Compare the Sample Topic Introduction to the guidelines found in Chapter 4, "Writing Style and Grammar," in the APA (2020)Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Try to find elements of these guidelines in the Sample Topic Introduction aside from the placement of citations and page formatting.

The Differential Developmental Pathways of High School Dropouts and Graduates Without doubt, the onset of No Child Left Behind has generated a profusion of research and inquiry regarding high school dropouts and the methodology by which dropout rates are measured (Bryk, 2003; Kaufman, 2000; Losen, 2004; Swanson, 2003b). Although researchers differ in the method of calculating dropout rates, they are in agreement that approximately every nine seconds a student decides to permanently leave high school prior to graduation (Children's Defense Fund, 2002). Such a premature departure from high school has required policy makers to address the educational, economic, and civic impact of dropouts to society (Card, 2001; Heckman, Heinrich, & Smith, 2002; Heckman & Krueger, 2003; U.S. Census Bureau, 2002). Currently, a major thrust of research regarding high school dropouts has centered on the identification and intervention of "at-risk" students with a propensity to drop out of school (Bailey & Stegelin, 2003; Hickman, 2006; Smink & Schargel, 2004). Educational and community leaders as well as policy makers have incorporated available research and have crafted a myriad of intervention programs and strategies targeted toward this audience (Currie, 2001; Kemple & Herlihy, 2004; Smink & Schargel, 2004). Unfortunately, many of these efforts have failed to demonstrate effectiveness and/or have proven ineffective at significantly lowering the dropout rate across school, district, and state levels (Alexander, Entwisle, & Kabbini, 2001; Crowder & South, 2003; Hickman, 2006; Rumberger, 2004). The inability of educators, researchers, and program designers to effectively reduce students from dropping out of school may be grounded in their approach to understanding dropouts (Beatty, Neisser, Trent, & Heubert, 2001). More specifically, the driving forces of research and dropout intervention programs have been tailored toward secondary education (Alexander, Entwisle, & Horsey, 1997; Alexander, Entwisle, & Kabbini, 2001). This narrow foci 2020 Walden University assumes an "educational vacuum" in a student's life from Kindergarten - 8 th grade. That is, adolescents have a myriad of other factors that influence their development outside the education system. Consequently, educators and researchers may be overlooking the human ecology of students before matriculation to high school (Barnett, 1995; Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Meidel & Reynolds, 1999; Piaget, 1952). Further, research regarding high school dropouts tend to use designs aimed at understanding relationships between specific variables (e.g., Warren, 2002), discriminating variables between dropouts and graduates (e.g., Barrington & Hendricks, 1989), and predicting which variables are related to dropouts (e.g., Fry, 2003). As noted by Smink and Schargel (2004) of the National Dropout Prevention Center, one of the greatest challenges in educational research is documenting long-term outcomes of early childhood educational experiences. Although the aforementioned research regarding high school dropouts illuminates important findings, I have found no research that has examined children's educational, behavioral, and familial history across all grade levels from Kindergarten to graduation or the point of dropping out of school. Given such, further research is warranted that could examine the longitudinal developmental pathways of children from Kindergarten to graduation or the point of dropping out of school in an effort to address the historically documented high school dropout phenomenon (Hickman 2006; NCES, 2013, Smink & Schargel, 2004). 2020 Walden University **Notice how the introduction starts off with broad sweeping findings and deductively leads the reader through the lit regarding dropouts (my topic - yours would be the same pattern but different research) to what I could not find in the lit. See the inverted triangle deductive flow in this. Do the same for your topic. Broad - Introduction/Background Narrow - gap/problem/approach to study

• Identify two elements of APA writing style and grammar in the Sample Topic Introduction that are either done well or that could be improved. Use direct quotes from the Sample Topic Introduction and point to specific guidelines from the APA manual.
• Explain how adhering to, or not adhering to, APA writing style and grammar affect you as a reader.