education policy assignment

• Peterborough

How to Write a Policy Assignment

What is a policy assignment, policy critique.

• Policy Brief/Briefing Note

Reading and Analyzing Policy

Writing policy assignments, research and writing process.

Understanding, evaluating, and writing policy documents are important competencies to develop as undergraduate students in a wide range of fields, spanning from Health Care to Environmental Science to Education. Policy is informed by strong research and accurate evidence, often compiled and presented by government and non-governmental organizations. Public policies include formal legislation, official plans, and regulations created by various levels of government. Each of these can act as guiding principles for governmental decision making and program delivery. Non-governmental and para-governmental organizations publish policy briefs, commission reports, and fact sheets to inform policy makers and recommend policy change.

Course instructors often ask students to analyze policy documents to better understand issues and policy alternatives, and students in many disciplines must write policy documents, including critiques and briefs or briefing notes. This guide offers steps to reading policy and keys for effective policy writing.

Types of Policy Assignments

In a policy critique, students are expected to read and critically analyze one or more policy documents that address a common issue. The goal of this assignment is to present an overall assessment of current or proposed policies and their efficacy or potential considering both scholarly theory and real-world, practical application with consideration of environmental, social, or economic contexts.

Proposed structure

• Issue: what is the policy in question?
• Background: where did it emerge? What problem does it try to address?
• Application: so far, based on evidence, how effective has it been?
• Limits: what are limits with the policy? How has it been adapted? What questions remain?
• Evaluation/potential: based on concepts and theories from course materials, what is the potential for this policy to address particular issue/problem?

Policy Brief (Briefing Note)

Policy briefs or briefing notes are documents written by governmental and non-governmental organizations to propose evidence-based policy solutions to a well-defined social, environmental, or economic issue. Briefs present findings from academic and grey literature to demonstrate the scope of an issue and to analyze its context and background. The brief is organized with clear headings and short sections, which are supported by figures or tables.

• Executive Summary: similar to an abstract, briefly explains the goal, findings, and recommendations. Although it is placed first in the document, it is written last.
• Issue Definition: identify and explain the key issue and its scope and significance.
• Policy Background: synthesize evidence to explain the context of the issue – its origins, key stakeholders, overlapping issues, and potential barriers – and any existing policy.
• Best Practices: describe relevant policies from other jurisdictions and introduce specific examples of policy and best practices that reinforce the argument your briefing note presents.
• Policy Options: synthesize your research to present a few policy options; for each option, describe the approach and present advantages, challenges, and potential barriers. Present one policy recommendation from these options.
• References: divide references into sections (e.g., academic sources, grey literature, policy documents etc.)

Each policy document is focused on a specific issue and establishes particular goals; when you read any policy document, you are working to understand and analyze the issue and how the policy addresses the issue. These messages are often presented in different ways. Policy briefs are, well, brief, but other policy documents or commissioned reports can be quite lengthy, so it is important to develop a reading strategy for each new document. Generally, it is best to follow this process: preview, plan, read and take notes, and assess within course context.

Because policy documents vary significantly in form and purpose, it is essential to preview the document prior to reading it: identify its author, its purpose, and its form. Take time to read the executive summary, which presents a short explanation of the issue and purpose of the document. Understand its authorship and the interests of the individual or organizational author.

Make a plan

Identify your goal in reading the document: do you wish to better understand the issue, to identify policy alternatives, to appreciate broader context, or to determine efficacy of policy? How will this document inform your understanding of the issue you are studying? What sections will be most useful or relevant?

Read and take notes

Your preview and plan can direct your reading and notetaking. Read closely to understand the policy or issue, its context, and the evidence used to support it. Identify stakeholders and their interests, the goals of the policy and how those goals are measurable and actionable. You may find it helpful to refer to the table of contents or index (or to use the ‘find’ tool in your browser) to seek out sections that contain relevant keywords in documents spanning more than 100 pages.

Assess policy within course context

Refer to theories, frameworks, and indices that you have discussed in class to assess a policy. Consider whether it follows a particular conceptual framework or achieves particular numerical targets. Compare it to other policies in similar contexts and analyze its parts to assess its adaptability to different contexts. Evaluate its fit to the specific issue and its relevance for various stakeholder needs or values.

Reading an Official Plan

An official plan is often a lengthy document that covers many topics and issues within a set of overarching goals for an organization, like a university, hospital, or municipality. Your aim should be to understand the overarching goals of the plan and its broader context, which are likely laid out in the executive summary and introductory sections. Then you may need to seek out references to a particular topic, issue, or stakeholder; the index, table of contents, or “find” tool can be helpful for this.

Reading a Policy Brief

The goal of a policy brief is to inform and persuade policy makers, so your aim should be to understand the issue the brief identifies and to analyze the policy it proposes. The structure and design of the policy brief will guide your reading. Take time to understand the context of the issue and the policy: who are the stakeholders, what are the goals, what is the process, and what are the barriers? Analyze the policy within the disciplinary concepts you’re learning in class; how does the policy fit particular frameworks, theories, or indices you’ve discussed? What is unique about this policy? How can this policy be adapted to different contexts? What is its potential to address the issue?

Successful policy assignments are focused, well-researched, analytical, organized, and concise. Therefore, it is important to take time to define the issue, understand the context of the issue, and seek out policy alternatives prior to identifying a recommended course of action.

• Focused Issue
• Using Research
• Demonstrating Analysis
• Organized, Concise, and Clear Writing

Focused issue

It is essential that you present a focused and clear issue, and that issue must be at the scale of policy action. For example, policy briefs can address ER wait times or agricultural pesticide use, but issues such as access to health care or the sustainability of food production are too complex for you to address in a short policy assignment. Often, course material and core concepts provide useful direction for you to narrow your issue.

In policy assignments, an issue is clearly defined and contextualized with evidence from scholarly and grey literature. It is important for you to explain how scholars, governments, or NGOs have discussed the issue, and numerical data or figures can demonstrate the scale of an issue or its projected trajectory. Provide details about the issue in its context: be specific about place, time, and stakeholders, and acknowledge any overlapping economic, environmental, or social issues.

Example: Effective issue definition 1

Age-friendly municipalities foster solidarity among generations within communities and reach out to older people at risk of isolation by making them feel socially included and involved (WHO, 2007). It is well documented that these trends are happening across Canada, and evidence suggests that local governments have a key role in enabling older people to live longer. It is unclear to what degree Aurora’s municipal government is prepared to support its expanding ageing population. It is essential to continue to examine new approaches to housing and transportation infrastructure within Aurora in order to improve public policy matters in regards to their ageing population.

• Issue is grounded by focused concept and evidence; writer demonstrates value of municipal policy to address the issue
• Writer precisely identifies the issue to be discussed in brief and the goals of the report

Example: Ineffective issue definition 1

In addition to the infrastructure issue in Peterborough, there is also an issue regarding how spread out the community is. The city is too big for residents to be able to walk the entire city. Amenities are also very spread out; it is unlikely that pedestrians would be able to access the required amenities within walking distance from their house. Ultimately, the main issues surrounding the walkability in the City of Peterborough are the lack of infrastructure and maintenance, as well as the lack of available activities near to peoples’ residences.

• Not grounded in conceptual framework or theory; writer needs to explain why walkability is an issue that a municipality should address
• Lack of precision or evidence to support claims about the size of the city or accessibility to amenities

Using research

Policy is informed by evidence from scholarly literature, government data, and research by various stakeholder organizations. Effective policy assignments synthesize evidence from academic and grey literature to create an accurate account of the issue and policy options. Common forms of evidence in policy writing include numerical and financial data, figures such as graphs and maps, excerpts from existing policies, recommendations from NGOs, and conceptual frameworks.

In policy writing, your goal is to present research both accurately and accessibly, as decision-makers in government and business may not be familiar with terminology or concepts presented by scholars. Make efforts to paraphrase the evidence you use and be sure to include citations in the form requested by your professor (footnotes or author-date systems are common).

One of the key factors in Municipal Cultural Planning is increasing cross-sectoral strategies by building new partnerships “…between the municipality and its community and business partners” (Municipal Cultural Plan, toolkit, 2011, p.21) for long term sustainability. Therefore, municipal cultural planning “…does not look at policy sectorally” (Gollmitzer, 2008, p.18), but instead strengthens and integrates “…cultural resources across all facets of government planning and decision making” (Municipal Cultural Plan Toolkit, 2011, p.21). Building new networks are supported by leveraging the sense of place within a community. Adopting a place-based planning approach allows “…government, community organizations and citizens to explore, measure and asses the values, resources and assets of the community” (Huhtala, 2016, p.66), in order to leverage them for economic prosperity.

• Writer synthesizes academic and grey literature to demonstrate how concepts are applied in policy.
• Writer also demonstrates analysis of evidence and its relevance to the brief’s focused issue.
• Use of direct quotation can feature the language of a policy if the writer wishes to analyze discourse; however, this excerpt relies too heavily on direct quotation, and it would be stronger if this evidence was paraphrased.

Demonstrating analysis

The quality of your policy assignment is closely tied to your analysis of the issue and the policy options you present. It is important to evaluate policy options as you research and to critically analyze how those options address the issue within its particular context. Take time to examine specific factors and parties involved in an issue and consider how these factors may facilitate or challenge each policy option; furthermore, you should also assess the advantages and disadvantages of each policy option and its impacts on these factors or parties.

You may find it valuable to consider theories, concepts, or frameworks from your course to develop your argument and to establish coherence throughout your assignment. If you assess all policy options through the same critical lens or theory, then your message will be clear and consistent throughout your document.

Integrating senior housing into the fabric of the inner core communities could make housing developments viable and situate seniors in settings where they can access these services by foot or nearby transit (Fang, 2013).  This concept can allow seniors, who may be considering downsizing, to remain within their community where they can keep active, live within easy access to medical and community services, and stay close to their support network that they have spent their lives establishing. However, the growing demand for these developments could put major pressure on the municipality.  City officials would have to amend current zoning by-laws to allow commercial and residential uses to be a part of mixed-use development and appropriate provisions need to be provided to ensure compatibility and to minimize potential negative impacts. 

• Writer presents both advantages and challenges of policy option within common concept of healthy aging communities.
• Writer also includes potential impacts and barriers of policy option, which demonstrates their consideration of the issue and its context.

Organized, concise, and clear writing

Policy writing should be well-organized and easy to follow. Use headings and subheadings to create structure and to support your reader. It is common to number sections and subsections to further clarify the order of your ideas. In addition, good paragraph structure also supports organization and clarity, so we encourage you to use specific topic sentences to introduce the main idea of a paragraph.

Well-written policy assignments employ a formal writing style and use third-person voice (e.g., they) rather than first-person (e.g., I, we) or second-person (e.g., you) voice. Further, they avoid jargon, but use specific and clear language. When you revise your draft, take time to consider each sentence and remove repetitive or redundant phrases and words.

Finally, it is important to pay attention to the details. Label any figures or tables in your document; make reference to these figures or tables in the text of your work (e.g., see Figure 1). Also be sure to follow assignment instructions for referencing evidence in your text (e.g., footnotes or author-date system) and in your list of sources, which is often categorized by type of source (e.g., academic, government, NGOs).

There are many ways to approach a policy assignment, but it is important to take time to research and analyze issues and policy options thoroughly prior to writing. Consider the following steps to complete your policy assignment:

• Read assignment instructions closely
• Preliminary research: review course materials, brainstorm, conduct environmental scan or site visit, consider current issues relevant to course concepts
• Define issue: consider questions and frameworks
• Research issue and context
• Research and evaluate policy alternatives in other places
• Analyze policy alternatives and consider fit for current issue and context; select policy options to present
• Outline sections: what evidence goes where? How does evidence work together?
• Write sections (leave Executive Summary until last)
• Revise for organization, analysis, and use of evidence. See Strategies for Revision and Proofreading.
• Edit for clarity, concision, and grammar
• Complete final proof of document
• These examples are not to be reproduced in whole or part. Use of the ideas or words in this example is an act of plagiarism, which is subject to academic integrity policy at Trent University and other academic institutions.

Policy Briefs

What this handout is about.

This handout will offer tips for writing effective policy briefs. Be sure to check with your instructor about their specific expectations for your assignment.

What are policy briefs?

Imagine that you’re an elected official serving on a committee that sets the standards cars must meet to pass a state inspection. You know that this is a complex issue, and you’d like to learn more about existing policies, the effects of emissions on the environment and on public health, the economic consequences of different possible approaches, and more–you want to make an informed decision. But you don’t have time to research all of these issues! You need a policy brief.

A policy brief presents a concise summary of information that can help readers understand, and likely make decisions about, government policies. Policy briefs may give objective summaries of relevant research, suggest possible policy options, or go even further and argue for particular courses of action.

How do policy briefs differ from other kinds of writing assignments?

You may encounter policy brief assignments in many different academic disciplines, from public health and environmental science to education and social work. If you’re reading this handout because you’re having your first encounter with such an assignment, don’t worry–many of your existing skills and strategies, like using evidence , being concise , and organizing your information effectively , will help you succeed at this form of writing. However, policy briefs are distinctive in several ways.

In some of your college writing, you’ve addressed your peers, your professors, or other members of your academic field. Policy briefs are usually created for a more general reader or policy maker who has a stake in the issue that you’re discussing.

Tone and terminology

Many academic disciplines discourage using unnecessary jargon, but clear language is especially important in policy briefs. If you find yourself using jargon, try to replace it with more direct language that a non-specialist reader would be more likely to understand. When specialized terminology is necessary, explain it quickly and clearly to ensure that your reader doesn’t get confused.

Policy briefs are distinctive in their focus on communicating the practical implications of research to a specific audience. Suppose that you and your roommate both write research-based papers about global warming. Your roommate is writing a research paper for an environmental science course, and you are writing a policy brief for a course on public policy. You might both use the exact same sources in writing your papers. So, how might those papers differ?

Your roommate’s research paper is likely to present the findings of previous studies and synthesize them in order to present an argument about what we know. It might also discuss the methods and processes used in the research.

Your policy brief might synthesize the same scientific findings, but it will deploy them for a very specific purpose: to help readers decide what they should do. It will relate the findings to current policy debates, with an emphasis on applying the research outcomes rather than assessing the research procedures. A research paper might also suggest practical actions, but a policy brief is likely to emphasize them more strongly and develop them more fully.

To support these changes in audience, tone, and purpose, policy briefs have a distinctive format. You should consult your assignment prompt and/or your professor for instructions about the specific requirements of your assignment, but most policy briefs have several features in common. They tend to use lots of headings and have relatively short sections. This structure differs from many short papers in the humanities that may have a title but no further headings, and from reports in the sciences that may follow the “IMRAD” structure of introduction, methods, results, and discussion. Your brief might include graphs, charts, or other visual aids that make it easier to digest the most important information within sections.  Policy briefs often include some of these sections:

• Title: A good title quickly communicates the contents of the brief in a memorable way.
• Executive Summary: This section is often one to two paragraphs long; it includes an overview of the problem and the proposed policy action.
• Context or Scope of Problem: This section communicates the importance of the problem and aims to convince the reader of the necessity of policy action.
• Policy Alternatives: This section discusses the current policy approach and explains proposed options. It should be fair and accurate while convincing the reader why the policy action proposed in the brief is the most desirable.
• Policy Recommendations: This section contains the most detailed explanation of the concrete steps to be taken to address the policy issue.
• Appendices: If some readers might need further support in order to accept your argument but doing so in the brief itself might derail the conversation for other readers, you might include the extra information in an appendix.
• Consulted or Recommended Sources: These should be reliable sources that you have used throughout your brief to guide your policy discussion and recommendations.

Depending on your specific topic and assignment, you might combine sections or break them down into several more specific ones.

How do I identify a problem for my policy brief?

An effective policy brief must propose a solution to a well-defined problem that can be addressed at the level of policy. This may sound easy, but it can take a lot of work to think of a problem in a way that is open to policy action.

For example, “bad spending habits in young adults” might be a problem that you feel strongly about, but you can’t simply implement a policy to “make better financial decisions.” In order to make it the subject of a policy brief, you’ll need to look for research on the topic and narrow it down. Is the problem a lack of financial education, predatory lending practices, dishonest advertising, or something else? Narrowing to one of these (and perhaps further) would allow you to write a brief that can propose concrete policy action.

For another example, let’s say that you wanted to address children’s health. This is a big issue, and too broad to serve as the focus of a policy brief, but it could serve as a starting point for research. As you begin to research studies on children’s health, you might decide to zoom in on the more specific issue of childhood obesity. You’ll need to consult the research further to decide what factors contribute to it in order to propose policy changes. Is it lack of exercise, nutritional deficiencies, a combination of these, or something else? Choosing one or another of these issues, your brief would zoom in even further to specific proposals that might include exercise initiatives, nutritional guidelines, or school lunch programs.

