Charting Reform, Achieving Equity in a Diverse Nation

Charting Reform, Achieving Equity in a Diverse Nation PDF Author: Gail L. Sunderman
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1623962730
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
This book examines what equity means in a nation where the schools are becoming more diverse. The authors consider how well our educational reform policies, often framed in the language of equity and opportunity, measure up to the challenges of achieving equity in a diverse nation. While there is growing awareness of the increasing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of the nation, there is little recognition of how these trends affect the schools, particularly in formerly homogeneous communities. At the same time, inequalities in student achievement between different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups persist, even as educational policy has intensified the focus on the achievement gap. These two challenges make definitions of equity and opportunity as urban problems obsolete and call for a critical examination of educational policy and reform from an equity perspective. Central themes include the critical examination of how equity is conceived under the law and in policy, the experiences of minority students in suburban schools, and the impact of current reform policies and strategies for achieving greater educational opportunities for all students. This book is designed for graduate and undergraduate courses in educational policy and policy analysis, for policymakers interested in a critical examination of current reform policies and options, and educational leaders and administrators struggling with the implementation of reform mandates. From a policy perspective, it includes a survey of the evolution of educational policies and reforms since the 1960s and traces the mix of legal and legislative legacies that have informed educational policy and equity. It describes how trends in suburban diversification affect the schools, something that has largely escaped the attention of educational reformers. It provides school-based and non-school-based remedies for achieving equity in diversifying suburban communities and articulates alternatives to the current accountability for performance approach. It offers new and innovative analyses of current approaches to school reform, including an analysis of how accountability tests can create the illusion of reducing the achievement gap and an examination of the paradoxes of federally funded compensatory policies that incorporate market-based strategies. Novel approaches—such as social emotional learning and placed-based college access strategies—are examined through an equity lens.

Charting Reform, Achieving Equity in a Diverse Nation

Charting Reform, Achieving Equity in a Diverse Nation PDF Author: Gail L. Sunderman
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1623962730
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 292

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book examines what equity means in a nation where the schools are becoming more diverse. The authors consider how well our educational reform policies, often framed in the language of equity and opportunity, measure up to the challenges of achieving equity in a diverse nation. While there is growing awareness of the increasing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of the nation, there is little recognition of how these trends affect the schools, particularly in formerly homogeneous communities. At the same time, inequalities in student achievement between different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups persist, even as educational policy has intensified the focus on the achievement gap. These two challenges make definitions of equity and opportunity as urban problems obsolete and call for a critical examination of educational policy and reform from an equity perspective. Central themes include the critical examination of how equity is conceived under the law and in policy, the experiences of minority students in suburban schools, and the impact of current reform policies and strategies for achieving greater educational opportunities for all students. This book is designed for graduate and undergraduate courses in educational policy and policy analysis, for policymakers interested in a critical examination of current reform policies and options, and educational leaders and administrators struggling with the implementation of reform mandates. From a policy perspective, it includes a survey of the evolution of educational policies and reforms since the 1960s and traces the mix of legal and legislative legacies that have informed educational policy and equity. It describes how trends in suburban diversification affect the schools, something that has largely escaped the attention of educational reformers. It provides school-based and non-school-based remedies for achieving equity in diversifying suburban communities and articulates alternatives to the current accountability for performance approach. It offers new and innovative analyses of current approaches to school reform, including an analysis of how accountability tests can create the illusion of reducing the achievement gap and an examination of the paradoxes of federally funded compensatory policies that incorporate market-based strategies. Novel approaches—such as social emotional learning and placed-based college access strategies—are examined through an equity lens.

Federalism and Education

Federalism and Education PDF Author: Kenneth K. Wong
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1641131748
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
Federalism has played a central role in charting educational progress in many countries. With an evolving balance between centralization and decentralization, federalism is designed to promote accountability standards without tempering regional and local preferences. Federalism facilitates negotiations both vertically between the central authority and local entities as well as horizontally among diverse interests. Innovative educational practices are often validated by a few local entities prior to scaling up to the national level. Because of the division of revenue sources between central authority and decentralized entities, federalism encourages a certain degree of fiscal competition at the local and regional level. The balance of centralization and decentralization also varies across institutional and policy domains, such as the legislative framework for education, drafting of curricula, benchmarking for accountability, accreditation, teacher training, and administrative responsibilities at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. Given these critical issues in federalism and education, this volume examines ongoing challenges and policy strategies in ten countries, namely Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States. These chapters and the introductory overview aim to examine how countries with federal systems of government design, govern, finance, and assure quality in their educational systems spanning from early childhood to secondary school graduation. Particular attention is given to functional division between governmental layers of the federal system as well as mechanisms of intergovernmental cooperation both vertically and horizontally. The chapters aim to draw out comparative lessons and experiences in an area of great importance to not only federal countries but also countries that are emerging toward a federal system.

Walkout!

