exam 1 Flashcards
fearless forecast from Preface (5)
- continuing conflict between the federal role and state/local responsibilities
- continuing political challenges to established bureaucratic institutions and funding patterns, as well as to established professional autonomy and authority
- growing political mobilization to challenge social and educational inequality and its impact on educational opportunities and outcomes
- debates over testing, its expenditures, and impacts on children, teaching, and schools will expand in the coming decade as will debate over efforts to rate and evaluate teachers and schools
- continued proliferation of groups mobilizing around ideas, ideologies, and interests
politics
the process of making collective decisions in a community, society, or group through the application of influence and power
government
the people or organizations that make, enforce, and implement political decisions for a society
public policy
what public officials within government, and by extension the citizens they represent, choose to do or not to do about public problems
why study public policy? (3)
- scientific understanding
- professional advice
- policy recommendations
why study education policy? (3)
- ensure the continuation of US democracy
- assimilate large numbers of immigrants
- primary mechanism for social mobility
why provide public education?
moral, political, and economic reasons (education is a positive externality; society benefits from a well-educated populace)
common functions of most governments (5)
- governments try to maintain their sovereignty
- governments try to maintain order within a society
- governments provide services for their citizens
- governments socialize their citizens (especially the young) to be supportive of the system
- governments collect taxes from their citizens
changing role of the federal government in education policy (4)
- shifted the policy focus from inputs to outcomes
- opened service delivery to diverse providers
- required local and state agencies to publicly report on student performance
- the role changed from permissive, “layer cake” federalism to “marble cake” federalism
why the federal government must address issues of poverty
it has both the fiscal capacity and the political justification to take a more active redistributive role
institutional characteristics of federal redistributive grants (5)
- grants-in-aid arrangement (federal provides $ and framework, delivery of services is up to state/local)
- categorical or single-purpose grants (well-defined eligible students are the intended beneficiaries)
- supplementary and non-supplanting guidelines (guard against any local tendency to shift federal resources away from the disadvantaged)
- bipartisan support (special-needs programs)
- incentives for local government to meet antipoverty objectives (federal funds are widely distributed to ensure broad political support)
challenges implementing federal accountability agenda (5)
- federalism allows for varying degrees of policy specification in meeting the federal expectations
- political negotiations among key stakeholders within a state tended to slow the pace of initial implementation in NCLB
- the federal agenda encountered social constraints
- the federal agenda on accountability may not have aligned effectively with the federal system or formula-based grant allocation
- federal reform generates new conflicts in the management and delivery of educational services
Wong’s ideas for aligning accountability and equity (3)
- the federal goal on accountability can be effectively promoted with a focus on equity (federal government needs critically to reassess categorical federalism)
- presidential leadership can improve policy coherence on issues that affect education and children
- school reform will benefit from federal investment to promote long-term research on major educational challenges (commitment of our intergovernmental system fully to address income and racial/ethnic disparity)
4 eras of education policy in the US
- The Young Republic (1783-1830)
- The Rise of the Common School (1831-1900)
- The Scientific Sorting Machine (1901-1982)
- In Search of a New Paradigm (1983-Present)
Young Republic era (1783-1830) (3)
- most citizens wanted at least a basic education for all children
- wide variety of schools (dame schools, private venture schools, religious, district schools, private academies/boarding schools, charity schools)
- governmental education policy characterized as policy inaction
The Rise of the Common School (1831-1900) (3)
- lots of changes to society, including education (explosion of population growth in cities)
- Mann’s Common Schools would unify the country
- governmental education policy characterized as regulatory policy
The Scientific Sorting Machine (1901-1982) (5)
- people felt that government had become corrupt, specifically in schools
- extension of the Common Schools to secondary education
- differentiated secondary curriculum/tracks
- IQ/standardized achievement tests and ability grouping
- governmental education policy can be seen as regulatory and redistributive policy
In Search of a New Paradigm (1983-Present)
huge dissatisfaction with public education