The key is that you define the problem and its contributing factors as specifically as possible so that some sort of concrete policy action (at the local, state, or national level) is feasible.

Framing the issue

Once you’ve identified the problem for yourself, you need to decide how you will present it to your reader. Your own process of identifying the problem likely had some stops, starts, and dead-ends, but your goal in framing the issue for your reader is to provide the most direct path to understanding the problem and the proposed policy change. It can be helpful to think of some of the most pressing questions your audience will have and attempt to preemptively answer those questions. Here are some questions you might want to consider:

What is the problem?

Understanding what the problem is, in the clearest terms possible, will give your reader a reference point. Later, when you’re discussing complex information, your reader can refer back to the initial problem. This will help to ‘anchor’ them throughout the course of your argument. Every piece of information in the brief should be clearly and easily connected to the problem.

What is the scope of the problem?

Knowing the extent of the problem helps to frame the policy issue for your reader. Is the problem statewide, national, or international? How many people does this issue affect? Daily? Annually? This is a great place for any statistical information you may have gathered through your research.

Who are the stakeholders?

Who does this issue affect? Adult women? College-educated men? Children from bilingual homes? The primary group being affected is important, and knowing who this group is allows the reader to assign a face to the policy issue.

Policy issues can include a complex network of stakeholders. Double check whether you have inadvertently excluded any of them from your analysis. For example, a policy about children’s nutrition obviously involves the children, but it might also include food producers, distributors, parents, and nutritionists (and other experts). Some stakeholders might be reluctant to accept your policy change or even acknowledge the existence of the problem, which is why your brief must be convincing in its use of evidence and clear in its communication.

Effective policy-writing

This handout has emphasized that good policy briefs are clear, concise, and focused on applying credible research to policy problems. Let’s take a look at two versions of the introduction to a policy brief to see how someone might write and revise to achieve these qualities:

A “not-so-good” policy brief

Adolescents’ Dermatologic Health in Outlandia: A Call to Action

The Report on Adolescents’ Dermatologic Health in Outlandia (2010), issued by Secretary of Health Dr. Polly Galver, served as a platform to increase public awareness on the importance of dermatologic health for adolescents. Among the major themes of the report are that dermatologic health is essential to general health and well-being and that profound and consequential dermatologic health disparities exist in the state of Outlandia. Dr. Galver stated that what amounts to a silent epidemic of acne is affecting some population groups–restricting activities as schools, work, and home–and often significantly diminishing the quality of life. Dr. Galver issued the Report on Adolescents’ Dermatologic Health as a wake-up call to policymakers and health professionals on issues regarding the state’s dermatologic health. (“ Not so good policy brief ,” Reproduced with permission of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.)

This paragraph introduces a relevant and credible source, but it fails to use that source to explain a problem and propose policy action. The reader is likely to be confused because the word “acne” does not appear until the middle of the paragraph, and the brief never states what action should be taken to address it. In addition to this lack of focus, the paragraph also includes unnecessary phrases like “among the major themes” that could be removed to make it more concise.

A better policy brief

Seeing Spots: Addressing the Silent Epidemic of Acne in Outlandia’s Youth

Acne is the most common chronic disease among adolescents in Outlandia (Outlandia Department of Health, 2010). Long considered a benign rite of passage, acne actually has far-reaching effects on the health and well being of adolescents, significantly affecting success in school, social relationships, and general quality of life. Yet large portions of the state’s population are unable to access treatment for acne. The Secretary of Health’s Report on Adolescents’ Dermatologic Health in Outlandia (2010) is a call to action for policymakers and health professionals to improve the health and wellbeing of Outlandia’s youth by increasing access to dermatologic care (“ A Better Policy Brief” , Reproduced with permission of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.)

This paragraph is far more focused and concise than the first version. The opening sentence is straightforward; instead of focusing on the source, it makes a clear and memorable point that is supported by the source. Additionally, though the first version was titled “a call to action,” it did not actually say what that action might be. In this version, it is clear that the call is for increased access to dermatologic care.

Keep in mind that clarity, conciseness, and consistent focus are rarely easy to achieve in a first draft. Careful editing and revision are key parts of writing policy briefs.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Smith, Catherine F. 2016. Writing Public Policy , 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Young, Eoin, and Lisa Quinn. n.d. “The Policy Brief.” University of Delaware. Accessed June 24, 2019. https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blog.lrei.org/dist/c/104/wp-content/uploads/sites/346/2009/11/PolicyBrief-described.pdf .

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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EDU 507: Law, Policy, and Ethical Decision-Making: Writing Policy Analysis and Proposal Papers

• Research Tips This link opens in a new window
• Writing Policy Analysis and Proposal Papers

Resources for Analyzing Policies and Writing Recommendations

A major assignment for EDU 507 in the past was a policy analysis proposal.  This assignment synthesized two common tasks for the educational leader: analyzing the policies that affect their institutions or educational contexts, and making recommendations based on that analysis.  While there is no proposal component required this semester, the resources below will still be helpful for preparing the critical law and policy paper, and for understanding how to use a policy analysis to propose changes.

To the right, you will find books about policy analysis in education that you can borrow from Ikeda Library.  The library subscribes to Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis , an academic journal that you might find useful as well.  Below are resources to help you master both the policy analysis and proposal formats.  You will also find a list of eBooks available at Ikeda Library, and links to external resources, on proposal writing in the Comparative and International Education LibGuide .

As you will find, no one source completely reflects your assignment's parameters.  You will need to make decisions about what elements or aspects of  each format best meets your needs as you put together your analysis and recommendations for the consumption of your target audience.  Creating a portrait of your audience--who they are, why they are interested, what evidence will be most persuasive to them, what format would best meet their needs and expectations as readers--before you begin will help you determine how best to create a document that not only breaks down a policy for them in a way they will understand, but also persuades them that your suggestions are definitely the best for this situation. 

• Tips for Writing Policy Papers This resource by the Policy Lab at Stanford Law School incorporates a number of analysis strategies into a comprehensive guide for creating policy papers. The overviews of the PEST and SWOT analysis methods might be particularly useful for finding good starting points to help you think through your analysis.
• How to Do a Policy Analysis Paper This short article by Dr. Shane Hall at Synonym.com also provides a general approach to writing a policy analysis that includes examples of the kinds of information that should usually be considered or included.
• Suggestions for Writing Policy Analyses Philip Doty created this page for a Library Science class on Government Information at the University of Texas at Austin. It focuses on the possible structures that policy analyses can take and has suggestions for what information belongs where.
• What Is a Policy Paper? This page is from A User's Guide to Political Science, part of the Government Department's site at Wesleyan University. While intended for political science majors, this page has many useful resources for all policy analysts and has questions to help you determine your audience's needs.
• Policy Analysis for California Education: Policy Briefs This resource includes briefs, reports, and working papers on policies important to educators in California. The policy briefs are possible sources for the paper, and examples of real world applications of this assignment.
• Writing Effective Proposals This page by the California Department of Education focuses on proposal writing. While it is meant to help those seeking funds more than proposing policy changes, many of the elements required are the same. The section on technical writing has good tips for thinking about your audience and making the paper easier to read.
• Proposal: Elements of a Proposal Argument This page describes how to write a policy proposal for an education setting. The page was written by Charles Nelson for his composition course at Kean University.
• Requesting Action: Tasks for Developing Proposals and Petitions This comes from the Public Policy Writing course website by Catherine Smith from East Carolina University. Writing a policy proposal is discussed at the bottom of the page, with ideas for potential audiences and how to find problems that need to be addressed closer to the top.
• Proposal Writing Resources This list of resources at the University of Northern Colorado's Office of Sponsored Programs page has links to a number of sites and agencies, some Colorado-oriented. Many of the sources are specific to grant proposal writing, but have tips and information useful for policy proposals as well.

Books on Policy Analysis in Education at Ikeda Library

• Developing Effective Policy Analysis in Higher Education by Judith I. Gill (Editor); Laura Saunders (Editor) Call Number: LA227.4 .D48 1992 ISBN: 1555427375 Publication Date: 1993-02-03

eBooks on Policy Analysis in Education at Ikeda Library

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Education Policy and Analysis

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Gain the skills to design, evaluate, and scale the effective policies and practices critical to improving outcomes for learners — at the global, national, state, and local levels.

The Education Policy and Analysis (EPA) Program will prepare you to lead and engage in education policy development, analysis, and change in organizations and settings throughout the United States and internationally. You also will learn how to scale effective education practices and how to leverage policy in order to expand their reach. The program will provide you with the theoretical frameworks and analytic methods that will enable you to design, implement, and evaluate policies at the global, national, state, institutional, program, and project levels. Our program prepares you to work in local, state, national, and international sectors, as well as research and consulting organizations, think tanks, institutions of higher education, and policy advocacy organizations. 

"Crafting and evaluating education policy remains a critical part of ensuring better outcomes for all students, and our program leads the way in cultivating the next generation of education policy professionals. From integrating research and practice to improve public policy to identifying the best method of communicating research finding to policymakers, our program will provide you with the real-world tools you need to make a difference." Carrie Conaway Faculty Co-Chair

After completing the Education Policy and Analysis Program, you will have a deeper understanding of the following competencies that explore how to:  

• Integrate values and goals - Integrate the values and goals of your organization or community throughout the policy process, with special attention to equity as a central value in education.
• Understand the issue and context  - Define the educational problem or opportunity with an understanding of the relevant historical, social, economic, and political context, including the differing interests and incentives of stakeholders.
• Evaluate evidence and tradeoffs  - Define policy options and the criteria for evaluating them. Evaluate the quality of the available evidence and use it to compare alternatives, considering fiscal, political, social, individual, and collective consequences and tradeoffs.
• Communicate and collaborate - Communicate, collaborate, advocate, and negotiate with allies, opponents, and other stakeholders. Convey evidence and reasoning clearly and appropriately for the audience.
• Engage in the policy process - Make recommendations and implement policy under conditions of uncertainty, revising decisions as new evidence and understandings come to light. Build and share new evidence on policy implementation and impact.

Curriculum Information

The EPA Program is designed to help you gain the knowledge and practice the skills essential to developing, implementing, and analyzing education policy in a wide variety of professional contexts. A minimum of 42 credits are required to graduate with an Ed.M. degree from HGSE.

The main elements of the 2024–25 academic year are: 

• This program commences with How People Learn, an immersive online course that runs June–July and requires a time commitment of 12-15 hours per week.
• You will continue Foundations with Leading Change, Evidence, and Equity and Opportunity on campus in August. 
• Your Equity and Opportunity Foundations experience culminates in an elected course, which will take place during terms when electives are available. 

To fulfill the program requirement, students must take a minimum of 12 credits specific to EPA, including the following:

• The EPA Program Core Experience (4 credits) is a 4-unit fall semester course that introduces both practical competencies and theoretical frameworks about the policymaking process. You will survey policies across the sector and advance your learning through cases, problems of practice, and current policy debates. The experience offers exposure to a variety of education levels — early childhood, K–12, higher education, and adult learners — and settings in the U.S. and around the world. Students must enroll in their first fall semester. 
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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Student Assignment Policy

Introduction, general overviews.

• Key Court Cases
• Student Body Composition and Outcomes
• Teacher Quality
• Methods of Assignment—School Choice
• Desegregation
• Resegregation

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Student Assignment Policy by Eric A. Houck LAST REVIEWED: 15 December 2011 LAST MODIFIED: 15 December 2011 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0043

Student assignment is a topic of study in educational policy that focuses on the processes by which students are allocated into schools and classrooms. In this subfield of educational policy studies, scholars also study the results from such decisions. Student assignment polices have been influenced historically by federal litigation but remain local decisions in American public school governance. As a result, student assignment policies are highly localized in scope and sensitive to broader district contexts. Historically, student assignment policies have been made with regard to geography and transportation efficiency: students attended schools that were closest to their residences. This changed in 1954 with Brown v. Board of Education , when the US Supreme Court ruled that willful assignment of African American students into separate and inferior schools was unconstitutional. From that time forward, student assignment policies in many districts in the American South have been made with regard to student body racial composition. Beginning in the mid-1990s numerous districts began petitioning for a designation of unitary status, indicating that any student segregation was not related to prior discriminatory practices of the past, or confronting legal challenges on the use of race as a factor in determining a child’s school assignment. These district-led initiatives were given even more importance by the US Supreme Court’s ruling that race could not be used as a primary criterion in student assignment decisions, effectively reversing critical aspects of the Brown ruling. As a result of these developments, districts have begun to look at criteria other than student racial composition to create student body diversity within schools. Some of these approaches have included widening school attendance zones in order to draw from a more diverse population of students, using student socioeconomic status or level of academic performance in assignment policies to create diversity within schools along academic and economic dimensions, or leveraging alternate school types, such as magnet schools, to draw wealthier parents from suburbs into majority-minority urban schools. One important topic seeks to understand the politics of creating student assignment polices. Another topic focuses on primary outcomes, such as academic performance, socialization, and future economic earnings. A third topic examines secondary outcomes, such as teacher and leader quality associated with the student body composition of a school, that are assumed to be correlated with increased student-level academic productivity.

Unlike other well-defined policy arenas in education, such as curriculum, finance, supervision, and law, student assignment policies draw from a variety of approaches and disciplines. In fact it may be safe to assert that there is no well-defined and codified canon of scholarship around the policy issue of student assignment. Further, the fact that student assignment policies are created locally yet are subject to adjudication in state and federal courts requires educators and policymakers seeking to understand student assignment policies to approach the topic with a foundation in educational politics and policymaking. Therefore this section reviews important works in the fields of politics of education and educational policy studies. Wirt and Kirst 2005 provides a cogent review of the role of politics and political players in local, state, and federal educational policymaking. Ravitch 1985 provides an overview of the failure of many school reform policies during the decades leading up to the gestation of the current standards-based reform agenda. The new direction in education and education reform is charted in Clune 1994 , noting a shift from equity-oriented policies to outcome-oriented policies in school finance, but the piece speaks clearly to the broad expanse of educational reform. This perspective is articulated in Fuhrman and Elmore 2004 , which confronts one of the key challenges of the outcome-oriented standards-based reform movement. The larger context for these trends is provided in Cooper, et al. 2004 , which reviews key theories and trends in educational policymaking, and in Guthrie and Schuermann 2009 , which reviews trends and issues in educational leadership. Roza 2010 provides details of the resource allocation inequities at the school level with some discussion of the manner in which student assignment policies impact school-level resource allocation. Two historical pieces provide context for consideration of the links between the desegregation movements of the 1970s and current student assignment policies. Formisano 2004 and Cecelski 1994 provide interesting perspectives on resistance to desegregation as practiced in the 1970s by white blue-collar Bostonians and rural African American southerners, respectively.

Cecelski, D. S. 1994. Along freedom road: Hyde County, North Carolina, and the fate of black schools in the South . Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press.

DOI: 10.5149/uncp/9780807844373

Traces efforts of the African American community of a rural North Carolina county to resist efforts to desegregate their community school.

Clune, W. H. 1994. The shift from equity to adequacy in school finance. Educational Policy 8.4: 376–394.

DOI: 10.1177/0895904894008004002

An analytic essay charting the broad movement in educational policymaking from a focus on inputs and equity to a focus on outcomes and adequacy of systems.

Cooper, B. S., L. D. Fusarelli, and E. V. Randall. 2004. Better policies, better schools: Theories and applications . Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

A text used to introduce key concepts in the policymaking process and their role in educational policymaking specifically.

Formisano, R. P. 2004. Boston against busing: Race, class, and ethnicity in the 1960s and 1970s . Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press.

Historical book that traces white resistance to school integration in Boston in the early 1970s.

Fuhrman, Susan H., and Richard F. Elmore, eds. 2004. Redesigning accountability systems for education . New York: Teachers College Press.

A series of essays addressing the manner in which accountability policies and structures can be reconfigured to meet the challenges of standards-based reform.

Guthrie, J. W., and P. J. Schuermann. 2009. Successful school leadership: Planning, politics, performance, and power . Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

A textbook outlining challenges and strategies for modern educational leaders.

Ravitch, D. 1985. The troubled crusade: American education, 1945–1980 . New York: Basic Books.

Historical piece outlining perceived failures of educational policy to sustain excellence in a period of equity.

Roza, M. 2010. Educational economics: Where do school funds go? Washington, DC: Urban Institute.

A consideration of how federal and state policies interact with the unintended consequence of systematically underfunding high-needs students.

Wirt, F., and M. Kirst. 2005. Political dynamics of American education . 3d ed. Richmond, CA: McCutchan.

Provides an overview of political interest groups and the use of power in educational policymaking at the local, state, and national levels.

