation:
You
will be assessed on the quality of your PowerPoint slide show and your oral
presentation based on the following rubric. The criteria listed in the rubric
below provide a clear understanding of what is expected. Your own originality and creativity counts for a large part of your
slide show. Allow your own creativity to shine through in both
your slide show and your oral presentation!
|
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
PPA Policy Followed |
All 6 steps of the PPA process were followed and
all questions were answered completely with rationales clearly stated. |
At least 4 steps of the PPA process were
followed and most questions were answered completely, with rationales
somewhat clearly stated. |
Not all steps of the PPA process were followed,
and/or only some questions were answered, and/or rationales were not clearly
stated. |
All steps were not followed and/or questions
were not answered completely. |
Web Sites Research |
Excellent use of a variety of references which
are relevant and support proposed policy |
Many references which are relevant and support
the proposed policy |
Some references which are relevant and support
the proposed policy |
Not enough references which are relevant or
support proposed policy |
Power Point Presentation |
Exceptional amount of data presented in a
logical and organized format to support the proposed policy |
Sufficient amount of data presented in a logical
and organized format to support the proposed policy |
Some data presented in a logical format to
support the proposed policy |
Insufficient data presented to support the
proposed policy |
Conventional Use of
Standard English |
Proper use of mechanics of writing (i.e.
sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, etc.) complete with vivid word
choice |
Overall proper use of mechanics of writing (i.e.
sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, etc.) with
few errors with some descriptive words |
Somewhat proper use of mechanics of writing (i.e.
sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, etc.) with
several errors and/or lack of descriptive words |
Many spelling and/or punctuation errors or lack
of descriptive words |
Originality |
The ideas expressed by the body of work
demonstrate a high degree of creativity and originality. |
The ideas expressed by the body of work are
mostly creative and original. |
The ideas expressed by the body of work
demonstrate lack of creativity and/or originality. |
There were no creative or original ideas
expressed in this project. |
This
web quest focuses on the following New
York State ELA Standards:
Standard
1: Language for Information and Understanding
Standard
2: Language for Literary Response and Expression
Standard
3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Standard
4: Language for Social Interaction
This web quest focuses on the following Social Studies Standards:
Standard 2: World History
Students
will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of
major ideas, eras, themes, developments and turning points in world history and
examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.
Conclusion:
Through
extensive Internet research, analysis and evaluation you have become an expert
on the effects of child poverty on Rochester City school children. You
have studied and analyzed the extent of the problem and current policies in
place to deal with the problem. Drawing
from this information, you came up with what you feel would be a more effective
policy.
As
you worked on your Web Quest project, you’ve had to read for information and
understanding, critically analyze and evaluate the information, respond and
express your knowledge and conclusion through the creation of your PowerPoint,
and utilize your communication skills through your presentation.
In
order to complete this project successfully, you’ve needed to plan, manage your
time, and work hard to follow a set schedule in meeting deadlines and achieving
your goals. Congratulations on a job well done!