Write an editorial
Purpose: As a social worker, you may be asked by your agency to write an editorial,
comment publicly at a meeting, or serve as an expert witness in court regarding a social policy
or law. As such, you have to be able research effectively, summarize the content of your
sources, assess their validity, and share information with others who may be less familiar with
your sources. One goal of this annotated bibliography is to promote your critical reading of
sources. Another is to develop your skills in effective library research. This assignment will also
give you practice in summarizing as well as properly citing and documenting sources in
compliance with the rules of APA style.
Assignment: Select a recent Texas law or public policy that is currently being proposed in
the 2025 Texas legislative session or a Texas law or public policy that was enacted in September
2023. Find SIX (6) sources from the UHD library or a scholarly search engine that pertain to the
Texas law or policy you selected and write an annotated bibliography. Note: This will be your
topic for the rest of the semester. See the directions below.
For the rest of the semester, we are going to break down the research process. During the first
phase, you will find your sources and write an annotated bibliography. During the second
phase, you will write an academic synthesis based on the same sources from your annotated
bibliography. Finally, you will write your researched social policy position paper, using these
sources. See a list of resources and ideas in Canvas.
What is an Annotated Bibliography? In this first phase, you will write an annotated
bibliography to show your research. The difference between a bibliography and an annotated
bibliography can be explained by the definition from the Purdue Owl. According to the Purdue
OWL,
A bibliography is a list of sources (books, journals, Web sites, periodicals, etc.)
one has used for researching a topic. Bibliographies are sometimes called
\\”References\\” or \\”Works Cited\\” depending on the style format you are using. A
bibliography usually just includes the bibliographic information (i.e., the author,
title, publisher, etc.).
An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation of the source. Therefore,
an annotated bibliography includes bibliographic information, a summary for
each source, and some type of evaluation of the source.
What must be included in our Annotated Bibliography?
Find SIX (6) sources from the UHD library or a scholarly search engine that pertain to the law or
policy you selected. Once you have found and read your sources, you are ready to prepare your
annotated bibliography. Ensure that you follow the APA guide for formatting.
You MUST include the following annotations FOR EACH SOURCE:
1) A bibliographic citation in APA style for your source. Strive for 100% correctness, including
capitalization and punctuation, which is tricky in APA. If you use a citation creator, check it
against the Purdue OWL or the APA website. Citation creators are not always 100% correct.
2) A 250 word summary of the source. NO QUOTES.
3) An evaluation of each source. Answer these questions in a single paragraph.
a) Is the reliable and current? How do you know?
b) Is the source scholarly or popular? How do you know?
c) Is the source biased or objective? How do you know?
d) Who is the author(s)? Are they qualified in this subject? How do you know? Hint: you’ll
have to “google” them to figure this one out.
4) A reflection of each source. What did you learn from this source that you did not know
before?
Hint: Don’t forget that APA requires that citations are listed in alphabetical order. This also
holds true for an annotated bibliography.
Format/Length/AI Use
There is no minimum page length for this assignment because the evaluation and reflection sections will
vary for each source.
Present your work using the APA format, with a title page and a running head. NO abstract is needed.
If you use Generative AI, including GRAMMARLY, you shall add an APA-style appendix for ALL
graded work. Save a version of your work prior to using Generative AI. If your work is
mistakenly flagged, you will be required to submit the saved file without Generative AI’s
assistance or earn a zero for the assignment.
The appendix will include
A. a description of precisely which AI tools were used and when (e.g. Grammarly,
ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Copilot in MS Word, etc.)
B. an explanation of how the AI tools were used (e.g. to generate ideas, fix grammar,
create turns of phrase, lines of argument, pieces of evidence, etc.)
C. an account of why AI tools were used (e.g. to save time, to surmount writer’s block, to
stimulate thinking, to handle mounting stress, to clarify prose, to translate text, etc.)
Rubric/Criteria
1. Is the document and the citations formatted according the APA style?
2. Is each summary concise and complete?
3. Is there an evaluation of each source that answers all 4 questions?
4. Is there a reflection of each source?
5. Are sources from the UHD library or from a scholarly search engine?
6. Is the work edited and proofread?
7. If AI was used, is there an appendix?
Here are some websites that contain recent laws that fall under public policy that were either enacted in Sept. 2023 or will be public policy issues for the 2025 State Legislature session. You are not required to use any of these links. They are just a starting point.
https://www.governing.com/policy/a-slew-of-new-texas-laws-take-effect-on-friday-sept-1Links to an external site.
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/18/texas-school-cell-phone-ban/Links to an external site.
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/01/texas-political-issues-2024/Links to an external site.
https://abc13.com/post/scope-act-2024-social-media-restrictions-went-effect-sept-1-other-texas-laws/15259222/Links to an external site.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_TikTok_in_the_United_StatesLinks to an external site.
https://www.texastribune.org/series/texas-legislature-2025/Links to an external site.
Selected Proposed Laws and Social Policy Currently Being Debated in 2025
SB=Senate Bill
SB 13: Relating to a school district\\\’s library materials and catalog, the creation of local school library advisory councils, and parental rights regarding public school library catalogs and access by the parent\\\’s child to library materials. https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB13Links to an external site.
SB 42: Relating to providing free full-day prekindergarten for certain children. https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB42Links to an external site.
SB 86: Relating to parental rights in public education and prohibiting instruction regarding sexual orientation or gender identity for public school students.
https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB86Links to an external site.
SB 10: Relating to the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.
https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB10Links to an external site.
SB 11: Relating to a period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text in public schools.
https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB11Links to an external site.
SB 41: Relating to prohibiting certain transfers, purchases, and possession of assault weapons; creating criminal offenses.
https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB41
Paper Format: APA
Answer preview to write an editorial
APA
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