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Teaching effective policy memo writing and infographics in a policy programme

• Teaching and Learning
• Published: 25 March 2021
• Volume 21 , pages 165–181, ( 2022 )

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• Tavishi Bhasin 1 &
• Charity Butcher 1  

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The Scholarship on education and practice has recently encouraged the inclusion of writing assignments in the classroom. Writing-across-the-curriculum (WAC) programmes have been implemented across universities and colleges, promoting structured writing assignments outside of language-based programmes and courses. The collective knowledge on the subject highlights the effectiveness of frequent short assignments as being better for achieving learning goals, in comparison with more traditional, longer term papers often assigned in upper-division and graduate political science courses. This paper outlines our efforts to revise the curriculum in two of the courses in our policy-focused master’s program. In particular, we focus on two types of policy writing, policy memos and infographics. In this paper, we discuss the background of the program and courses, our choices of assignments, and their design and implementation. Further, we present evidence of how these assignments contributed to student learning in the courses.

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Ishiyama, J., and W.L. Watson. 2014. Using Computer-Based Writing Software to Facilitate Writing Assignments in Large Political Science Classes. Journal of Political Science Education 10 (1): 93–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2013.859085 .

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Dr. Julia Marin Hellwege, attendees of the 2020 American Political Science Association Teaching and Learning Conference, and anonymous reviewers for their feedback on earlier drafts of this paper. Thanks also to Dr. Thomas Doleys, Director of the MSIPM program, for his support for this two-year experiment and to Mr. Gilbert Lopez for his research assistance on this project.

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Infographic assignment

Your task here is to create an infographic (a visual representation) that summarizes the policy problem or challenge that you are addressing in your chosen country.

The focus here is on looking back at how your country has handled this policy area up to this point. Summarize the challenges faced by the faces in this policy area? How has your country addressed these challenges in the past? Tell a clear story with the goal of convincing the reader that it is imperative that changes be made in this policy area.

Each infographic should include a minimum of two charts/graphs/maps/other visual representation of data. Multiple trends may be highlighted within each chart.

Please ensure you create the visual representations yourself and do not copy someone else’s work.

To create your infographic, you should choose two or three indicators (measures) that are relevant to your policy area. For example, literacy rates might be one measure used in the area of education. Percentage of population with high school degrees might be another. Using a reliable data source such as the World Bank, clearly find and state the current statistics for those measures. Summarize the trends over the last few decades for your country on these measures. [Provide some context—how does your country compare with other countries in its region on these measures?]

Note that at least one of the charts/figures should set up the problem that you will discuss in your policy memo. Think of this as an area for growth/improvement that you will address for which you will have policy recommendations when you write your memo. You are only setting up the problem here, highlighting an area for growth. You don’t need to have policy recommendations at this stage.

We expect you will use data from existing data sources, such as the World Bank. Enter the data into Word/Excel/other data analysis software. Examples of data could be literacy rates over a few decades for the country. Then use this data that you have entered into Excel to create a chart/graph/other visual representation. You may copy the chart or graph into word when you are done.

Each infographic should have a title that clearly summarizes the overall purpose of the infographic. Subsections and charts/representations should have relevant titles as well.

Your infographic should be designed to tell a coherent story using the visual representations and text within it.

Your infographic may include short portions of text in addition to the charts/visual representations that it contains.

Titles—Main and subsections

Clear, relevant, summarizes concepts 5

Contains at least two charts/visual representations covering at least two separate trends relevant to the policy area. 10

Effectiveness

Infographic presents a coherent overall story summarizing questions 10

Each data representation is clearly connected to the central theme of the infographic. 10

Each data representation provides compelling evidence to support the overall argument of the infographic. 10

Contains clear takeaways from the data and information presented. 10

Data and information used is from a reliable source 10

Data are manipulated and transformed to create an accurate visual representation. 10

Data are manipulated and transformed to create a visual representation appropriate for the data and information presented. The information being presented should be clearly relayed to the reader. 10

Visual representations are clearly and appropriately labelled with a legend/key included where necessary. This includes units of analysis for charts and an accurate and descriptive title for each representation. 5

Writing Style and Grammar. 10

Policy memo/brief instructions

The purpose of this assignment is to provide students with the opportunity to practice writing policy memos/briefs, which will be a useful skill in their international policy management career.

What is a policy memo/brief?

A policy memo/brief is a short document that outlines an issue or problem and presents recommendations based on evidence for a nonspecialized audience, such as key decision-makers, NGOs, journalists, etc. It provides policy advice and is meant to be informative and persuasive.

Organization of your policy memo/brief

While in your professional careers policy memos might vary in their organization, below is a common organizational flow for policy briefs, and one that you must use in these two courses.

Title Your title should clearly communicate your topic and may include the position of the writer on the issue. A good title should grab the attention of the reader. (five points)

Introductory Paragraph/Executive Summary Your memo/brief should include a short introductory paragraph that summarizes the problem you are addressing in the memo. In addition, the summary should briefly and clearly state the primary findings and recommendations of the memo. (ten points)

Description of the Problem and Reasons for Action You will provide a brief overview of the policy that needs to be addressed and why it is important to do something different than current policy. Basically—what is the problem and why do we need to fix it? In this section, students should discuss key measures that illustrate the problem and failures of current or past policies. For example, current literacy levels and trends might be used to demonstrate the lack of effective current policies. Data and information are important here. You should specifically analyse the strengths and weakness of existing policy—be sure to include both! Do not just present your data, but rather discuss the implications or significant findings based on the data. (20 points)

Proposed Policy Alternatives What are some potential alternatives to the current policy based on your research? Specifically, you should discuss the process through which each proposed alternative policy might fix the problems with the current policy. You should include a minimum of two potential policy alternatives. (ten points)

Analysing Policy Alternatives and Making a Policy Recommendation In this section, you will evaluate and analyse the proposed policy alternatives you discussed in the previous section and ultimately make a recommendation on the best course of action. You should discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each policy alternative and clearly state the criteria are you using to evaluate these options. Weigh the costs and benefits of various options (based on these criteria), building an argument for the “best” recommendation. You should support your assertions with relevant data and avoid generalizations. You should also be sure to address potential counterarguments and rebuttals to your findings and ultimate recommendation. The key object of this section is to ultimately create a compelling argument for the option that you have chosen as a recommendation from the presented alternatives. (25 points)

Implementing Policy Recommendation Clearly state how your policy recommendations should be implemented and a timeframe for implementation. Be sure to provide specific and detailed steps that need to be followed for the implementation of this policy; this requires you to consider the key actors (agencies, leaders, executives, etc.) involved in the implementation. Further, you should discuss the potential (intended or unintended) impact, both positive and negative, of these recommendations on key constituents. (20 points)

Conclusion Provide a succinct and clear conclusion. Remind the reader of the “big picture” and overall goal of your policy recommendations—answering the “so what?” question. In other words, why is your proposed alternative better than the current policy and status quo? Why is it important to make this change and why is the proposed timeframe appropriate and necessary? (ten points)

Format of your policy memo/brief

While the length of policy memos/briefs may vary, since you are still acquiring the ability to write succinctly, for the purpose of these classes your policy memos should be 4–5 pages in length (single spaced). In addition, policy memos should be written with the reader in mind. They should be easy to read, and it should be easy to find important information. You may consider bold or italicized fonts, clearly defined subsections, and/or bullets and lists to help the reader quickly and easily find key information.

Additional grading information

This is a formal writing assignment and you are expected to write clearly and for a professional audience. Such clarity and organization of writing, use of appropriate grammar, spelling, and appropriate word choice and usage will be considered when grading your memos. Memos with such mistakes may be penalized up to ten points, depending on the severity of the problems.

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Bhasin, T., Butcher, C. Teaching effective policy memo writing and infographics in a policy programme. Eur Polit Sci 21 , 165–181 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-021-00330-0

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Accepted : 12 February 2021

Published : 25 March 2021

Issue Date : March 2022

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-021-00330-0

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Education Policy & Social Analysis

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The mission of The Department of Education Policy and Social Analysis is to engage in cutting-edge research and teaching to address critical problems affecting education and to contribute to informed analysis and action to promote educational achievement and equity.

EPSA starts out with a broad and inclusive view of the kinds of issues that its faculty and students might consider important to address. Explicitly, we are interested in both formal institutions of schooling and the political, bureaucratic, organizational, economic, and social factors that profoundly affect both schools and the broader educational enterprise.  We are interested in the role that families, communities, and civil society can play in promoting education outside the school building walls. We have a special interest and capability in addressing issues from pre-K through higher education, in identifying ways in which laws and institutions affect education, and in understanding the growing role of private for-profit and nonprofit organizations in delivering education technologies and services. Issues relating to racial and socioeconomic equity are central to the research and teaching interests of many of our faculty members and students.

Students in this Department will develop general skills of policy research and analysis, along with general perspectives on policy development and implementation that are widely applicable to other domains of public policy.  We do hope to link education policy with other social issues and domains such as health policy. Social analysis grounded in disciplinary studies in sociology, political science, and economics should inform applied policy studies and vice versa.

• History and Education
• Economics and Education
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• John P Allegrante Charles Irwin Lambert Professor of Health Education & Applied Educational Psychology
• Thomas R Bailey President; George and Abby O'Neill Professor of Economics and Education
• Thomas Wayne Brock Director, Community College Research Center
• Alexander James Eble Assistant Professor of Economics and Education
• Ansley T. Erickson Associate Professor of History and Education Policy
• Thomas Hatch Professor of Education
• Jeffrey Henig Professor of Political Science and Education
• Luis A Huerta Associate Professor of Education and Public Policy
• Thomas James Professor of History and Education
• Davis D. Jenkins Research Professor
• Sharon L Kagan Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy and Co-Director of the National Center for Children and Families
• Na Lor Assistant Professor, Education Policy & Social Analysis
• Jordan Dmitri Matsudaira Associate Professor of Economics and Education
• Kirsten Slungaard Mumma
• Aaron M Pallas Arthur I. Gates Professor of Sociology and Education
• Douglas David Ready Professor of Education and Public Policy
• Michael A. Rebell Professor of Law and Educational Practice
• Carolyn J. Riehl Associate Professor of Sociology & Education Policy
• Amra Sabic-El-Rayess Associate Professor of Practice
• Judith E. Scott-Clayton Professor of Economics and Education
• Gita Steiner-Khamsi Professor of Education
• Amy Stuart Wells Professor of Sociology and Education
• Kevin J. Dougherty Professor Emeritus of Higher Education and Education Policy
• Susan H. Fuhrman President Emerita and Professor Emerita of Politics and Education
• Jay Heubert Professor Emeritus of Law and Education
• Henry M. Levin William Heard Kilpatrick Professor Emeritus of Economics and Education
• Francisco Rivera-Batiz Professor Emeritus of Economics and Education
• Mun Tsang Professor Emeritus of Economics and Education Policy
• Aparna Anand Lecturer, Economics & Education

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• Samuel Eli Abrams Adjunct Assistant Professor of Education (POLC)
• Diana K Cordova-Cobo Adjunct Assistant Professor: EDPS 4199
• Catherine Guerriero Assoc. Adjunct professor
• Brittany Jean Kenyon Adjunct Assistant Professor
• Eleni Demos Natsiopoulou Adjunct Assistant Professor
• Joseph Derrick Nelson Adjunct Professor
• Dennis David Parker Adjunct Professor
• Jeremy Nicholas Price Adjunct Professor: EDPS 5057.01 Qualitative Research Methods
• Joydeep Roy Adjunct Professor
• Jennifer Sallman
• Eric Y Shieh Adjunct Assistant Professor
• Elana W. Sigall Adjunct Associate Professor of Education
• Basil Anthony Smikle Adjunct Assistant Professor
• Joan Kass Stamler PT Instructor

Instructors

• Cameron Joseph Arnzen Research Assistant: 546893
• Tasnim Aziz Instructor of Record for EDP 4036
• Sarah R. Cohodes
• Margaret Plunkett Fay Senior Research Associate
• Corinne Marie Herlihy Senior Operations Strategist
• Rachel Tamar Klepper
• James S. Liebman
• Jorge Alberto Mahecha Rodriguez Research Associate II
• Veronica Milagros Minaya Lazarte Senior Research Associate and Program Lead
• Wenimo Chaunne Okoya Instructor:EDP (4036)
• Anuraag Sensharma PT Interim
• Jose Luis Vilson Interim Hourly
• EDP 4023 - No Title Found in Banner This course is designed to enable EPSA students to take a 3-unit class while participating in Teachers College’s new Summer Institute, Reimagining Education: Teaching and Learning in Racially Diverse Schools. The 4-day Institute will assist and support educators from across New York City and the surrounding suburbs in the process of rethinking policy, pedagogy and practice for a more racially, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse student body. This course, therefore, will give EPSA students a unique opportunity to listen to and engage with major speakers, performers and facilitators committed to addressing issues of inequality within our public schools. In addition to participating in the Institute, the EPSA students will meet once before and twice after the Institute to discuss their class-specific readings and assignments related to the central themes of the Institute but tailored to a graduate course in the multidisciplinary field of education policy.
• EDP 4026 - Understanding Race Education: From Racial Hierarchy to Racial Literacy This course is designed to enable students to take a 3-course credit class after participating in TC’s Summer Institute, Reimagining Education: Teaching and Learning in Racially Diverse Schools. The curriculum for this course integrates the knowledge of the fields of education, psychology, sociology and leadership to provide students with an understanding of how the racial history of our society affects day-to-day interactions and can cause tension in schools and work environments. The course will examine historical perspectives related to race and segregation, racial literacy, culturally responsive pedagogy, social justice education, asset-based education, and allyship.
• EDP 4027 - Education and social transformations: Elites and inequalities in transitional economies Drawing from several bodies of literature, this course explores critical bridges between education, on one hand, and the complex dynamics of the elite formation, corruption, and economic development, on the other hand. Students will examine the elite dynamics in crises or developing contexts; what role economics and education play in those contexts; and how education systems work to validate or delegitimize the old or new elite. Current events will be incorporated into discussions and presentations. Offered annually.
• EDP 4036 - Anti-Racist Curriculum, Pedagogy, Leadership and Policy This interactive course is the second 3-course credit online course in the Advanced Certificate Program designed in conjunction with Teachers College’s Summer Institute, Reimagining Education: Teaching and Learning in Racially Diverse Schools. This course builds on the groundwork created by the Summer Institute in July and the first online course in the fall.
• EDP 4046 - Capstone: Sustaining Inclusive Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Leadership This course is designed to enable students to take a 1-course credit class completing the Advanced Certificate Program tied to TC’s Summer Institute, Reimagining Education: Teaching and Learning in Racially Diverse Schools. This Capstone class is to be taken in the Summer A session (mid-May to end of June; 6-week intensive) following two online courses – EDP 4026 Understanding Race and Education (Fall) and EDP 4036 Anti-Racist Curriculum, Pedagogy, Leadership and Policy (Spring) – that enable students delve more deeply into the issues presented at the Institute. This capstone course is designed to support students as they create a plan of action to address issues of race, equity, and schooling in their school or community. Students enrolled will gather evidence – action research -- related to the problem they hope to address through their Action Plan. Students enrolled in this course will collect as much evidence as they can – e.g. rates of racial disproportionality related to access to high-track classes, discipline, special education designation, graduation, college-going rates – in the sites where they work and/or hope to affect change.
• EDP 4050 - Education, Islam and Radicalization This course provides a current and thorough review of the most recent and growing literature on Islam and education with a particular focus on the emerging research exploring the role of education in Islam, radicalization, and de-radicalization here in the US and abroad. Often perceived as a tool for long-term interventions, education is typically dismissed as having only a limited potential in producing immediate effects. It is frequently sidelined as irrelevant in responding to the fast growing radicalization movements. This course will demonstrate that the power of education - informal and formal - in radicalization and de-radicalization efforts is vastly underestimated. We will consider how education initiatives are often underfunded, overlooked or ignored given the political need for immediacy in our current and collective response to extremism. As we travel through the course, we will explore various links and tensions between Islam, education, diversity, gender, identity, and radicalization in specific contexts, but those cases will not be studied in isolation. Instead, we will contextualize them into the broader and globally emerging trend towards religiously and/or racially seeded radicalization movements not solely observed within Islam or the contexts studied in this course.

