RESEARCH GUIDE 

Part 1 - Starting    |     Part 2-Researching      |     Part 3-Goal Statement     |     Part 4-Scope of the Problem     |     Part 5-Past Policy 

Part 6-Current Policy    |     Part 7-Policy Options     |     Part 8-Orgs & People     |     Part 9-Glossary      |     Part 10- Presenting

Part 5 - Past Policy Milestones

• Legislative
• Funding
• Evaluation
• Other

Introduction

Past policy concisely describes when any relevant major new initiatives, programs, evaluations, or legislation were introduced.  

You’ll want to conduct research that enables you to describe, from a broader perspective, the issue at hand, related to the specific location/level (local, state, national, global) of your issue brief.  For example, for a Princeton, NJ issue brief on the achievement gap, your past policy milestones would be specific to the Princeton, NJ schools.  On a national issue brief, you’d want to summarize major Federal legislation and funding changes, as well as significant evaluations or reports that had a national impact.

For example, here are some thoughts about a brief on a local issue (e.g., Identify economic development strategies for Main Street) and how to approach it. 

Key milestones might include:

•  History of the particular issue (such as development along that street, key buildings, key economic entities, revenues and expenses)
•  Timeline with major relevant dates, periods, or trends
• Milestones that may concern an initiative, development, or policy change that affected the issue (e.g., recession in the 1980’s that contributed to dozens of closed businesses, busing policy following desegregation in the late 1960’s that led to demographic and income changes)

    

Legislative history might include:

• Examples of city government activities (such as ordinances, taxes, committees, or so on)
• Examples of state government activities that affected the city (such as urban planning, state funding initiatives, projects like roads, revitalization, or desegregation)
• Examples of relevant bills, proposals, passed or proposed legislation
•  Examples of history from comparison areas (e.g,. comparing history of activities between Main Street in Berkeley, CA with Main Street in Los Angeles, CA, which was facing similar issues)

Funding history might include:

•  Sample budgets, financial reports, or other fiscal data
•  Revenues (taxes, business revenues) for the area
•  Figures and numbers that describe the monies that have been spent on an issue (e.g., city government allocated $25,ooo for small business loans)
• Third party reports, analyses or assessments (e.g., done by a consumer group, a nonprofit, a governmental oversight group) that concern the issue 

Evaluation history might include: 

• Sample evaluative or assessment reports
• White papers or other policy research papers
• Needs/Asset Assessments
• Other reports (links, titles) that evaluate results and changes on the topic