Walkout! PDF Author: Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 164802601X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
Teacher unions and their members have long stood as polarizing figures in a vast educational landscape. As in the Western films of the 1920s, policymakers, education reformers, and onlookers often assign union leaders and the teachers they represent either the white hats of heroes or the black hats of villains. Politicized efforts to reductively classify teacher unions as beneficial or dangerous have only served to obscure the extent to which labor militancy and teacher activism have become part and parcel of the American public school system and the primary mechanisms by which teachers’ voices are heard – and heeded – in the policy arena. Teacher unions have grown in tandem with and in response to the expansion of the school bureaucracy and the acceleration of accountability reforms, and teachers’ calls for recognition and reform are inseparable from broader movements for social change. Far more than either good or bad, teacher unions are the inevitable outgrowth of American public education as it stands today. This book offers an interdisciplinary exploration of the state of modern teacher unions, the complex spaces they operate in, and the connections between militancy, activism, and school reform. Breaking free from the white hat/black hat dyad that has for so long colored the lenses we use to understand unions, the chapters of this book engage a set of fundamental questions: Where did the modern moment of militancy come from, and in what ways is it a continuation or a departure from the approaches of previous organized teachers?; What is at stake in modern expressions of militancy for teachers, communities, and schools?; Beyond the flashpoint of the walkout, what is the effect of teacher activism?

The Anatomy of Achievement Gaps

The Anatomy of Achievement Gaps PDF Author: Jaekyung Lee
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190217642
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 457

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Book Description
Through the lens of interdisciplinary and systems perspectives, The Anatomy of Achievement Gaps offers an expert critical analysis of the underachievement problems plaguing the American education system today. By providing a blueprint to meet these challenges, Jaekyung Lee both evaluates and informs American educational policies with a new model of achievement for preschool through college-aged students.

Public Policy and Higher Education

Public Policy and Higher Education PDF Author: Edward P. St. John
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415893569
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
Amid changing economic and social contexts, radical changes have occurred in public higher education policies over the past three decades. Public Policy and Higher Educationprovides readers with new ways to analyze these complex state policies and offers the tools to examine how policies affect students’ access and success in college. Rather than arguing for a single approach, the authors examine how policymakers and higher education administrators can work to inform and influence change within systems of higher education using research-based evidence along with consideration of political and historical values and beliefs. Special Features: Case Studies—allow readers to examine strategies used by different types of colleges to improve access and retention. Reflective Exercises—encourage readers to discuss state and campus context for policy decisions and to think about the strategies used in a state or institution. Approachable Explanations—unpack complex public policies and financial strategies for readers who seek understanding of public policy in higher education. Research-Based Recommendations—explore how policymakers, higher education administrators and faculty can work together to improve quality, diversity, and financial stewardship. This textbook is an invaluable resource for graduate students, administrators, policymakers, and researchers who seek to learn more about the crucial contexts underlying policy decisions and college access.

Cracking the Code of Education Reform

Cracking the Code of Education Reform PDF Author: Christopher H. Tienken
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1544368232
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 153

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Book Description
Lead between the lines— evaluate Ed policies to emphasize the positives and minimize the negatives Although educational reform is intended for positive change, sometimes it misses the mark. However, when school leaders capitalize on the positive aspects of reforms they can strategize to ensure the best outcomes for students. Christopher Tienken, professor and international speaker, shares his insights on how to identify both positive and negative aspects of education reform to maximize the benefits for students. This book introduces a practical framework for interpreting educational reform within an evidence-based practice, and provides thoughtful ways to finesse results out of challenging policies. Designed for use on the ground level, this book features: • Seven specific creative compliance strategies to maximize student and educator success • Case studies that illustrate how to critique reforms and take action • Reflective questions to guide evaluation and application • Ethical decision-making checklist Analyzing both successful and unsuccessful reform ideas from the past, this book champions creative compliance and how to lead innovatively/judiciously.

Reimagining School Integration

Reimagining School Integration PDF Author: Jennifer B. Ayscue
Publisher: IAP
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
Since the peak of school desegregation in the late 1980s, schools across the nation have been resegregating such that schools are now as segregated as they were during the late 1960s. Segregation is systematically linked to unequal educational opportunities and outcomes while integration, when well structured, is associated with numerous short-term and long-term academic and social benefits for individuals and society. In a time when public education is under attack and our nation is deeply divided along the lines of race, class, and politics, the potential of integration to create more equitable educational opportunities and outcomes for individual students as well as greater social cohesion for our democratic, pluralistic society is more important than ever. Seventy years after the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision ruled that segregated schools are inherently unequal, this book reimagines what integration is and could be in our nation’s current context of racial and political polarization, the expansion of unregulated choice in public education, and an increasingly diverse, multiracial public school enrollment. Through an exploration of research and policy, this book develops a new conceptualization of integration by describing the contemporary drivers of segregation and recommending strategies to create a more equitable, meaningful, equal -status form of educational integration for the future. This book is a valuable resource for policymakers, scholars, educators, and concerned citizens who are invested in learning about one way to help create a more equitable and just education system.