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• EDP 5001 - Systemic Improvement in Public Education: Seminar To participate in Systemic Improvement in Public Education, students must be enrolled in both the seminar (EDP 5001) and the skills and practicum (EDP 5301) components of the course. Hosted at Columbia University Law School's Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL), this offering is a rigorous academic course in the design, governance, transformation, and democratic accountability of public- and allied non-profit organizations. Drawing on domestic and foreign case studies from the private, public, and non-profit sectors in domains reaching well beyond K-12 education but with a particular focus on that sector, students evaluate and apply a number of models for how institutions define objectives and measure success, produce and deploy knowledge, govern internal operations, supervise dispersed staffs, and make themselves accountable to key stakeholders and the public at large. Students explore a variety of tools modern organizations use for these purposes, including design and systems thinking, quantitative analysis, qualitative evaluation, balanced scorecards, structured team-based problem-solving, and cooperative “regimes” of public and private sector organizations. This course is by application only. Prospective students should consult with their academic advisors before interviewing for the course. Application at: http://www.law.columbia.edu/public-research-leadership or by emailing [email protected].
• EDP 5063 - US Education Policy in Historical Perspective This course takes a historical approach to examining educational policy in the U.S., focusing particularly on the interaction between federal policy and local and state contexts, to help students explore and answer these key questions: why and how did schooling became a public, state function in the U.S.? how have U.S citizens answered the question of who governs schools, and at what scale? How has education policy interacted with and been shaped by racism, sexism, classism, and heterosexism? Part I of the course focuses on cross-cutting historical questions about the idea and evolution of education policy and governance in the U.S. Part II examines examples of federal policy in education – including those that have attempted to address poverty through and within education, to address segregation by racial category, to support bilingual education, to meet the needs of students with disabilities, to establish standards for academic achievement, and to foster school choice.
• EDP 5301 - Systemic Improvement in Public Education: Skills & Practicum To participate in System Improvement in Public Educatino, students must be enrolled in both the seminar (EDP 5001) and the skills and practicum (EDP 5301) components of the course. Hosted at Columbia University Law School's Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL), this course consists of experiential training through a professional research or consulting experience. Students, working in cross-functional teams with business, law and/or policy graduate student, support education organizations in studying and thinking through some of their most challenging strategic, operational, design, governance, and legal issues and developing actionable solutions. A small team of experienced education policy researchers and central managers, employed by the program, guide the consulting projects. The projects provide organizations with important short-term support and long-term access to exceptional professional talent. They offer students rich opportunities to test concepts encountered in the co-requisite course, unique insight into what a career in education leadership looks like, important career-entry opportunities, and a valuable network in the education sector. This course is by application only. Prospective students should consult with their academic advisors before interviewing for the course. Application at http://www.law.columbia.edu/public-research-leadership or by emailing [email protected]. Accepted students are strongly encouraged, but not required, to select the maximum allowable 6 credits for EDP 5301.
• EDP 7500 - Dissertation Design & Prep Instructor's approval required.
• EDP 7501 - Dissertation Seminar Faculty. Permission by instructor required. Required of doctoral students in the semester following successful completion of certification examinations.
• EDPA 4002 - Data Analysis for Policy and Decision Making I This is an introductory course in quantitative research methods that focus on non-experimental designs and the analysis of large-scale longitudinal datasets, especially those related to education policy. Students become familiar with the logic of inferential statistics and the application of basic analytic techniques. No prior knowledge of statistics or quantitative methods is required.
• EDPA 4013 - Education Policy and the Management of Instruction This course uses a backward-mapping approach to examine how federal, state, and local education policies affect the learning environments of schools and classrooms, teacher quality and pedagogy, and ultimately student learning in schools. We review important milestones in instructional policy in the United States and consider their impact on educational equity. The course is intended to help students develop and articulate ambitious theories of action for school improvement and the management of instruction that can be useful in their work as education policy makers or analysts, academic researchers, and practitioners in schools and districts.
• EDPA 4017 - Higher Education and the Law This multidisciplinary survey course explores significant recent developments in public and private higher-education law, policy, and practice. Designed for practicing and aspiring higher-education administrators, policy analysts, advocates, and researchers, it covers many issues that are now the subject of spirited, polarized national debates in the U.S., including access to higher education; student and faculty free speech and academic freedom; DACA, immigration and English learners; using race, ethnicity and gender to promote diversity; HBCUs and single-sex education; and harassment, cyber-bullying, and discrimination based on race, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability. Other topics include aspects of safety and order: institutional authority to regulate on- and off-campus student and staff misconduct; tort liability (for suicide, hazing, drug and alcohol abuse); search and seizure; and due process. Current administrators at Columbia and other universities are welcome.
• EDPA 4025 - Higher Education Policy This course provides an introduction to major policy enactments in higher education both in the United States and abroad. The policies reviewed include provision of different types of colleges including community colleges and private higher education, tuition and student financial aid, affirmative action, higher education finance, and quality assurance and performance accountability. The course examines the forms, political origins, implementation, and impacts of these policies. The aim is to help students develop a broad and deep understanding of the main directions of – but also limitations to – higher educational policymaking in the United States and abroad.
• EDPA 4033 - Comprehensive Educational Opportunity The course will provide students an overview of the concept of comprehensive educational opportunity, which seeks to provide meaningful educational opportunities for children from poverty backgrounds and will analyze the feasibility of its implementation. Topics will include the impact of poverty on children's opportunities to succeed in school, the role of early childhood learning, out-of-school time, health factors, and family and community support on school success; the history of past attempts to overcome socioeconomic disadvantages; the current attempts of large-scale "collective impact" initiatives to deal with these issues, and the economic, political, administrative, educational, and legal issues that must be considered to advance this concept on a large scale.
• EDPA 4046 - School Finance: Policy and Practice Examination of the judicial and legislative involvement in school finance reform, taxation, and the equity and efficiency of local, state, and federal finance policies and systems.
• EDPA 4047 - Politics and Public Policy What are the various stages of the policy process, from the recognition of certain problems as public issues to the adoption of policies to address those problems and the implementation and evaluation of those policies? This course touches on all these stages but focuses on policy origins: problem recognition and agenda setting, consideration of possible policy solutions, and policy adoption. The course examines policy origins through the lenses of various theoretical perspectives drawn from political science, sociology, economics, and law, including policy entrepreneurship theory, the advocacy coalition framework, punctuated equilibrium theory, diffusion theory, institutional theory, and the theory of the state. These perspectives are grounded by looking at the origins of particular policies concerning early childhood, K-12, and higher education.
• EDPA 4048 - Education Policy Analysis and Implementation Explores the issues of policy (or reform) implementation in schools and districts by focusing on the political reactions and organizational buffers to policy change and the ways that policies become adapted and changed to fit locally defined problems. Distinctions between implementation issues in bottom-up and top-down policy change are explored.
• EDPA 4050 - Logic & Design of Research This course is an introduction to understanding, designing, and writing about empirical research in education. We will explore the philosophical foundations of the positivist, interpretive, and critical knowledge paradigms for research and the relationship between theory and evidence in research. Students will learn about different genres of research and will explore strategies for sampling, data collection, and analysis in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research. The final project will be a literature review of research on a topic of interest to the student. The course will help students make choices for the kind of research they want to pursue; it will also help students be able to synthesize and write about published bodies of research.
• EDPA 4086 - Education & the Law: Speech, Religion, Regulation This multidisciplinary survey course explores significant recent developments in K-12 public and private education law, policy, and practice. It covers many issues that are now the focus of polarized national debates. The class will include students from Teachers College, Columbia Law School, and other Columbia University graduate schools. public- and private-school practitioners, current and aspiring, are welcome, as are policy analysts, researchers, and policy makers. Topics include limits on public regulation and funding of private schools; charter schools and voucher programs; religious conflicts in public schools over public funding, prayer, and curriculum; and free-speech rights of students and teachers. The course will also focus on school safety: bullying and cyberbullying; child abuse; the schools’ authority to make and enforce rules governing on- and off-campus student and staff misconduct, including drug/alcohol abuse, hazing, and sexual misconduct; tort liability; and educational malpractice; search & seizure/drug testing; racially disproportionate school discipline; the school-to-prison pipeline; and due process rights of students and staff. The course will be multidisciplinary, drawing on sources in law, social science, policy, and education practice. We will consider how to avoid unnecessary litigation and, equally important, how to use the law to advance important educational values and objectives.
• EDPA 4503 - Schools, Courts, and Civic Participation Although historically, America’s public school system was established primarily to prepare young people to become citizens capable of maintaining a democratic society, in recent decades, most schools have done a poor job of preparing students for effective civic participation. This course will consider the reasons for the decline in the schools’ traditional civic preparation role, and how schools can prepare students to be effective civic participants in the 21st century. Based on the instructor’s belief that civic preparation will not actually become a priority of American schools unless the courts declare that students have a constitutional right to an adequate education for capable citizenship, the course will also will examine the legal and policy justifications for the courts' role in reforming public education institutions, briefly consider the history of judicial intervention in other areas of educational policy like desegregation, bilingual education and fiscal equity reform and then closely analyze Cook v. Raimondo, a pending federal case that seeks to establish such a federal right, and in which the instructor is lead counsel for the plaintiffs.
• EDPA 4899 - Federal Policy Institute The purpose of the Federal Policy Institute is to examine three themes: the enduring values of American education, contemporary issues in national school reform efforts, and the role of the federal government. During a week-long program in Washington, students will have the opportunity to identify a policy issue of personal interest and to explore that issue with the nation's senior policymakers. Introductory and concluding sessions meet at the College.
• EDPA 4900 - EDPA 4900: Research and Independent Study in Education Policy For master's students wishing to pursue independent study and/or research on topics not covered in regular courses. Requires faculty member's approval of a study plan, reading list, and final paper or other products or projects. Permission required from individual faculty.
• EDPA 5002 - Data Analysis for Policy and Decision Making II This is an intermediate‑level course in non‑experimental quantitative research methods, especially those related to education policy. The class examines such topics as residual analysis, modeling non‑linear relationships and interactions using regression, logistic regression, missing data analyses, multilevel models, and principal components analysis. Prerequisite: Students should have completed at least one graduate‑level course in applied statistics or data analysis (e.g., EDPA 4002) and have experience with Stata software.
• EDPA 5016 - Education & the Law: Equity Issues This course will explore the role of the courts in dealing with issues of equity and education beginning with Brown v. Board of Education. Topics will include school desegregation, gender equity, fiscal equity and educational adequacy, rights of English Learners and of students with disabilities, testing, and school discipline. The course will consider the role of the courts in educational policy-making and the impact of judicial intervention on school culture and educational practices. We will also analyze the meaning of “equal educational opportunity,” and "equity" in the contemporary context and confront such questions as: how deeply rooted are racism and inequity in school systems, to what extent can racism and inequities be eliminated or ameliorated in school systems if they persist in society at large, and to what extent can anti-racist curricula make a difference within systems that are structurally inequitable??
• EDPA 5023 - Policymaking for Effective High School to College Transition The course examines policymaking efforts by the federal and state governments to facilitate the movement of students from high school to college and their effective preparation to meet college requirements. The policies reviewed include student financial aid, student outreach programs such as GEAR UP, state Common Core curriculum standards, and guided student pathways through college. The course examines the content of these policies, their political origins and implementation, and their impacts. The aim is to help students develop a broad and deep understanding of the main directions of – but also limitations to – national and state policymaking with respect to high school to college transition.
• EDPA 5030 - Social Science, Education Policy, and the Courts For the past century there have been debates over the proper role of social-science evidence in judicial proceedings, especially in the context of education reform litigation. This interdisciplinary course will start with Brown v. Board of Education and trace the evolution of the use of social science by courts, focusing on decisions in such vital areas of education policy as school desegregation, student testing, special education, language services for English-language learners, education finance, and affirmative action. It explores how social science evidence has influenced judicial decision making; how judicial decision making has influenced the directions of social science research; how courts have influenced the development of educational policy in statutes and regulations; how courts, legislatures, and administrative agencies engage in social science fact finding; and how courts use presumptions, burdens of proof, and other legal mechanisms that may reduce their need to consider social science evidence.
• EDPA 5086 - The Role of Courts in Education Reform Beginning with the school desegregation decrees issued by the federal courts in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education, the federal and state courts have been called upon to consider a range of asserted educational rights and to oversee far-reaching institutional reforms that bear little relationship to traditional judicial remedies. This course will examine the legal and political justifications for the courts' role in making educational policy and reforming public institutions, as well as the courts' capacity to undertake these functions. The course will give particular attention to school desegregation, bi-lingual education and special education cases in the federal courts, education adequacy litigations in the state courts, and whether and how courts might induce schools to act more effectively in fulfilling their constitutional obligations to prepare all students to become capable voters and to function productively as civic participants.
• EDPA 5515 - Fieldwork in Education Policy (Restricted for Education Policy program students.) Policy analysis requires its practitioners to evaluate available information; to weigh the possible impacts of alternative policies; to understand political, legal, and/or economic ramifications; and to produce plans for action that are organizationally feasible and publicly valuable. This seminar is designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate a theoretical and analytical understanding of the practical problems inherent in conducting policy research by engaging a guided fieldwork research project.
• EDPA 5645 - Craft of Policy Analysis The purpose of this course is to help students learn more about the techniques of policy analysis --identifying a public problem, researching solutions to the problem, weighing costs and benefits of various alternatives, and developing a policy recommendation aimed at addressing the problem. The emphasis is on how policy analysts think and do, rather than the study of the policy process in general. The course is organized to help students understand and become more informed about the nature of education policy in the United States.
• EDPA 5880 - School Law Institute Explore important, timely issues of education law, including issues of race and poverty in education; serving English-language learners; the legal rights of students with disabilities; the right to an adequate education; and issues of safety and order (harassment, child abuse, tort liability, search and seizure, and cyber-bullying). For more information, visit SLI website at http://www.tc.edu/schoollaw, and/or contact Professor Jay Heubert at [email protected].
• EDPA 6002 - Quantitative Methods for Evaluating Education Policies and Programs This advanced master's course addresses a key issue in evaluating education programs and policies: determining whether a policy causes an impact on student trajectories that would not have occurred in absence of the policy. The course will cover experimental and quasi-experimental techniques used to attribute causal relationships between educational programs and student outcomes. Students will become sophisticated consumers of quantitative educational research and will practice statistical techniques in problems sets. There will be an exam and a final project. Prerequisites: Successful completion of 4002 and 5002 or equivalent and familiarity with the Stata statistical software package. No prior exposure to causal inference methods is expected.
• EDPA 6013 - Early Childhood Development and Education: Integrating Research and Policy Perspectives First section of a two-semester course with students participating in both semesters. Focuses on diverse perspectives framing the field and in so doing will present the most critical issues that require policy attention. Building on this background, the second semester will address steps that have been taken to ameliorate these issues, focusing heavily on research. By design, then, the first semester will present an array of issues and perspectives in order to provide the conceptual foundation for an exploration of salient strategies to address them in the second semester. By looking at early childhood development and learning from this stance, students will not only be exposed to diverse ideas about the content but will also be armed to address pressing challenges the field faces with them all in mind. (The second semester course is HUDK 6013, taught by Professor Jeanne Brooks-Gunn in the Department of Human Development.)
• EDPA 6027 - International Perspectives on Early Childhood Policy This course looks at early childhood education policy through an international lens, addressing often neglected—but highly salient—policy questions, including: What have been the real effects of the Millennium Development Goals and the Education for All goals on education systems in general and on early childhood education in particular? How have poverty, gender, and the needs of marginalized populations/cultures shaped early childhood policy in diverse countries? What are the unique policy properties that must be considered when developing policies for young children and their families? To what extent do the policy contexts of nations differ, and how do these differences impact early childhood policies directly? To what extent can lessons learned in one context be faithfully transported across national boundaries? Based on readings and discussions of these issues, students will demonstrate their understanding of the role of policy in shaping early childhood education in a given country though the final paper, a situation analysis. Building on sequenced assignments, this paper will provide the platform for students to use policy tools and make recommendations for concrete early childhood policy improvements.
• EDPA 6030 - Institutional Theory: Sociological Perspectives on Institutional Change in Education An introduction to organizational theory as it applies to a variety of institutions with particular attention to the potential of educational activities as a force in formal organizations.
• EDPA 6542 - Education Policy Foundations Seminar (Required for all Education Policy program students and restricted to Education Policy students) This course is the introductory seminar for all students enrolled in degree programs in Education Policy. It provides an overview of the education policy system and history of landmark education policies in the United States, an introduction to the tools and approaches of policy research and analysis, an introduction to the intellectual disciplines that contribute foundational perspectives for policy research (especially sociology, economics, history, politics, and legal studies), and exploration of selected current topics in education policy, especially those pertaining to opportunity and equity.
• EDPA 6641 - Advanced Topics in Research Methods and Design This course provides students the opportunity to explore advanced topics in research design and analytic methods, especially as they relate to studies of educational contexts and policies.
• EDPA 6900 - Research and Independent Study in Education Policy For doctoral students wishing to pursue independent study or original research as they prepare for their doctoral certification examination and/or dissertation proposal. Permission required from individual faculty.
• EDPA 7500 - Dissertation seminar in education policy This course provides students the opportunity to discuss topics related to the preparation of their dissertation proposal in a seminar format. Students present their ideas and writing for feedback from the instructor and other students. Students may enroll in this seminar once. Permission of the instructor is required.
• EDPA 8900 - Dissertation Advisement in Education Policy Individual advisement on the doctoral dissertation, via ongoing consultation between the student and dissertation sponsor. Ph.D. students who have passed the certification exam and are not enrolled in other courses must register for dissertation advisement each term until they finish their dissertation. The fee equals three points at the current tuition rate for each term. Permission required from individual faculty.
• EDPE 4050 - Economics of Education Teaches the basic economic concepts and methods to be used for further study and analysis of educational finance, education and inequality, education and economic growth, the impact of educational policies on education; and outcomes, school reform, and school choice. Offered annually in the fall.
• EDPE 4051 - Education and Economic Development This course teaches students key perspectives on development and economic growth; the theoretical and empirical arguments linking education to economic growth; the main economic issues behind persistently low education levels in the developing world; the progress in raising these education levels being made through deliberate intervention and market responses; how students can become professionally involved in this progress; and a core set of empirical and theoretical skills useful in parsing these topics. Offered annually in the spring.
• EDPE 4055 - Resource Allocation in Education Methods of economic evaluation are a critical component of evidence for policymaking. Economic evaluations, mainly cost-effectiveness and benefit-cost analysis, contribute information about costs relative to impacts. Rigorous evidence on effects, and the resources used to produce them, aids in selecting between policy alternatives. This course is designed to provide a strong foundation to prepare researchers to apply the “ingredients method,” a method of evaluating the costs of educational programs. Students will also become familiar with statistical approaches to educational resource use and the use of cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit techniques in education.
