Studying Educational And Social Policy

Download or read book Studying Educational and Social Policy written by Ronald H. Heck and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-07-19 with total page 475 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The overall purpose of this text is to introduce beginning researchers to the study of educational and social policy, how it has been examined from a scholarly perspective, and the salient issues to consider in conceptualizing and conducting policy research. The emphasis is on "introduce," as the various policy fields within the public sector (for example, education, energy, health, labor) are much too diverse to include in depth in a single volume on theoretical concepts and research methods. The focus is not so much on the substance of policymaking as on understanding the interplay between how policy is made and implemented and the various conceptual approaches and methods researchers can use to frame and conduct policy studies. The underlying assumption is that a critique of the substantive, theoretical, and methodological issues involved in studying policy can help researchers conduct policy studies that are more informative in guiding policy development and more effective in assessing the impact of policy reforms. *Part I acquaints readers with substantive issues and challenges related to the study of the policy process, and includes chapters on federalism and policymaking, and on studying policy development, implementation, and impact. *Part II examines different conceptual frameworks and theories for the study of policy, with chapters on political culture and policymaking, the punctuated-equilibrium theory and the advocacy coalition framework, economic and organizational perspectives, and new approaches (e.g., feminism, critical theory, postmodernism). *Part III focuses research methods for studying policy, covering research design, qualitative methods, multilevel methods for policy research, and growth modeling methods for examining policy change. *Part IV compares the diversity of approaches used by policy scholars with respect to their strengths and weaknesses, and presents a number of issues for further consideration in conducting policy research. This introduction to theories and methods of conducting policy research is intended to give prospective researchers an appreciation of the relationship among policy problems, empirical methods, and practice, and to contribute to building their skills in conceptualizing and conducting policy research that answers important questions. The text includes examples of studies to illustrate the diversity of methodological techniques, and discusses issues related to the design and conduct of original educational policy studies. Studying Educational and Social Policy: Theoretical Concepts and Research Methods is designed primarily for graduate courses in educational policy and educational research and is appropriate as well for research methodology courses in other disciplines, including statistics and research methodology in the social sciences, organizational studies, public policy, and political science

Download or read book Studying Educational and Social Policy written by Ronald H. Heck and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-07-19 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this textbook is to introduce beginning researchers to the study of policy making, how it has been examined from a scholarly perspective, and the salient issues to consider in conceptualizing and conducting policy research.

Download or read book Class and Schools written by Richard Rothstein and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary public policy assumes that the achievement gap between black and white students could be closed if only schools would do a better job. According to Richard Rothstein, "Closing the gaps between lower-class and middle-class children requires social and economic reform as well as school improvement. Unfortunately, the trend is to shift most of the burden to schools, as if they alone can eradicate poverty and inequality." In this book, Rothstein points the way toward social and economic reforms that would give all children a more equal chance to succeed in school. This book features: a summary of numerous studies linking school achievement to health care quality, nutrition, childrearing styles, housing stability, parental economic security, and more ; aA look at erroneous and misleading data that underlie commonplace claims that some schools "beat the demographic odds and therefore any school can close the achievement gap if only it adopted proper practices." ; and an analysis of how the over-emphasis of standardized tests in federal law obscures the true achievement gap and makes narrowing it more difficult.

Download or read book Teaching Social Policy written by Zoë Irving and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2023-11-03 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing together international perspectives and disciplinary sub-fields of comparative and global social policy, this book provides an insightful guide for educators and academics embarking on or revisiting the design and teaching of classes, courses and programmes in and around social and public policy.

Download or read book Policy Research in Educational Settings written by Jenny Ozga and published by McGraw-Hill Education (UK). This book was released on 1999-11-16 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues for independent, critical research on education policy in the context of attacks on the quality and usefulness of educational research in general. It takes issue with the argument, promoted by government departments and agencies that education policy research should be limited to work that assists policy-makers. Against this position, the book advocates independent, critical research that scrutinizes policy in relation to its consequences for equality and social justice. It argues that practitioners and academic researchers should form a research community that develops its own knowledge base from which so-called evidence based policymaking in education may be assessed and challenged. The book offers guidance on the theoretical and methodological resources available to practitioners and others with an interest in doing research on policy and discusses some of the main issues and problems in doing policy research on education. It offers examples of research on policy at different system levels, pursuing themes such as globalization, changing governance of education, selection, choice and exclusion, managerialism and the feminisation of educational management. It argues for attention to the history of policy in education as a resource for understanding the present, and concludes with recommendations for future research in areas where contestation of official agendas is needed.

Download or read book Education Research On Trial written by Pamela B. Walters and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2009-01-13 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Read the author's commentary for the Teachers College Record here: http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=15915 It is not an exaggeration to say that the field of education has been under attack. Many, particularly in Washington, D.C., have proclaimed the research to be shoddy. They have called for new "scientific" standards for research. Randomized control trials have been promoted. In many of these discussions, the only criterion is making a more rational and scientific approach to education research. Since the federal government plays a leadership role in defining the terms of education debates, this critique is important. It stands to radically reshape research and possibly school priorities in the future. The essays in this book take up this important topic. They offer critical insight into how this debate came to flourish. Some of the authors take issue with core assertions of the debate; other are sympathetic. Taken together, they help to broaden and deepen our understanding of the efforts to revamp the field of education research and, ultimately education. The chapters also discuss the factors that facilitate, and impede, research from having an impact on policy. Teaching and Learning Goals Include: -- helps illuminate the relationship between education research and policy --critically examines key assumptions of federal legislation particularly the call for scientific rigor in the No Child Left Behind Legislation --helps students understand the broader intellectual context of this crisis in education

Download or read book Education as Social Policy written by Janet Finch and published by Longman Publishing Group. This book was released on 1984 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: