1st Edition

Handbook of Education Policy Research

Edited By Gary Sykes, Barbara Schneider, David N. Plank Copyright 2009
    1064 Pages
    by Routledge

    1064 Pages
    by Routledge

    Co-published by Routledge for the American Educational Research Association (AERA)

    Educational policy continues to be of major concern. Policy debates about economic growth and national competitiveness, for example, commonly focus on the importance of human capital and a highly educated workforce. Defining the theoretical boundaries and methodological approaches of education policy research are the two primary themes of this comprehensive, AERA-sponsored Handbook.

    Organized into seven sections, the Handbook focuses on (1) disciplinary foundations of educational policy, (2) methodological perspectives, (3) the policy process, (4) resources, management, and organization, (5) teaching and learning policy, (6) actors and institutions, and (7) education access and differentiation.

    Drawing from multiple disciplines, the Handbook’s over one hundred authors address three central questions: What policy issues and questions have oriented current policy research? What research strategies and methods have proven most fruitful? And what issues, questions, and methods will drive future policy research? Topics such as early childhood education, school choice, access to higher education, teacher accountability, and testing and measurement cut across the 63 chapters in the volume. The politics surrounding these and other issues are objectively analyzed by authors and commentators.

    Each of the seven sections concludes with two commentaries by leading scholars in the field. The first considers the current state of policy design, and the second addresses the current state of policy research.

    This book is appropriate for scholars and graduate students working in the field of education policy and for the growing number of academic, government, and think-tank researchers engaged in policy research.

    For more information on the American Educational Research Association, please visit: http://www.aera.net/.

    THE EDITORS

    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

    THE CONTRIBUTORS

    THE REVIEWERS

    THE AERA BOOKS EDITORIAL BOARD

    LIST OF FIGURES

    LIST OF TABLES

    Introduction, Gary Sykes, Barbara Schneider, and Timothy G. Ford

    PART 1: SOCIAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES AND EDUCATION POLICY RESEARCH, Section Editors: Barbara Schneider and David Plank

    1. Historians and Education Policy Research in the United States, Maris A. Vinovskis

    2. Policy Research in Education: The Economic View, Martin Carnoy

    3. The Economic Value of Education and Cognitive Skills, Eric Hanushek

    4. Political Science Perspective on Education Policy Analysis, Lorraine M. McDonnell

    5. Sociological Contributions to Education Policy Research and Debates, Douglas Lee Lauen and Karolyn Tyson

    6. Current Approaches to Research in Anthropology and Education, Maressa Dixon, Kathryn M. Borman, and Bridget Cotner

    7. Making Education Research More Policy-Analytic, David L. Weimer

    8. Commentary: Disciplined Education Policy Research, Michael Feuer

    9. Commentary: The Disciplinary Foundations of Education Policy Research, Adam Gamoran

    PART 2: CONDUCTING POLICY RESEARCH: METHODOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES, Section Editors: Barbara Schneider and David Plank

    10. Separate Orbits: The Distinctive Worlds of Educational Research and Policymaking, Martin Orland

    11. The Use of Randomized Trials to Inform Education Policy, Geoffrey D. Borman

    12. Causal Inference in Non-Experimental Educational Policy Research, David Kaplan

    13. Research Synthesis and Education Policy, Therese D. Pigott

    14. Complementary Methods for Policy Research, Laura Desimone

    15. Assessment Policy: Making Sense of the Babel, Joan L. Herman and Eva L. Baker

    16. Scale Up as a Framework for Intervention, Program, and Policy Evaluation Research, Sarah-Kathryn McDonald

    17. Commentary: Conducting Policy Research: Methodological Perspectives, Spyros Konstantopoulos

    18. Commentary: An Applied Perspective on Research, Method, and Policy, Christopher B. Swanson

    PART 3: POLITICS AND THE POLICY PROCESS, Section Editor: Jane Clark Lindle

    19. Education and Domination: Reforming Policy and Practice through Critical Theory, Carlos Alberto Torres and Richard van Heertum

    20. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, Roslyn Arlin Mickelson

    21. Race(ing), Class(ing), and Gender(ing) Our Work: Critical Race Theory, Critical Race Feminism, Epistemology and New Directions in Educational Policy Research, David O. Stovall

    22. Rhetoric and Symbolic Action in the Policy Process, Lisa Rosen

    23. The Role of Law in Education Policy Formation, Implementation, and Research, Julie F. Mead

    24. Teacher Collective Bargaining: What We Know and What We Need to Know, Julia E. Koppich and Mary Alice Callahan

    25. The Voice of the People in Education Policy, Rebecca Jacobsen

    26. Assessment Policy and Politics of Information, Jane Clark Lindle

    27. What Works in Defining "What Works" in Educational Improvement: Lessons from Education Policy Implementation Research, Directions for Future Research, Meredith Honig

    28. Conceptualizing Policy Implementation: Large-Scale Reform in an Era of Complexity, Amanda Datnow and Vicki Park

    29. Public Choice and the Political Economy of American Education, Martin West

    30. R & D/ Research in the Policy Process, Marshall Smith and Matthew L. Smith

    31. Commentary One, Jane Hannaway

    32. Commentary Two, V. Darleen Opfer

    PART 4: POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES, MANAGEMENT, AND ORGANIZATION, Section Editor: Linda Skrla

    33. Notes on Reframing the Role of the Organizations in Policy Implementation: Resources for Practice, in Practice, James P. Spillane, Louis M. Gomez, and Leigh Mesler

    34. What Do We Know About Reducing Class and School Size?, June Ahn and Dominic J. Brewer

    35. Conceptions, Measurement and Application of Educational Adequacy and Equal Educational Opportunity, Bruce D. Baker and Preston C. Green