• EDPE 4056 - Microeconomic Theory Applications to Education The purpose of the course is to provide students with the main theoretical tools and concepts for microeconomic analysis in the field of education and elsewhere, and to make students conversant in their application to real world issues and in the debates surrounding their strengths and weaknesses. These are powerful, yet controversial, tools, and are at the heart of much of today’s education and social policy debate. Topics covered include supply, demand, consumer optimization, expected value, uncertainty, insurance, producer optimization, equilibrium, perfect competition, monopoly, imperfect competition, externalities, and public goods. Offered annually in the Fall.
• EDPE 4057 - Economics of urban and minority education Policy-oriented approach to the connections between education and the economy in an urban context. Topics include urban industrial restructuring and socioeconomic trends, equity in school finance, teacher salaries, public versus private roles in education, linkages between schools and the business sector, the economics of discrimination, and immigration policy issues.
• EDPE 4058 - Economics of Higher Education This course uses theoretical and empirical economic analysis to analyze the behavior of higher education students and institutions and to study private and public policy related to post-secondary education. Offered regularly, typically in the fall.
• EDPE 4097 - International and Comparative Studies in Educational Finance This course introduces students to key concepts and methodological tools in international comparative analysis of education finance. It examines fundamental and diverse perspectives in global school finance, focusing on the theory and policies of how nations in different parts of the world mobilize and allocate resources for education, and use these resources to address pressing issues in educational attainment and equity. Intended for both U.S. and international graduate students in education who may subsequently work as policy makers, education administrators and academic researchers in a variety of educational organizations and institutions, nationally and internationally.
• EDPE 4155 - Evaluating Educational Privatization and School Choice Educational privatization and school choice raise fundamental questions about the purposes of education, the nature of community, the meaning of freedom, the boundaries of the market, and the definition of the public good and of public goods. Through close reading of court decisions and legislative acts as well as works in economics, sociology, history, political science, pedagogy, and investigative journalism, we will explore these questions.
• EDPE 4500 - Research, Writing and Professional Seminar in Economics of Education This seminar is intended to develop students’ research and writing skills as applied to an in-depth independent project in the Economics of Education, to develop professional skills, and to promote a supportive scholarly and professional community among Econ & Ed students. The course will examine the stages of research development and provide structured guidance to students as they develop an independent project and prepare for their careers after graduation. Since the course will be run as a seminar, students are expected to contribute to class discussions as well as to provide critical and thoughtful feedback on their classmates’ work in progress. Priority will be given to master’s students in Economics & Education, but the course is open to EPSA students as well. Offered annually.
• EDPE 4900 - Research Independent Study: Economics & Education Faculty.
• EDPE 5430 - Internship in Economics and Education Permission of advisor required. Supervised training in diverse settings designed to gain work experience and/or research skills related to economics of education.
• EDPE 5550 - Workshop in Economics and Education For doctoral students and others with research projects or potential research projects in the field. Participation required for doctoral students writing their dissertation. Students who are beginning to think about their dissertation topic or working on proposals are also encouraged to participate. Faculty members may also be invited from within or outside the department to present their work. Offered annually.
• EDPE 6000 - Advanced Analysis in Economics of Education The course focuses on the evaluation of state-of-the art research papers in the economics of education. The purpose is to provide critical readings and reviews of articles and papers across many different methods. Offered occasionally.
• EDPE 6022 - Econometric Methods for Policy Research and Program Evaluation This course is essentially one in applied econometrics, but is well suited to anyone in policy, sociology, political science, etc. looking to do empirical research about the causal effects of some X on some Y. The goal of this class is for students to learn a set of statistical tools and research designs that are useful in conducting good empirical research on public policy topics. The course will emphasize the importance of research design (relative to statistical technique) for the identification of causal effects, as well as the limitations in the applicability of many commonly used techniques. The pedagogical philosophy behind the class is guided by the maxim “show, don't tell." While we will learn the statistical properties of a variety of common estimators using some black/white-board math, the formal requirements of the class will consist primarily of problem sets requiring students to analyze real data and replicate results from published papers in the hope that doing applied work will help you to learn the theory behind it. Learning Objectives Students who successfully complete this course will: • Be familiar with the most common econometric research designs, and have a firm grasp on the conditions under which each can produce valid causal inferences. • Have a grounded understanding of the theoretical properties of common econometric estimators. • Understand how to critique the empirical methodologies of papers that use the most popular research designs.
• EDPE 6023 - Advanced Causal Methods: Use and Interpretation This doctoral course covers the design, implementation, and interpretation of econometric methods used for evaluating causal relationships in education research, reading and discussing applied methodological texts as well as journal articles using advanced causal methods. The course covers randomized experiments, natural experiments, differences-in-differences, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity, and propensity score matching. Offered occasionally.
• EDPE 6025 - Conducting Field Experiments: Design and Implementation The purpose of this course is to introduce students familiar with causal methods to the design and implementation of field experiments in economics and education. In the first part of the course, students will study experimental design. In the second part of the course, students will focus on the practical aspects of running an experiment. The course assignments will lead up to a completed proposal outlining the theory, design, and implementation of a field experiment. In addition, students will complete an IRB application for human-subjects approval and present their proposals. Offered occasionally.
• EDPE 6050 - Education and Economic Development: Advanced Topics This course provides an advanced discussion of the links between education and economic development, including both theoretical frameworks and a review of frontier empirical research, with a focus on how such studies are conceived and executed. Offered occasionally.
• EDPE 6052 - Labor Economics This course covers important concepts in labor economics, with a focus on how those concepts can be applied and tested in practice. The course will provide an overview of labor market topics such as the returns to education and training, non-monetary forms of compensation, models of labor migration, and models of imperfect or asymmetric information about skills. For each topic, we will examine influential papers and the empirical methods they use. The course is intended for doctoral students and will count towards the Labor Economics requirement for the Economics of Education Ph.D. program. Offered occasionally.
• EDPE 6151 - Advanced Microeconomics with Applications to Education A doctoral-level survey of microeconomic theory with applications of relevance to the economics of education. Includes the theory of the firm and its implications regarding factor demands, educational production functions, and the demand for education. Consumer theory and the theory of labor supply, human capital externalities, inter-temporal decision-making, public finance and local public goods will also be covered. Offered every other year.
• EDPE 6590 - Doctoral Research Seminar on Economics of Education Through presentation and discussion of their research studies, students learn research skills and improve their understanding of various issues in the research process from the initial stage to dissemination.
• EDPE 6900 - Studies in economics and education In each of the areas within the department, advanced students may register for intensive individual study of some aspect of their specialization. Registration is only by permission of the instructor under whose guidance the work will be undertaken. Times for individual conferences will be arranged. Enrollment may be for 1 or more points each term, and registration is not limited to one or two terms.
• EDPE 7500 - Dissertation seminar in economics and education Faculty. Permission required. Proposal writing. Required of doctoral students in the semester following successful completion of certification examinations.
• EDPE 8900 - Dissertation Advisement in Economics and Education Individual advisement on doctoral dissertations. Fee to equal 3 points at current tuition rate for each term. For requirements, see section in catalog on Continuous Registration for Ed.D./ Ph.D. degrees.
• EDPH 4060 - History of Education in NYC An examination of the city’s educational institutions from the perspective of the different school populations who attended them over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries.
• EDPH 4070 - History of Education in the US Considers the development of American education in the context of American social and intellectual history.
• EDPH 4076 - History of Urban Education Understanding the development of schooling in US cities, with an emphasis on social, economic, and spatial changes in the metropolitan environment and their interactions with schools.
• EDPH 4901 - Research and Independent Study: History and Education Permission of instructor required.
• EDPH 5070 - History and Theory of Higher Education What is the purpose of higher education, and how has its purpose changed over time? In this course, we will investigate this fundamental question by contextualizing how religious, cultural, political, and international dynamics have contoured American higher education since the origins of the first colonial colleges to its present-day policies and issues.
• EDPH 5076 - History of African-American Education An exploration of informal and formal education from slavery to the present.
• EDPH 5190 - Old and New Histories of Higher Education Institutions This research seminar, open to students from any program, supports research on the history of Teachers College as an academic institution. The last history of TC was published in 1954. New histories are vitally needed now. Fresh evidence, more recently published scholarship, and alternative perspectives make this endeavor an excellent opportunity for students to engage in historical research.
• EDPH 5195 - Experience, Education and Histories This seminar takes a historical perspective to explore learning through experience changed with the rise of mass schooling, increasing urbanization and industrialization, and the revolution in technology and communications. Special attention will be given to initiatives aiming to promote learning through experience amidst the ever-expanding built world and the standardization and regimentation of formal education. The seminar examines the history of efforts to foster learning settings that integrate direct experience, spontaneity, creativity, adventure and play more fully into the education of children and young adults.
• EDPH 5670 - Colloquium in History and Education Discussion of research and teaching topics in history and education. Permission of instructor required.
• EDPH 6041 - History & Education Historical Method Methods, principles, and problems of historical research and interpretation. Designed for students throughout the College undertaking systematic inquiries on historical topics.
• EDPH 6901 - Research Independent Study: History and Education Permission of instructor required.
• EDPH 8901 - Dissertation Advisement: History & Education Faculty. Individual advisement on doctoral dissertations. Fee to equal 3 points at current tuition rate for each term. For requirements, see section in catalog on Continuous Registration for Ed.D./Ph.D. degrees.
• EDPP 4040 - American Politics and Education Introduction to the basic analytical categories of political science as they apply to the politics of education, including the influence of federal, state, and local governments in school policy-making, decentralization, school finance, and desegregation.
• EDPP 4042 - Comparative Politics and Education The politics of education in settings outside the U.S. topics, including the role of education in political development, political socialization, and student politics.
• EDPP 4900 - Research & Independent Study: Politics & Education For masters students who wish to pursue an independent study or original research with a specific research focus (the topic of the study must be approved by the academic advisor for the student's program of studies.) Instructor's permission is required.
• EDPP 5041 - Politics of Centralization and Decentralization Analyzes the political underpinnings and consequences of centralization versus decentralization at various levels of governance with special but not exclusive attention to educational decision-making.
• EDPP 5042 - Urban Politics and Education Politics in the nation's largest cities with a particular focus on educational politics and policy.
• EDPP 5045 - Race, Ethnicity, and U.S. Educational Policy Examination of the impact of race and ethnicity on the formation and implementation of policies such as desegregation, affirmative action, bilingual education, and choice.
• EDPP 5500 - Educational Activism in New York City Since the 1930s What have New Yorkers wanted from their schools, and how have they sought to achieve these goals? How have different communities – from Black mothers to Puerto Rican activists to queer youth to interracial coalitions of leftist teachers and many others – sought to make change in New York City schools? How did they understand the nature and operation of the city school system, and what can we learn from their perspectives? This course explores the forces that shaped inequality in the New York City public schools by focusing on the experiences, knowledges, and visions of those who criticized the system and sought to remake it to better serve their schools and their community's needs.
• EDPP 5640 - Colloquium on the Politics of Education Continuous participation required of doctoral students until their dissertation proposals are accepted. A critical review of important works in politics and education, discussions with invited guests, presentations of work in progress.
• EDPP 5642 - Colloquium in Political Economy and Education Political and economic perspectives on contemporary problems of public policy and education.
• EDPP 6540 - Seminar in Politics of Education Selected topics in the politics of education.
• EDPP 6900 - Research and Independent Study in Politics and Education For doctoral students wishing to pursue independent study or original research as they prepare for their doctoral certification examination and/or dissertation proposal. Permission required.
• EDPP 6940 - Studies in Politics and Education Permission required. Independent study.
• EDPP 7503 - Dissertation seminar Permission required. Development of doctoral dissertation proposals.
• EDPP 8900 - Dissertation Advisement in Politics and Education Individual advisement on doctoral dissertations. Fee to equal 3 points at current tuition rate for each term. For requirements, see section in catalog on Continuous Registration for Ed.D./Ph.D. degrees.
• EDPS 4000 - Education and Public Policy Examination of the federal role in K-12 education policy over the course of the 20th century and its impact on states and districts.
• EDPS 4021 - Sociology of Education A broad analysis of education using basic sociological concepts, including schools as organizations, socialization, stratification, and ethnic relations.
• EDPS 4022 - Sociology of Urban Education This course encourages students to think critically about the social, economic and political context of urban education. Topics include housing policies, gentrification, racial and socio-economic segregation, school closures, privatization and school choice
• EDPS 4024 - Social Stratification and Education An examination of the link between education and social inequality in Western societies, questioning whether schools are a mechanism of social mobility, enabling poor and disadvantaged children to get ahead in life, or whether schools perpetuate the hardships faced by poor and minority populations. Topics include the importance of quantity and quality of schooling for adult success; the ways in which race/ethnicity, sex, and social class background structure students educational experiences; the role of tracking and ability grouping within schools; and the link between schooling and the economy.
• EDPS 4027 - Sociology of Classrooms An examination of sociological research on the structure and operation of classrooms. Particular attention to the processes of stratification, socialization, legitimation, and social organization.
• EDPS 4028 - Sociology of the Life Course Sociologists define the life course of individuals by when, and in what order, people assume key social roles, such as becoming an adult or moving from the workforce to retirement. This course looks at the sociology of the life course. Focusing on how historical and societal factors combine with the personal characteristics of individuals to produce unique life course patterns.
• EDPS 4029 - Sociology of Schools An examination of sociological research on the structure and operation of schools. Particular attention to the processes of socialization, stratification, and legitimation as well as social organization and the sociology of school curriculum.
• EDPS 4030 - Sociology of Organizations Introduction to concepts, theories, and research in the sociology of organizations and the related interdisciplinary field of organization studies, as they apply to schools and other organizational settings in education. Topics covered will include internal organizational dynamics, organizations and their environments, organizations as contexts for human identity and agency, and organizational learning and improvement.
• EDPS 4032 - Gender, difference and curriculum A study of the extent and causes of gender inequality in society and the ways in which schools work both to reduce and exacerbate inequality.
• EDPS 4034 - Organizing Schools for Diversity This course provides a basic introduction to the sociology of organizations and then places organization theory in conversation with the sociological literature on race, diversity, and equity to address the question of how schools can be organized to be humane, effective, equitable, and just contexts for adults (teachers, administrators, etc.) and students who are diverse, and often marginalized, along characteristics such as race/ethnicity, social class, gender identity and sexual orientation, culture and religion, language, indigenous or immigration status, residential mobility and homelessness, and dis/ability.
• EDPS 4620 - Introductory Colloquium in Sociology of Education Intensive readings and discussions of basic literature in sociology of education, with attention to common issues and research strategies.
• EDPS 4903 - Research and Independent Study Permission required.
• EDPS 5005 - Sociology of Teaching and Learning in Education Despite the conventional wisdom that teaching and learning are the bread and butter of schooling, neither the meanings of those words nor their main contextualization in schools can be taken as universally obvious. By applying a range of sociological theories to a grounding educational case study, we will work to uncover societal mechanisms behind how we collectively give meaning to the ideas of “learning” and “teaching.” We will then mobilize those understandings to think about a variety of contemporary issues around teaching and learning, and discuss how a sociological perspective on these issues can inform creative paths forward. Alongside the concrete discussion of teaching and learning, this course will provide sociology students (and any others who are interested) with practice in how to meaningfully bring together theoretical frameworks and empirical observations to develop empowering understandings about society.
• EDPS 5020 - Survey Research Methods Relationship between research problem and study design, choice of population, sampling methods, instrument construction, interviewing, data processing, and analysis.
• EDPS 5022 - Sociology of Education Systems Analysis of local and national education systems through application of sociological perspectives and organization theory, with special attention to problems of equity, effectiveness, and the embeddedness of education systems in their larger contexts.
• EDPS 5050 - Ideology, Racial Politics, and Public Policy: Sociology of Knowledge The sociology of knowledge analyzes the process by which "reality" becomes constructed within a social context. With a focus on education and social welfare policies, this class will explore the "reality" of public policies with real material consequences and how this reality has been constructed around a set of assumptions defining the "problems" that need to be solved. This course helps students step back from a focus on "implementing" educational reform and examine instead how such a reform movement became the focus.
• EDPS 5053 - Race, Gender and Education This course examines how racial discrimination in American education intersects with gender norms and stereotypes in ways that shape everyday school life, particularly how educational policies at the school, district, and federal level either perpetuate or transform these dynamic intersections. After exploring personal histories of race, gender, and schooling through memoir, the course begins with a theoretical and conceptual overview of race, gender, and sex, and the history of race and patriarchy in the U.S. context. Popular culture and discourse, as well as key issues and debates in the field are taken up thereafter, with a focus on race and gender equality/access in urban school settings, and gender dynamics in relation to racial bias, class privilege, and sexuality (e.g., LGBTQIA issues). The goal of the course is to reconsider what constitutes effective schooling for all students across social and cultural contexts.
• EDPS 5057 - Introduction to Qualitative Methods for Education Policy and Social Analysis This 3-credit course is designed to introduce students to qualitative inquiry and data analysis. As a class we will aim to better understand the following: When is a qualitative methodology approach appropriate? What types of qualitative methods are out there and under what conditions is one analytic approach optimal over another? What are effective strategies for interview data collection? How do researchers code, analyze, and interpret qualitative data? What ethical dilemmas emerge in qualitative research? How do we know if qualitative research findings are valid, trustworthy, and reliable? Students will be guided to participate in the qualitative research process, encompassing: identification of a research question, development of an interview protocol and participant consent forms, (mock) approval of the Institutional Review Board, interview practice (e.g., conducting interviews and recording the interviews), interview data transcriptions, generation of qualitative codes and themes, synthesis of qualitative research findings, clarification of study significance and contribution to policy, practice, and/or theory.
• EDPS 5503 - Classical Social Theory This class is an introduction to classical sociological theory. The epistemological foundations of sociological inquiry as well as its core concepts and methods will be examined. Problems and concepts to be covered will include alienation, class, legitimation, power, anomie, exploitation, culture, ideology, development, and individuation. The texts to be examined will be mainly from the three ‘founders’ of sociology: Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. In addition, theorists who worked within the classical sociological tradition and who have played a significant role in shaping contemporary social theory will also be studied; such theorists may include: Friedrich Engels, Marcel Mauss, George Simmel, Sigmund Freud, and Norbert Elias.
• EDPS 5504 - Contemporary Social Theory This class will examine how the classical works of Weber, Durkheim and Marx have been augmented and revised by contemporary social thinkers. The readings will cover the American traditions of functionalism, pragmatism, and behaviorism as well as competing traditions such as neo-Marxism, structuralism, and discourse analysis. The readings will also address substantive issues such as globalization, digitization, consumerism, suburbanization, identity politics, racial formation theory and social control. The class will give students a broad overview of contemporary social theory as well as an understanding of how theory has addressed current social problems.
• EDPS 5620 - Advanced colloquium in sociology of education This course is designed to enhance student knowledge of social theory in sociological research. Particular attention is devoted to deductive models of explanation and their use in the construction of theory and its application as a basis for empirical inquiry.
• EDPS 5646 - Evaluation of Educational and Social Programs An introduction to the evaluation of social and educational programs. Topics include evaluation to inform program conceptualization and design; measuring program implementation; impact assessment, including randomized experiments; cost-effectiveness analysis; and the social and political context of program evaluation.
• EDPS 6021 - Master's Integrative Project in Sociology and Education Students wishing to complete a master's integrative project instead of taking the master's exam will design a study, provide a relevant literature review of theory and research, collect and analyze data, and write a comprehensive report of their work.
• EDPS 6525 - Seminar in sociology of education A seminar for doctoral students to further their professional development and to prepare for doctoral research.
• EDPS 6903 - No Title Found in Banner Permission required.
• EDPS 6920 - Studies in sociology and education Studies in sociology and education
• EDPS 7503 - Dissertation seminar Permission required. Required of doctoral students in the semester following successful completion of certification examinations.
• EDPS 8903 - No Title Found in Banner Individual advisement on doctoral dissertations. Fee to equal 3 points at current tuition rate for each term. For requirements, see section in catalog on Registration for Ed.D./Ph.D. degrees.