The Future of Nursing 2020-2030

The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780309685061
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The decade ahead will test the nation's nearly 4 million nurses in new and complex ways. Nurses live and work at the intersection of health, education, and communities. Nurses work in a wide array of settings and practice at a range of professional levels. They are often the first and most frequent line of contact with people of all backgrounds and experiences seeking care and they represent the largest of the health care professions. A nation cannot fully thrive until everyone - no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they make - can live their healthiest possible life, and helping people live their healthiest life is and has always been the essential role of nurses. Nurses have a critical role to play in achieving the goal of health equity, but they need robust education, supportive work environments, and autonomy. Accordingly, at the request of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on behalf of the National Academy of Medicine, an ad hoc committee under the auspices of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conducted a study aimed at envisioning and charting a path forward for the nursing profession to help reduce inequities in people's ability to achieve their full health potential. The ultimate goal is the achievement of health equity in the United States built on strengthened nursing capacity and expertise. By leveraging these attributes, nursing will help to create and contribute comprehensively to equitable public health and health care systems that are designed to work for everyone. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity explores how nurses can work to reduce health disparities and promote equity, while keeping costs at bay, utilizing technology, and maintaining patient and family-focused care into 2030. This work builds on the foundation set out by The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2011) report.

Educational Opportunity in Rural Contexts

Educational Opportunity in Rural Contexts PDF Author: Sheneka M. Williams
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1681232502
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 171

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Book Description
The impetus behind this volume stems from reflections on commemorations of the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision. Brown turned 60 in May of 2014, and many special issues of peer?reviewed journals were dedicated to that anniversary. Unlike most special issues and volumes, we sought to highlight a smaller part of Brown, though no less significant. More specifically, we thought to develop a volume that focused on rural education in the aftermath of the decision. Most of the education policy and education reform literature caters to urban and suburban contexts, and very few academic books and journal articles—with the exception of research conducted by Craig, Amy, and Caitlin Howley and the Journal for Research on Rural Education—focus on rural education in the US. Thus, we wanted this volume to focus on the politics of educational opportunity in rural contexts. There is a paucity of rigorous research that examines how education policy affects the conditions of rural education. More specifically, research is scarce in examining the ways in which students in rural schools and districts have access to educational opportunities, although approximately one?third of all public schools are located in rural areas (Ayers, 2011). Educational opportunity in rural districts has been plagued by geographic isolation, loss of economic bases, and lack of capital (both financial and political) to voice the need for resources. To be clear, this volume does not present chapters that detail educational opportunity in rural districts and schools from a deficit perspective. Instead, chapters in this volume offer insight into both micro? and macro?level policies and practices that shape educational opportunities for students in rural schools and districts. As such, chapters in this volume investigate the “now” of educational opportunity for rural students and makes recommendations and suggestions for “later”. Given that, we are reminded of James Coleman’s (1975) thesis, “Education is a means to an end, and equal opportunity refers to later in life rather than the educational process itself” (p.28). This book will be organized into two distinct sections. The first section, comprised of chapters that examine educational opportunity in rural districts from a micro?level perspective, is devoted to chapters that broadly examine the implications of state and federal policy on educational opportunity in rural schools and districts. The second section, which includes case studies of rural districts in the American South, Appalachia, and the Northeast, takes a macro?level approach to examining educational opportunity in rural districts. Combined, chapters throughout the book provide readers with both an overview and a specific snapshot of educational opportunity in rural schools. Given the breadth and scope of chapters included in this volume, we believe the book adds tremendously to the education policy literature, as this vantage point has rarely been included in larger education policy discussions.

An Ecosystem for Research-Engaged Schools

An Ecosystem for Research-Engaged Schools PDF Author: David Godfrey
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351329448
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
Looking at the potential for research-use by educators to improve schools for all young people, An Ecosystem for Research-Engaged Schools presents a range of ground-breaking research and fascinating case studies. It carefully explores the elements and dimensions of research-engaged schools using an ecosystems perspective to study the layers and interconnections that occur amongst the people and institutions that exist within the ecosystem. Allowing the reader to consider how to ensure independent elements of the ecosystem are maintained to ensure an effective balance, this book brings together contributions from international experts working in a variety of fields such as school leadership, professional development and accountability. Key issues facing the research-use ecosystem both theoretically and empirically are covered, with examples of innovative practice, new theories and value systems. The book also provides an insight into the exciting possibility of such a system of learning and innovation in our schools where structures, cultures, practices and policies align to promote research-informed school improvement. With chapters bringing together issues from different aspects of the system, this book: expands the analysis of evidence and research-informed practice, considering the wider environment within which it is undertaken shows the interplay and tensions between aspects of the ecosystem and illustrates how different aspects of the ecosystem affect evidence use reconciles all aspects of the ecosystem within an overarching framework which attempts to explain the complex totality of the ecosystem. Designed to both challenge and inspire, An Ecosystem for Research-Engaged Schools truly bridges the gap between theory and practice. It will be an invaluable asset to those currently working in the area, allowing them to think more deeply about their work and the theoretical mechanisms that underpin it. Policy makers, practitioners and teachers will also find this book a fascinating read.