    36. Whether and How Money Matters in K-12 Education, Margaret Plecki and Tino Castañeda

    37. School Reconstruction and School Improvement: Theory and Evidence, Betty Malen and Jennifer King Rice

    38. Charter School Policy Issues and Research Questions, Sandra Vergari

    39. Vouchers, John F. Witte

    40. A Market for Knowledge?, Frederick Hess

    41. Market Reforms in Education, Clive R. Belfield and Henry M. Levin

    42. Commentary: A Call to Studied Action: Lessons from Research on Policies Designed to Improve the Organization and Management of Schooling, Steve Cantrell

    43. Commentary: Improvement or Reinvention: Two Policy Approaches to School Reform, Rodney T. Ogawa

    PART 5: TEACHING AND LEARNING POLICY, Section Editor: Gary Sykes

    44. Opportunity to Learn, William H. Schmidt and Adam Maier

    45. The Reading and Math Wars, Alan H. Schoenfeld and P. David Pearson

    46. Language Policy in Education, Patricia Gándara and M. Cecilia Gómez

    47. Teacher Quality and Teacher Labor Markets, Susanna Loeb and Tara Béteille

    48. Policy and Research on Teacher Preparation and Teacher Learning: A Changing Landscape, Linda Darling-Hammond, Ruth Chung Wei, with Christy Marie Johnson

    49. School Improvement by Design: Lessons from a Study of Comprehensive School Reform Programs, Brian Rowan, Richard Correnti, Robert J. Miller, and Eric M. Camburn

    50. Conceptualization, Measurement, and Improvement of Classroom Processes: Implications for Policy and Accountability Frameworks, Robert C. Pianta and Bridget K. Hamre

    51. Closing Achievement Gaps, George Farkas

    52. New Technology, Yong Zhao and Jing Lei

    53. Education and the Shrinking State, David N. Plank and Venessa Keesler

    54. Commentary: Research on Teaching and Learning, Barbara R. Foorman

    55. Commentary: Informing Teaching and Learning Policy, Robert E. Floden

    PART 6: ACTORS AND INSTITUTIONS IN THE POLICY PROCESS, Section Editor: Carolyn Herrington

    56. International and Transnational Policy Actors in Education: A Review of the Research, Karen Mundy with Mona Ghali

    57. New Approaches to Understanding Federal Involvement in Education, Lora Cohen-Vogel and Michael K. McLendon

    58. The Expansion of State Policy Research, Kathryn A. McDermott

    59. The District Role in Instructional Improvement, Gary Sykes, Jennifer O’Day, and Timothy G. Ford

    60. Pushing on the Paradigm: Research on Teachers’ Organizations as Policy Actors, Nina Bascia

    61. Local Democracy in Education, Michael Mintrom

    62. The Politics of (Im)Prudent State-level Home-Schooling Policies, Catherine Lugg and Andrea Rorrer

    63. Student Voice and Student Roles in Education Policy and Policy Reform, Dana L. Mitra

    64. Looking Forward: Toward a New Role in Promoting Educational Equity for Students with Disabilities from Low-income Backgrounds, Thomas Hehir

    65. Commentary: Research on Actors and Institutions Involved in Education Policy: Themes, Tensions, and Topics to Explore, Martha McCarthy

    66. Commentary: Nested Actors and Institutions: The Need for Better Theory, Data & Methods to Inform Education Policy, Mark Berends

    PART 7: EDUCATIONAL ACCESS AND DIFFERENTIATION, Section Editor: Barbara Schneider

    68. Policy and Place—Learning from Decentralized Reforms, Bruce Fuller

    69. Early Childhood Education, Lawrence J. Schweinhart and Rachel Fulcher-Dawson

    70. Social Stratification and Educational Opportunity, Nathan D. Jones and Barbara Schneider

    71. Shadow Education Systems, Chong Jae Lee, Hyun Jeong Park, and Heesook Lee

    72. K-16 Transitions and Higher Education Access, Frankie Keels Williams

    73. Permeability and Transparency in the High School-College Transition, Jennifer L. Stephan and James E. Rosenbaum

    74. Governmental Policy and the Organization of Postsecondary Education, James C. Hearn and T. Austin Lacy

    75. The Invisible Hand of World Education Culture: Thoughts for Policy Makers, David Baker

    76. Commentary One, C. Kent McGuire

    77. Commentary Two, Jeannie Oakes

    NAME INDEX

    SUBJECT INDEX

    Biography

    Gary Sykes is a Professor of Educational Administration and Teacher Education at Michigan State University. He specializes in educational policy relating to teaching and teacher education. His research interests center on policy issues associated with the improvement of teaching and teacher education, on the development of leadership preparation programs, and on educational choice as an emerging policy issue.

    Barbara Schneider is a John A. Hannah University Distinguished Professor in the College of Education and Department of Sociology at Michigan State University. She holds research appointments at the University of Chicago and NORC, where she is Principal Investigator of the Data Research and Development Center (DRDC). She has published 12 books and over 100 articles and reports on family, social context of schooling, and sociology of knowledge. Professor Schneider is currently conducting a collaborative study with the Michigan Department of Education on using administrative data to make state education policy decision. She was selected by the American Sociological Association as the editor of Sociology of Education.

    David N. Plank is Executive Director of Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), an independent policy research center based at the University of California-Berkeley, Stanford University, and the University of Southern California. He was previously a professor at Michigan State University, where he founded and directed the Education Policy Center. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1983. In addition to his work on education policy in the U.S., he has served as a consultant in the areas of educational policy and finance to international organizations including the World Bank, the UNDP, the OECD, USAID, and the Ford Foundation, and also to governments in Africa and Latin America.