EDUC 643 Contemporary Issues in Educational Policy

• Course Description

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the  Academic Course Catalog .

Course Guide

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*The information contained in our Course Guides is provided as a sample. Specific course curriculum and requirements for each course are provided by individual instructors each semester. Students should not use Course Guides to find and complete assignments, class prerequisites, or order books.

This course will be directed toward non-licensure graduate students seeking a Masters or Specialist degree in Education. This course will help the candidate analyze and understand policies that affect the K-12 and higher education settings. Understanding the process, implementation, and evaluation of district, state, and federal policy will help current and future educators and educational leaders influence school-level decision making.

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and lecture presentations.

No details available.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations the candidate will complete the related checklist found in Course Overview.

Discussions (5)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the candidate is required to create a 300–400-word thread in response to the provided prompt for each discussion. Additionally, the candidate will post a 100–150-word reply to at least 2 other classmates’ threads. Each thread and reply must have at least 1 scholarly citation. Acceptable sources include the textbook, the Bible, and scholarly journals/articles. (CLO: A, B, C, D)

News Article Review Assignments (2)

The candidate will submit 2 essays discussing current news articles related to policy issues in education. News articles used for this assignment must come from a newspaper, a news program, or another reputable news source, and the article must be written within the past 5 years. Reputable sources include such resources as an education journal or major news networks, but do not include sites such as Wikipedia. Each essay must be formatted in current APA style and must be at least 300–400 words. A title page and reference page for each article must be provided. (CLO: A, B)

Policy vs. Worldview Paper Assignment

The candidate will submit a 3–5-page paper that critically discusses a contemporary educational policy issue in which the case for or against the policy is, or potentially could be, in conflict with biblical principles. The paper must incorporate at least 3 sources and must be formatted in current APA style with a title page included. The candidate must also provide a personal response to the issue and a discussion of the implications for K-12 or higher education educators and students. Each source must be written within the past 5 years. (CLO: C, F)

Federal Policy Review Assignment

The candidate will visit the United States Department of Education website and view the most recent speech or video presentation from the current U.S. President or U.S. Secretary of Education. After reviewing the video, the candidate will write a 600–800-word critique of the message, including a summary of the speech and the potential implications for schools. The review must be formatted in current APA style and include a title and reference page. (CLO: A, C, F)

Clashing Views on Educational Issues Research Paper Assignment

In this assignment, each student will research a current topic of interest relevant to the K-12 or higher education environment. A literature review on the topic is needed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the topic area. This paper must provide background and historical information, as well as current and future impact. This research paper should include a cross-examination of the main points of both sides of the topic. This style allows the researcher to cross-examine both sides of this topic in an attempt to highlight the most controversial parts of the issue. Your analysis will consist of a driving force, a resisting force, and a plan for improvement showing appropriate actions and tools. The supporting research should provide the necessary information to compel any reader of your paper to appreciate your position based on the information presented. This paper will be 4 to 6 pages and must use at least four sources outside of the course textbook. (CLO: A, D, F)

School Board PowerPoint Presentation Assignment

The candidate will select and analyze 1 district or school-level policy issue. The candidate must use resources such as student handbooks, school and district websites, school board policy, or interviews with school/district personnel to describe the policy issue and its implications on the school setting. The candidate must then develop a PowerPoint presentation to present at a school board meeting. The candidate must address why the new policy or policy change is needed, what effect the policy has had or could have on the school(s), how other schools or districts are addressing this issue, and future potential effects of the policy being/not being implemented or changed. This presentation must contain 16 – 18 slides and 5 references in current APA format, with all references listed on the last slide. (CLO: A, B, C, E, F)

Policy Evaluation Benchmark Assignment

As the benchmark assignment for this course, the candidate is required to write an 8–10-page paper applying the course principles to evaluate educational policy at the federal, state, and local level. The purpose of the paper is to synthesize the various elements covered in the course and textbook readings in order to promote an understanding of the effects of educational policy on the K-12 or higher education classroom. The paper must demonstrate proper use of current APA format by including a title page, an abstract, and a reference page with at least 5 references no older than 5 years, and proper internal citations. The paper must be written from a biblical worldview with Scripture references included. The candidate will submit the assignment through Turnitin. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E)

Quizzes (2)

Each quiz will cover the Learn material for the assigned modules. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, include 20–25 multiple-choice questions, and have a 2-hour time limit. (CLO: A, C)

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Policy Briefs

Policy Briefs synthesize existing research knowledge on a policy or practice issue of importance. Written in language an interested non-expert would find accessible, policy briefs answer the questions: “What is the research evidence related to a given policy or practice option – and what policy recommendations follow from that evidence?” Policy Briefs are blind peer reviewed.

NEPC Document Use Policy:  NEPC publications are provided free of cost to NEPC’s readers, who may make non-commercial use of them as long as NEPC and its authors are credited as the source. For inquiries about commercial use, please contact NEPC at [email protected] .

Time for a Pause: Without Effective Public Oversight, AI in Schools Will Do More Harm Than Good.

The Potential for Land Use and Housing Reform to Address School Segregation and Educational Opportunity

The Conflict Over Parents’ Rights

How Discriminatory Censorship Laws Imperil Public Education

Section 504 Plans: Examining Inequitable Access and Misuse

Consumer-Oriented School Rating Systems and Their Implications for Educational Equity

Improving Trauma-Informed Education: Responding to Student Adversity With Equity-Centered, Systemic Support

A Civil Rights Framework for the Reauthorization of ESEA

The Science of Reading Movement: The Never-Ending Debate and the Need for a Different Approach to Reading Instruction

State Accountability Rating Systems: A Review of School Report Cards as Indicators of School Quality

"Grow Your Own" Programs: Examining Potential and Pitfalls for a New Generation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Community Teachers

Transgender Students and Policy in K-12 Public Schools: Acknowledging Historical Harms and Taking Steps Toward a Promising Future

The Economic Burden of Racism from the U.S. Education System

Making Early Literacy Policy Work: Three Considerations for Policymakers Based on Kentucky’s “Read to Succeed” Act

Estimating a Price Tag for School Vouchers

The (Mis)Treatment and (Non)Education of Unaccompanied Immigrant Children in the United States

Rethinking “Innovation Schools”: Strengths and Limitations of Autonomy-Based School Improvement Plans in Contexts of Widening Racial Inequality

Issues to Consider Before Adopting a Digital Platform or Learning Program

We all want more teachers of color, right: concerns and considerations about the emergent consensus, tracking and the future of career and technical education: how efforts to connect school and work can avoid the past mistakes of vocational education, investing for "impact" or investing for profit social impact bonds, pay for success, and the next wave of privatization of social services and education, the starts and stumbles of restorative justice in education: where do we go from here, funding special education: charting a path that confronts complexity and crafts coherence, how school privatization opens the door for discrimination, organizing and managing instruction in us public school districts: considerations for families, communities, and states, what might happen if school vouchers and privatization of schools were to become universal in the u.s.: learning from a national test case—chile, state-level assessments and teacher evaluation systems after the passage of the every student succeeds act: some steps in the right direction, don't expect too much: the limited usefulness of common ses measures and a prescription for change, the state of education savings account programs in the united states, law and order in school and society: how discipline and policing policies harm students of color, and what we can do about it, community schools: an evidence-based strategy for equitable school improvement, school closure as a strategy to remedy low performance, lessons from nclb for the every student succeeds act, independent teacher education programs: apocryphal claims, illusory evidence, research-based options for education policymaking - 2016 collection, holding teacher preparation accountable: a review of claims and evidence, diverse housing, diverse schooling: how policy can stabilize racial demographic change in cities and suburbs, international test score comparisons and educational policy: a review of the critiques, investing in equal opportunity: what would it take to build the balance wheel, student mobility: causes, consequences, and solutions, why school report cards merit a failing grade, personalized instruction: new interest, old rhetoric, limited results, and the need for a new direction for computer-mediated learning, seeing past the “colorblind” myth of education policy, does class size matter, teach for america: a return to the evidence, school self-evaluation and inspection for improving u.s. schools, research-based options for education policymaking - 2013 collection, addressing school environment and safety for lgbt students, what does it take to scale up innovations, policy reforms and de-professionalization of teaching, how recent education reforms undermine local school governance and democratic education, productivity research, the u.s. department of education, and high-quality evidence, consolidation of schools and districts: what the research says and what it means, getting teacher assessment right: what policymakers can learn from research, introduction: assessing the research base for a blueprint for reform, the "common core" standards initiative: an effective reform tool, teach for america: a review of the evidence, urban school decentralization and the growth of "portfolio districts", the bracey report on the condition of public education, 2009, the realities of k-12 virtual education, nclb’s ultimate restructuring alternatives: do they improve the quality of education, poverty and potential: out-of-school factors and school success, fellows’ education letters to the president, what do we know about the outcomes of kipp schools, preschool education and its lasting effects: research and policy implications, strengthening the link between effective school expenditures and state funding mechanisms, alternative certification of teachers, a guide to contracting out school support services: good for the school good for the community, school choice: evidence and recommendations, how legislation and litigation shape school choice, the impact of advocacy funding on the school choice debate, school choice and accountability, negotiating public and private: philosophical frameworks for school choice, funding formulas, school choice, and inherent incentives, teacher qualifications and work environments across school types, school choice and segregation by race, class, and achievement, the competitive effect of school choice policies on performance in traditional public schools, the impact of school choice reforms on student achievement, promoting ell parental involvement: challenges in contested times, promoviendo la participación de los padres de estudiantes que aprenden inglés: desafíos en tiempos de conflicto, who chooses schools, and why, educational innovation and diversification in school choice plans, 'restoring value' to the high school diploma: the rhetoric and practice of higher standards, teacher attrition in charter schools, supplemental education services under nclb: emerging evidence and policy issues, the promises and pitfalls of alternative teacher compensation approaches, dropout policies: research-based strategies, assessment, high stakes, and alternative visions: appropriate use of the right tools to leverage improvement, language planning challenges and prospects in native american communities and schools, separate but superior a review of issues and data bearing on single-sex education, the accuracy and effectiveness of adequate yearly progress, nclb's school evaluation system, an analysis of the 2005 national technology plan: better for business than for children, a policy maker's guide to "the 65% solution" proposals, an assessment of colorado's charter schools: implications for policy, charter schools' performance and accountability: a disconnect, evolution of federal policy and implications of no child left behind for language minority students, no child left behind: where does the money go, reform florida, knowledge universe and virtual schools: educational breakthrough or digital raid on the public treasury, reform florida executive summaries.

Essay on New Education Policy 2020

500+ words essay on new education policy 2020.

Education is a fundamental need and right of everyone now. In order to achieve our goals and help develop a just society, we need education. Similarly, education plays a great role in the national development of a nation. As we are facing a major change in terms of knowledge globally, the Government of India approved the National Education Policy 2020. This essay on new education policy 2020 will help you learn how this new policy has replaced the National Education Policy 1986 that is 34 years old.

Aim of the New Education Policy 2020

This new policy has the aim of universalizing education from pre-school to secondary level. It plans to do that with a 100% GRE (Gross Enrollment Ratio) in schooling. The plan is to achieve it by 2030.

This essay on new education policy 2020 will highlight the changes brought in by this new policy. Firstly, the policy proposes to open Indian higher education in foreign universities.

It aims to introduce a four-year multidisciplinary undergraduate program with various exit options. Thus, this new policy will strive to make the country of India a global knowledge superpower.

Similarly, it also aims to make all universities and colleges multi-disciplinary by the year 2040. Finally, the policy aims to grow employment in India and also bring fundamental changes to the present educational system.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Advantages and Disadvantages of New Education Policy 2020

The policy gives an advantage to students of classes 10 and 12 by making the board exams easier. In other words, it plans to test the core competencies instead of mere memorization of facts.

