Product Description
In examining how and under what conditions research affects education policy, the book focuses on a number of critical issues: the history of the federal role in education policy; the evolving nature of educational policy research; the role of research in debates about reading, NCLB, and out-of-field teaching; how research affects policy by shaping public opinion, judicial rulings, and the decisions of district and school leaders; and the incentives that help explai… More >>
When Research Matters: How Scholarship Influences Education Policy
Tags: education, Influences, Matters, Policy, research, scholarship
#1 by Paul A. Baker on April 29, 2010 - 6:01 pm
Frederick (Rick) Hess offers this collection of essays “with the conviction that researchers, public officials, educators, journalists, and advocates would all benefit from a clearer and deeper understanding of the complex relationship between research and policymaking.”
The book’s first two chapters consider the history of the federal role in education policy and the evolving nature of educational policy research. The next three chapters address the role of research in debates over reading, NCLB, and “out-of-field” teaching.
The following section considers how research affects policy by shaping public opinion, influencing judicial decisions, and affecting the decisions of district and school leaders. The fourth section offers broader insights into the incentives that help explain the behavior of researchers and policymakers.
In a concluding chapter, Hess says research has a vital role to play in democratic policy debate. “That role is not to dictate outcomes or to presume that public officials should be the handmaidens of researchers, but to ensure that public decision making is informed by all the facts, insights, and analyses that the tools of science can provide.”
Rating: 5 / 5