It will allow all the students to take the exam twice. Further, it proposes that an independent authority will be responsible for regulating both public and private schools . Similarly, the policy aims to diminish any severe separation between the educational streams and vocational streams in the schools.

There will also be no rigid division between extra-curriculum. Vocational education will begin at class sixth with an internship. Now, the essay on new education policy 2020 will tell you about the disadvantages of the policy.

Firstly, it can make the education system expensive. Meaning to say, admission to foreign universities will probably result in this. Further, it will create a lack of human resources.

If we look at the present elementary education, we notice that there is a lack of skilled teachers. Thus, keeping this in mind, the National Education Policy 2020 can give rise to practical problems in implementing the system that is for elementary education.

Finally, there is also the drawback of the exodus of teachers. In other words, admission to foreign universities will ultimately result in our skilled teachers migrating to those universities.

To conclude the essay on New Education Policy 2020, we can say that this policy is an essential initiative to help in the all-around development of our society and country as a whole. However, the implementation of this policy will greatly determine its success. Nonetheless, with a youth dominant population, India can truly achieve a better state with the proper implementation of this education policy.

FAQ of Essay on New Education Policy 2020

Question 1: What does the New Education Policy 2020 aim to achieve by 2030?

Answer 1: This new policy has the aim of universalizing education from pre-school to secondary level. It plans to do that with a 100% GRE (Gross Enrollment Ratio) in schooling. The plan is to achieve it by 2030.

Question 2: Give two challenges the New Education Policy 2020 may face?

Answer 2: Firstly, it can make the education system expensive. Meaning to say, admission to foreign universities will probably result in this. Further, it will create a lack of human resources.

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Center for American Progress

7 Great Education Policy Ideas for Progressives in 2018

• Report    PDF (240 KB)

A progressive education policy agenda should focus on putting economic mobility and opportunity within reach for all.

Advancing Racial Equity and Justice, Building an Economy for All, Restoring Social Trust in Democracy, College, Career, and Civic Readiness, Economy, Education, Education, K-12, Investment and Funding Equity for Public Education, Modernizing and Elevating the Teaching Profession, Racial Equity and Community-Informed Policies, State and Local Policy +8 More

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Sarah Nadeau

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Government Affairs

Madeline shepherd.

Director, Federal Affairs

Educational opportunity for all has always been a defining progressive value, but in recent years, as the economic benefits of education have skyrocketed, living up to this ideal has taken on greater urgency. 1

As America’s economy has become more knowledge-based over the past several decades, there has been a hollowing out of the middle class. 2 In 2015, for the first time ever, less than half of American households were middle class. 3 Real wages have been stagnant since the 1960s, particularly for those in the middle- and lower-income brackets. 4

The modern economy has left behind the nearly two-thirds of workers without a college degree. 5 Over the past 50 years, job creation has mainly been in industries such as health care; business and financial services; education; and government services, where a large proportion of jobs require some postsecondary training or college degrees. 6 Meanwhile, the share of jobs in industries that historically have not required any postsecondary training has shrunk dramatically. These industries include construction, manufacturing, and natural resources—such as oil, gas, and forestry—and even they are increasingly seeking to hire skilled workers with higher educational attainment.

Job creation during the post-2008 recovery widened the gap between workers who are college-educated and those who are not. Of the 11.6 million jobs created during the recovery, nearly all—11.5 million—went to those with at least some college education and 73 percent went to workers with at least a bachelor’s degree. 7

While 36 percent of non-Hispanic white adults have a bachelor’s degree, 23 percent of black adults and 16 percent of Hispanic adults—of any race—have obtained the same. 8 Because black and Hispanic adults were less likely to have a college degree, the recession hit their families the hardest and the recovery has benefitted them the least. Black adults still face a 7 percent unemployment rate, while the rate for white adults has declined to 3.4 percent. 9 As a result, racial wealth inequality is at its highest point in nearly 30 years. 10

Though America still has far to go, pathways leading to high-wage jobs and careers that will enable workers to provide for themselves and their families are still important goals for our education system. Just as important, schools must support parents rather than acting as a barrier to work.

The U.S. economy is increasingly perceived as a zero-sum game in which only those who are already well-off reap the most benefits. And as the American ideal of a country in which economic mobility and opportunity are accessible to all seems to be moving further and further away, disillusionment with the political system grows. Embracing a progressive agenda for educational equity—detailed below in seven innovative policy ideas—is key to reclaiming the promise and once again putting the American ideal within reach.

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Seven progressive education policies to revitalize the American dream

1. provide a tutor for every child performing below grade level.

The research supporting the effectiveness of tutoring is extensive and stretches back more than a dozen years. Spurred in part by meta-analyses published at the time demonstrating tutoring’s positive effect on student achievement, tutoring was incorporated into the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 in a program known as Supplemental Educational Services (SES). 11

While good in theory, SES had many implementation problems, 12 including low participation rates and lack of quality control. 13 In some districts, there were scandals involving providers overcharging districts, hiring tutors with criminal records, or violating federal regulations. 14 In all districts, SES siphoned off Title I funds, leaving less for other important Title I programs. 15 The tutoring program was eventually phased out as the Department of Education began implementing “ESEA Flexibility,” 16 also known as waivers, and it was scrapped all together under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). 17

Yet despite the problems with SES, the research base for tutoring has continued to grow. One of the many examples of great programs is the SAGA Innovations program, which trains and places full-time tutoring fellows in high-needs schools in Chicago and Lawrence, Massachusetts. Chicago students who received high-dose math tutoring gained more than two and a half years of math learning in one year. In Lawrence, the schools that implemented the SAGA tutoring program went from the lowest-performing in the state to the top 7 percent of all schools in Massachusetts. 18

A 2011 paper that investigated the effects of tutoring provided by teachers found that students who received tutoring in either reading or math performed significantly better on the state standardized test than a control group of students with similar prior scores who did not receive tutoring. 19 Even when programs are less structured and instruction is not provided by trained teachers, tutoring can have a notable effect on student performance. In one study, students tutored by minimally trained community volunteers increased their grades and were more likely to pass their classes. 20 And many studies have demonstrated the positive academic effects of peer tutoring, where students are tutored by classmates or older students. 21

The research results on the effectiveness of tutoring make intuitive sense. High-quality tutoring can meet each student at his or her individual level, 22 a level of differentiation that is impossible for even the most dedicated of teachers to provide. 23 Essentially, every student with an educated, engaged parent has access to one-on-one tutoring at home, which is perhaps one of the reasons why homework compounds the advantages enjoyed by middle-class children. 24 For students who, for a variety of reasons, may not have access to that kind of academic assistance at home, receiving more tailored instruction from their schools can help to level the playing field and close achievement gaps. 25

In addition to the academic benefits of tutoring, there are social-emotional ones as well. Research has shown that developing a close relationship with a role model is an important determinant of engagement in school, and a tutor that a student sees regularly can provide such a relationship. 26

To reap the benefits of tutoring but avoid the problems of SES, tutoring initiatives should grow from the ground up rather than as a result of a blanket mandate. Piloting and then a paced scaling of programs such as SAGA could ensure that tutoring programs work with local school communities instead of burdening already limited resources. In order to contain the costs of tutoring, tutors could be found and compensated by recruiting community volunteers, undergraduates interested in teaching careers, recent college graduates, or through the expansion of AmeriCorps. Teachers who want to participate could also be reimbursed for their additional time.

Another way to contain costs would be through appropriate use of computer-based tutoring. There is evidence that computer-based tutoring can yield results similar to one-on-one tutoring in certain subjects, such as science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, 27 or when certain principles of the cognitive science of learning—such as self-explanation—are embedded in the program or software. 28 While these programs cannot replace the need for human interaction and relationships, they may be effective for some students and allow for greater targeting of resources toward students who most need traditional one-on-one tutoring.

Since it is known that receiving low grades in elementary school is a predictive factor for dropping out during middle school and that receiving more than one failing grade in a core academic course during ninth grade is a predictive factor for dropping out during high school, tutoring can make a difference. 29 Providing access to tutoring to improve students’ grades before they are at risk for dropping out could help them to complete further schooling, which, in turn, increases their likelihood of finding employment and earning a family-sustaining salary in adulthood.

2. Offer free breakfast and lunch for all students, regardless of income

Forty-one million Americans, including 13 million children, do not reliably have enough food to eat. 30 Meeting all children’s nutritional needs could keep students healthier, which would keep them at school and support their learning while there.

It is not always obvious who is experiencing hunger, and the face of hunger in America is changing. While it remains most acute in urban core neighborhoods with intergenerational poverty, 31 hunger is increasing in suburban locales and is most prevalent in rural Southern locales. 32 Since wages have been stagnant or eroding in many industries, two-thirds of families experiencing food insecurity have at least one working adult, and many might initially appear to be maintaining a middle-class lifestyle. 33

Children who are hungry are less healthy; they experience more colds and stomach aches and have a greater likelihood of chronic health problems. They also experience mental health consequences such as chronic stress and anxiety because persistent hunger sends the body’s stress management system into overdrive. 34 Unsurprisingly, these children’s learning and academic achievement also suffer. 35 The reverse is also true: When children have access to healthy lunches, they perform better in school. 36 Even families that have the means to feed their households may not have access to nutritious, healthy foods, and access to these foods is associated with lower risk of obesity and greater fruit and vegetable consumption. 37

Of households that experience food insecurity, less than two-thirds participate in one of the main federal anti-hunger programs: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); the National School Lunch Program; or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). 38 In part, this is because many food insecure households are not eligible for nutrition assistance or because certain barriers exist, such as the stigma associated with participating in programs designed to benefit low-income families.

Moreover, this stigma can be exacerbated by school policies. For example, there have been instances of schools refusing to give the regular hot meals to students in the free and reduced-price lunch program or forcing them to get in a separate line. 39 Worse is the abhorrent practice of “lunch shaming,” where schools publicly call out students for their parents’ unpaid lunch bills, for example, by marking their hands to embarrass them or even by throwing away their lunches. 40 The stigma of free lunch can feel especially strong for high school students—one reason they currently utilize the program at low rates. 41 This is worrisome since in very low-income families, despite the fact that adolescents have the greatest calorie needs of any age group, 42 teens sometimes forgo food at home in order to ensure that younger siblings have enough to eat. 43

Expanding the federal school breakfast and lunch program in order to provide free meals to all students—including in the summer months—would reduce childhood hunger and improve children’s health and academic outcomes. For states and localities where universal access is unrealistic, an expansion of the community eligibility program, which allows schools and districts in low-income areas to serve free breakfast and lunch to all students without collecting applications, would be an interim step to consider. 44 Making free meals universal would ensure that all students experiencing food insecurity have access to healthy, nutritious meals; end the stigma surrounding school lunch; and eliminate administrative barriers to accessing the program. All families—even those who could otherwise afford lunch—would benefit from this change. For instance, having healthy lunch options at school would alleviate the worry of packing lunch or parsing out lunch money on busy mornings. Absent federal action, states could embrace this policy by supplementing federal funds with state dollars in order to implement a universal school meal program.

3. Ensure opportunities to combine college preparatory academics with technical training and workplace experience

Not every student has the same academic needs, interests, and goals, but many schools still offer courses and provide instruction that treat students as if they are the same. Far too many schools are not preparing students for the world which they will enter after their K-12 education, instead relying on sit-and-get direct instruction and leaving students feeling disengaged from the real-world contextual challenges that they will eventually face. With each passing day, technology advances in previously inconceivable ways; climate change alters coastal lines; distant wars and international trade shape relationships with foreign governments. All of this has enormous effect on America’s increasingly global economy. Yet many high schools are not preparing students for any of these realities or for professional experiences that could help them get jobs upon graduation. 45

Preparing students to confront and contribute to a rapidly changing world beyond their K-12 schooling means providing coursework that addresses these challenges; allows students the space to uncover and express their interests; and then provides them with the necessary resources to tailor their educational experiences to those interests. Many schools are redesigning the high school experience by implementing various models, such as career and technical education (CTE); personalized learning, apprenticeships; early college and dual enrollment; and language immersion programs—all of which can work for students’ individual needs.

CTE and dual enrollment programs, specifically, provide students with options for coursework that will best meet their postsecondary and career goals. Under the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, states are provided with funding to develop the technical skills of secondary and postsecondary students who elect to enroll in CTE programs. 46 Currently, 12.5 million high school and college students are enrolled in CTE programs. 47 These programs help keep students in school; the graduation rate of CTE students is about 90 percent, 15 percentage points higher than the national average. 48 However, research on their effectiveness is still in the preliminary stages. 49 The best and most effective CTE programs are linked to and supported by local business or industry; provide real-world experiences or work opportunities; give students tangible outcomes such as an industry credential or college credit; and create pathways for pursuing college or career after graduation. 50

Programs such as Linked Learning, which according to its website, “integrates rigorous academics that meet college-ready standards with sequenced, high-quality career-technical education, work-based learning, and supports to help students stay on track,” have seen positive outcomes for students. 51 A seven-year longitudinal study comparing students who participated in Linked Learning to those who did not showed that the program completers were less likely to drop out and more likely to graduate from high school. Linked Learning students also reported better jobs that were more likely to offer paid vacation, sick time, and health insurance. Black students who completed the program were also more likely than their traditional high school peers to enroll in a four-year college. 52

Another example of a program that successfully combines academic and real-world experiences comes from DuVal High School in Maryland. There, students are enrolled in an aerospace engineering and aviation technology course in partnership with NASA and the College Park Aviation Museum, giving them exposure to exciting career options. 53 Another innovative program is the Washington Leadership Academy in Washington, D.C., which uses a combination of individualized online courses, project-based learning, and in-person classes, which are rooted in various forms of technology, such as virtual reality and coding, to inspire students to make new advances in the tech world. 54

In order to increase the number of schools willing to experiment with such programs, states should incentivize school districts by creating or expanding grant programs that offer flexibility for students to learn outside of traditional school hours and beyond school buildings. States should also provide additional funding for apprenticeships and use grant programs to incentivize districts to form partnerships with local employers to offer summer internships or a semester of credit. Blending traditional instruction with advanced postsecondary courses and real-world career preparation prepares high school students for their next steps and helps them gain practical skills in growing fields.

States should also seek to study and authorize charter schools that promote innovative high school designs with quality control systems in place or establish what is termed “innovation status” for traditional public schools. Innovation status, which provides a package of waivers to public schools to implement new school designs, has been enacted through legislation in states such as Colorado and Massachusetts. 55 In addition, states should reform their systems of graduation requirements in order to reflect students’ comprehension of material instead of how many hours they attend a course. Such reform could also require local school boards to adopt graduation requirements that better reflect college and career-ready standards and provide credit for nontraditional courses.

Lastly but critically, the federal government should increase its support for states in this work and leverage improvements to the quality of CTE programs through Perkins Act reauthorization. Federal policymakers should also allow for the integrated use of funding streams and incentivize states to target federal funding toward communities that are unable to provide these options through other means.

4. Transition to a 9-to-5 school day to better fit parents’ needs

Currently, the average school day is less than seven hours and the median school day ends at 2:50 p.m. 56 The average workday, however, does not align, requiring parents to make tough choices about their income, parental involvement, and child care. Nearly half of all U.S. workers report not having any form of flexibility in their work schedules, and almost 40 percent of all workers do not even have paid vacation time. 57 Public school schedules are not based on student achievement but on an antiquated system that relies on two-parent, one-income households.

Between school vacations, professional development days, summer recess, and after-school time, most working parents who have school-age children face many gaps in child care and may even be forced to leave their children in unsafe care. According to a Center for American Progress report examining the largest school districts in the country, schools are closed for an average of 29 days each school year—not including summer recess—which is 13 days longer than the average private sector worker has in paid leave. 58 Not only do days off increase the cost of child care, but the short length of the school day also decreases economic productivity when parents have to take time off from work or when parents with elementary school-age children opt out of full-time employment in order to accommodate their children’s schedules. 59

The length of the school day is also an equity concern. Only around 45 percent of all public elementary schools offer before- and after-school care, and low-income schools are actually less likely to offer after-school programs. 60 In fact, only 24 percent of children living in communities of concentrated poverty participate in an after-school program, although 56 percent of children not in an after-school program would be enrolled in one if it were available to them. 61 Extended days and after-school programs also provide opportunities for students to encounter enrichment activities, arts education, and real-world learning that might not be embedded in the regular school day and that not all parents can afford to provide for their children privately. Access to after-school programs improves academic performance, decreases dropout rates, reduces drug use, and improves classroom behavior. 62

Academic gains, economic productivity, and equity concerns should incentivize the federal and state governments to better align work and school schedules. However, teachers, already strapped for time and pressured by myriad responsibilities, cannot be expected to work several extra hours each day for nothing in return. Changing school schedules will require new and creative uses of time, personnel, and money. States could incentivize a longer school day by compensating teachers who want to work longer hours and by increasing requirements on public schools’ instructional hours. At the federal level, the Department of Education could promote the use of ESSA funding for expanded school schedules, encouraging high-poverty schools to use funds from Title I, Part A to pay for longer school days as part of a larger effort to boost student achievement. Congress could also increase funding for programs—such as Promise Neighborhoods, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and AmeriCorps—that provide students with longer school days and access to after-school programs. Furthermore, the federal government could implement a pilot program under the university-assisted community model in order to partner graduate schools in social work with neighboring public school districts to develop a 9-to-5 schedule.

5. Support, train, and pay teachers like professionals

In the United States, new teachers only make an average of about $36,000, and the average salary for all teachers is just over $58,000—which, in today’s dollars, is lower than the average salary during the 1989-1990 school year. 63 Teachers make 60 percent of what similarly educated professionals earn, much lower than the proportion in other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. 64 Partly as a result of low teacher pay, young people are avoiding the teaching profession, excellent teachers are staying away from high-need schools, the teaching profession is not as diverse as it needs to be, and far too many great educators leave the profession altogether. 65

Lower teacher pay is not the only factor contributing to disinterest in or attrition from the teaching profession. New teachers too often feel unprepared to teach and manage a classroom of their own when they graduate from their preparation program and enter their first experience as a full-time teacher. Teacher residency models—not dissimilar to those in the medical profession—provide emerging teachers with an opportunity to experience for a set period of time what leading a classroom of their own would be like. 66 Many residency programs require teacher candidates to spend a portion of their time delivering lessons to students, but they do so under the guidance of a mentor teacher who provides feedback on both the delivery of the lesson and the degree to which the resident successfully manages the classroom. 67 An induction period similarly allows new teachers to ease into the profession with help from a more experienced mentor teacher. When new teachers receive this type of support, their students gain months of additional learning. 68

Teachers who are not adequately prepared to teach and who are not paid professionally may decide to leave the profession. Others—especially high-achieving young people—may never even consider teaching because of the profession’s relatively flat salary trajectory and because the professional work environment does not match that of other career paths. 69 Teachers have less flexibility in their schedules compared with other professions, sometimes even struggling to find time to use the restroom. 70 They also struggle to find time to collaborate with peers and often have to pay for their own supplies. 71 To ensure that high-quality teacher candidates enter the profession and that excellent teachers stay in the profession, all educators should be trained and compensated like the professionals they are. Steps, therefore, should be taken to improve the professional work environment for teachers where possible.

Federal and state policymakers should make legislative changes that put an end to the huge gap in earnings between the teaching workforce and other college-educated professionals. To start, all teachers should begin their careers with a base salary of $50,000. More experienced teachers with a demonstrated track record of excellence should earn no less than $100,000 annually. One option for moving toward a professional scale for teachers would be a $10,000 federal tax credit for teachers in high-poverty schools, which would close the gap between teacher salaries and those of other college graduates. States could implement a similar policy, with the tax credit adjusted to close the gap between teachers and other college-educated professionals in their state, particularly for teachers in high-need schools or subjects.

Teachers—like all new employees—improve their practice after being in the profession for a few years. Policymakers should do more to accelerate the learning curve by expanding teacher residency programs, clinical preparation, and induction programs to improve new teachers’ skills and by extension, their students’ learning. A new federal program could be funded through the Department of Education and administered by AmeriCorps, which already provides grants to residency programs run by nonprofit organizations, such as the Memphis Teacher Residency and Urban Teachers. States could expand funding for these programs in partnership with institutions of higher education, school districts, and nonprofit organizations; and they could use Title II, Part A funds to do so. States such as Louisiana have already begun this important work of leveraging federal dollars to create and expand residency and induction experiences for all of their teachers; 72 others should follow their lead.

6. Create a safe and healthy environment in every school

One in 4 children experiences a mental health disorder annually, 73 and half of those who will have a mental health disorder at some point in their life will first be diagnosed at age 14 or younger. 74 Furthermore, about half of all children will experience a traumatic event—such as the death of a parent, violence, or extreme poverty—before they reach adulthood. 75 And as the opioid epidemic continues to grow, students are coming to school affected by a parent’s addiction as well as the havoc and instability that it can wreak on family life. 76 In addition, as students experience other issues—such as puberty; family matters, like divorce; and bullying—having supportive trained adults to talk to in school is critical for improving their well-being and attention to learning.

Mental health issues such as attention difficulties, delinquency, and substance use are associated with lower academic achievement and attainment. 77 Likewise, experiencing trauma is associated with lower standardized test scores and an increased risk of being diagnosed with a learning disability or behavioral disorder. 78 When children experience trauma, it not only affects their own learning but also that of their classmates. For example, when a student is experiencing domestic violence in the home, the reading and math scores of their classroom peers also decline. 79 Researchers have found students in class with a peer who is experiencing domestic violence also had more behavioral infractions; they theorized that there were spillover effects that changed the context and culture of the entire classroom.

Despite the widespread need for mental health services and the link between mental health and student achievement, far too many children do not have access to this support. In a 12-month period, only 20 percent of children and adolescents 6 to 17 years old who were defined as needing mental health services received such services, most commonly in school. 80 This is despite the fact that early intervention is key to building resiliency, improving school performance, and reducing the risk of harm later in life. 81

Even though school is the most common place for young people to receive mental health services, shortages of school-based mental health personnel are one of the main reasons so many children do not have access to such services. Major providers of mental health services in schools, such as school psychologists, are operating at ratios far higher than recommended, often with one person serving multiple schools. 82 With so few of these personnel serving so many students, it is impossible for students’ needs to be met.

Specialized instructional support personnel can also be instrumental in the selection and implementation of high-quality schoolwide social-emotional learning programs. Social-emotional learning programs improve the social skills and academic achievement of students and can improve school climate by reducing violence, bullying, and other conduct problems. 83 These skills are particularly important in early childhood education, as students as young as kindergarten who have strong prosocial skills are more likely to obtain a high school degree, college diploma, and full-time job when they reach adulthood. 84

School counselors also act as academic or guidance counselors, handling curriculum planning; interpreting and maintaining student records; and providing college counseling. 85 Many students who would be the first in their family to attend college desperately need help planning for and navigating this process, as they might have fewer adults in their lives who can provide information about college admissions and financial aid. 86 Every student who needs it should have access to this type of adviser and advocate who can help guide his or her college and career choices.

To better serve students, mental health counseling and academic guidance roles should be separated, and all students should have access to both types of supports. In addition, every student with pressing mental health needs should have access in school to counseling from a trained professional, and every school should have the personnel necessary to implement schoolwide behavioral support and social-emotional learning programs.

7. Eliminate crumbling school buildings

Approximately 14 million students across the country attend schools that are in need of extensive repairs or complete building replacement, and nearly two-thirds of American schools have at least one building feature that needs to be replaced or needs extensive repairs. 87

Just recently, the condition of schools in Baltimore made national news because the leaky windows and outdated heating systems forced students to huddle in coats and mittens in their classrooms in order to stay warm. 88 But this news is not new. In 2016, Detroit school buildings infested with rats caused similar national uproar; 89 and ensuring that hurricane-damaged schools in Puerto Rico are safe to reopen to students will be a long and difficult process. 90

While school building conditions are a national problem, the disrepair of America’s public schools disproportionately affects students in low-income communities that cannot raise funds for maintenance, repair, or modernization. According to federal estimates, addressing deferred maintenance and repairs alone would cost about $200 billion. 91

As the stories coming out of places such as Baltimore, Detroit, and Puerto Rico make plain, a safe and comfortable school building is an important precondition for students to learn to their full potential. Children’s health and learning are affected when schools have poor air quality, cannot maintain a comfortable temperature, are excessively noisy, or are poorly lit. 92 School infrastructure projects are a wise investment because well-maintained school buildings can last up to 50 years and facilitate achievement of student outcomes.

A national school infrastructure program to update unsafe or unhealthy school buildings and create a national database on the condition of school facilities would also provide thousands of jobs across the country. Under such a program the majority of the funding should be targeted to schools with highest need, with the remainder set aside for low-cost bonds. This school infrastructure program would bring the neediest school buildings to a state of good repair and allow other schools to modernize and even retire debt for recent capital investments. And for every billion dollars spent, this program would create thousands of jobs—including both direct and indirect hires—for the life of the program. School buildings act as convening spaces for the community, and schools receiving these infrastructure funds could use them to meet various needs of the local school community in accordance with state and local laws.

Possible funding for new policy initiatives

With recent tax policy changes creating large national deficits and states facing persistent budget shortfalls, finding ways to pay for new policies is always difficult. 93 Below is a list of some creative ways to fund the ideas listed in the previous sections. This is by no means an exclusive list, as there are many resources available with suggestions for how to raise revenue, 94 including how to do so in line with progressive values and without increasing taxes. 95

• Passing a legislative solution for Dreamers . Permanent protections for Dreamers, those without legal status who came to the country at a young age, will have a profound impact on their lives while having an equally important impact on the national and local economies. Before the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was rescinded in September 2017, a national survey of the recipients of the program—a subset of the Dreamer population—showed that they were able to pursue greater educational opportunities and earn higher wages. 96 Another report found that DACA recipients and DACA-eligible immigrants contribute approximately $2 billion in state and local taxes annually. 97

The Center for American Progress has estimated that passing the Dream Act, which would make thousands of young workers already in the United States eligible for legal status, could add $281 billion and as much as $1 trillion to the country’s gross domestic product over 10 years. 98

Legislation to protect Dreamers—including the 20,000 educators with DACA—that includes pathways to legal status or citizenship would not only increase the GDP, creating more revenue with which to improve public schools, but it would also mean that students and families across the country currently living in fear of deportation could focus on both their education and creating a better future for themselves and their communities. 99

• Reducing the prison population and corrections spending . A 2016 report released by the Department of Education revealed that in all but two states, spending on prisons is growing much faster than spending on public education, having quadrupled between 1979 and 2013. 100 The United States imprisons people at higher rates than any other country in the world and has a prison population of more than 2 million—the largest in the world. 101

The more than $80 billion in U.S. tax dollars spent annually on the corrections system would be better invested in public schools. 102 In order to redirect funding from prisons to schools, state policymakers must find ways to reduce their prison populations. A good place to start would be the 1 in 5 incarcerated people that are locked up for a nonviolent drug offense. 103 The Brennan Center for Justice estimates that about 4 in 10 people in state and federal prison today present little or no public safety risk and could be released or have their sentences reduced for a total savings of $20 billion each year. 104

In 2009, the Justice Policy Institute noted that some states have begun to decrease the size of the prison population—thereby reducing spending—by providing community-based substance-abuse treatment programs, increasing rehabilitation efforts, improving parole mechanisms and services, and decriminalizing nonviolent offenses. 105 States that intentionally decreased their prison populations saw crime decrease even faster than national averages. 106 Other states should consider such reforms.

Investing in school systems rather than prison systems would benefit the U.S. student population in more ways than one. Presently, incarceration disproportionately impacts people of color, and students of color disproportionately attend schools with fewer resources and less experienced teachers. Redirecting funding currently spent on corrections to the public education system would not only improve the educational experiences of students of color but could also positively impact their families, communities, and potentially life outcomes—ending, or at least disrupting, the vicious “school-to-prison pipeline.” 107

• Leveraging taxes from marijuana sales . In recent years, several states have decriminalized the use of medical marijuana, and a handful of states have legalized the use and sale of recreational marijuana. Since Colorado passed its law legalizing recreational marijuana in 2014, the state has brought in $506 million in tax revenue, about half of which has gone to K-12 education. 108 Other states that have followed suit, such as Oregon and Washington, have also been able to capitalize on the additional tax revenue. 109

• Selling advertising on government documents or locations . In recent years, as options for reading and viewing content have diversified, advertisers have had increasing difficulty reaching mass audiences of customers. State-run entities, however, still hold the potential for reaching mass audiences since they may interact with all residents. Many localities are already raising revenue by selling advertising on local buses and in subway stations. 110 States can expand on the same idea by allowing advertising in state highway rest stops or in state-run offices where there is a lot of wait time, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles or in state capitol cafeterias. States could also include advertisements or coupons in mailings and other communications to their residents. 111

Economic dislocation is a powerful threat to the well-being and security of American workers and the American economy. Millions of Americans feel anxious about the changing economy. Working-class jobs that once promised a lifetime of decent wages and benefits are disappearing, displaced by automation and jobs that favor a different set of skills.

Education is at the root of the country’s broader economic challenges, and improvements to the education system offer the solution. Employers need talented workers who have the skills, disposition, and knowledge to operate effectively in the new economy. A progressive education agenda can ensure that all Americans are afforded the education needed to meet these challenges.

Lisette Partelow is the director of K-12 Strategic Initiatives at the Center for American Progress. Catherine Brown is the vice president of Education Policy at the Center. Sarah Shapiro is a research assistant for K-12 Education at the Center. Stephenie Johnson is an associate campaign director of K-12 Education at the Center.

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Education | FOX45 News: Without clear AI policies, some…

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Education | FOX45 News: Without clear AI policies, some Maryland students feel unfairly punished for cheating

Baltimore School for the Arts, according to the state, is the highest-rated school in Baltimore City for academic achievement. It ranks in the top 6% of all high schools in Maryland.

But for Nicole Edge and her son, Hassan Hunt, the school’s reputation does not match reality.

“Hassan works very hard, has always been a hard worker in school,” Edge told FOX45 News. “He’s always gotten very good grades and has always taken his work seriously, has always been a child that has some integrity. So, it was upsetting.”

Hassan just finished his junior year at Baltimore School for the Arts. Soon, he’ll start applying to colleges, where he plans to pursue a career in the arts or perhaps as a teacher. But earlier this school year, those plans were placed in jeopardy when he was accused by the school of using artificial intelligence to write a paper. In other words, he was accused of cheating.

“Like, cheated? I’m trying to think like, okay, what do we mean by cheated?” said Hassan, explaining what he thought when he learned that he’d been accused of cheating.

In November, Hassan handed in an assignment in his Modern World History class. At first, he got a B- on the assignment. But a short time later, he received a notification that his grade was changed to a zero because, according to his teacher, Hassan did not write his own paper.

In an email obtained by FOX45 News, the teacher explained that Hassan plagiarized the last paragraph of his assignment. The email says, “Plagiarism is defined as using another person’s work/words as your own without proper citation.” The teacher’s email went on to say, “In this case, the other person is AI.”

The teacher used AI detection software called GPTZero, which claimed with 98% probability that the paragraph was not written by Hassan, but rather AI.

Project Baltimore asked Hassan if he used artificial intelligence on the assignment.

“I used Grammarly,” he replied. “I don’t know a student that I’ve talked to, that honestly, doesn’t use Grammarly.”

Grammarly is marketed specifically to students. Its website reads, “Grammarly is your AI writing partner that makes it easy to raise your grades and meet your goals.”

Hassan said he didn’t use Grammarly to generate text, just to proofread his paper for spelling and grammar mistakes.

“There’s never been a rule,” said Hassan. “It was a very blurry line, because you have some teachers saying one thing, other teachers are saying nothing. So, it was very confusing.”

Baltimore City Schools does not have a board-approved policy concerning the use of artificial intelligence by students. The district said in a statement, “Baltimore City Public Schools recognizes the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative educational tool that can enhance learning experiences and prepare our students for a future dominated by digital innovation. However, we are equally aware of the challenges it presents, particularly concerning academic integrity.”

The statement went on to explain that city schools will continue to update their grading policies concerning “plagiarism, academic dishonesty, and cheating” as AI technology advances.

“I don’t think that you should be holding students accountable for something that you don’t even have a policy on,” said Edge. “The kids need to be protected.”

Despite the zero he received on the assignment, Hassan finished the year with a B in Modern World History. His online record still reflects that he cheated. His family says Baltimore School for the Arts never gave Hassan an opportunity to defend himself in person, which is something the family says they requested.

“No conversation with the teacher, no conversation with any of the staff whatsoever,” Edge told Project Baltimore. “The teacher did not come and speak to him directly. It was just a blanket zero. It was the label of the cheating.”

Edge went on to say, “They dropped the ball on so many levels. And that’s disappointing for a school that has such a reputation, and is supposed to have a certain culture, in the school. So, very disappointed.”

The AI detection software that Hassan’s teacher used is GPTZero. Project Baltimore recently spoke with a parent in Anne Arundel County who said the same software was used to accuse her daughter of cheating. The GPTZero website clearly states, “results should not be used to directly punish students.”

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