Beyond Mutual Adaptation Into The Bully Pulpit

In the 1990s the debate over what history, and more importantly whose history, should be taught in American schools resonated through the halls of Congress, the national press, and the nation's schools. Politicians such as Lynne Cheney, Newt Gingrich, and Senator Slade Gorton, and pundits such as Rush Limbaugh, John Leo, and Charles Krauthammer fiercely denounced the findings of the National Standards for History which, subsequently, became a major battleground in the nation's ongoing struggle to define its historical identity. To help us understand what happened, Linda Symcox traces the genealogy of the National History Standards Project from its origins as a neo-conservative reform movement to the drafting of the Standards, through the 18 months of controversy and the debate that ensued, and the aftermath. Broad in scope, this case study includes debates on social history, world history, multiculturalism, established canons, national identity, cultural history, and "liberal education." Symcox brilliantly illuminates the larger issue of how educational policy is made and contested in the United States, revealing how a debate about our children's education actually became a struggle between competing political forces.

This supplemental text for educational policy, administration, and program evaluation courses provides a framework for examining the following crucial questions. To what extent have state and federal initiated policies actually been implemented during the past 25 years? and To what degree does implementation lead to effectiveness? At a time when critical understanding of the issues is essential for good decision making, this volume provides a valuable tool for teachers, students, and makers of educational policy.

Many factors complicate the education of urban students. Among them have been issues related to population density; racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity; poverty; racism (individual and institutional); and funding levels. Although urban educators have been addressing these issues for decades, placing them under the umbrella of "urban education" and treating them as a specific area of practice and inquiry is relatively recent. Despite the wide adoption of the term a consensus about its meaning exists at only the broadest of levels. In short, urban education remains an ill-defined concept. This comprehensive volume addresses this definitional challenge and provides a 3-part conceptual model in which the achievement of equity for all -- regardless of race, gender, or ethnicity – is an ideal that is central to urban education. The model also posits that effective urban education requires attention to the three central issues that confronts all education systems (a) accountability of individuals and the institutions in which they work, (b) leadership, which occurs in multiple ways and at multiple levels, and (c) learning, which is the raison d'être of education. Just as a three-legged stool would fall if any one leg were weak or missing, each of these areas is essential to effective urban education and affects the others.

Manna explores the dynamics of forty years of education policymaking to answer a puzzling question: if state and local governments are the primary caretakers of elementary and secondary education, how have federal policymakers so greatly expanded their involvement in the country's schools since 1965? From Lyndon B. Johnson's signing of the carefully worded funding bill, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to George W. Bush's imposing but underfunded "No Child Left Behind" initiative, Washington's influence over America's schools has increased signficantly. At the same time, the states have developed more comprehensive, and often innovative education policies. A wide array of educational issues has appeared on the political agenda both nationally and at the state level. Manna argues that this is no accident: that national and state leaders have borrowed strength from each other-- strength in terms of both politically viable arguments and of such governmental capacity to act as financing, the existence of regulatory agencies, and professional capability--to develop and enact educational reforms. He shows how our nation's education agenda has taken shape through the interaction of policy entrepreneurs at national and state levels in our federal system of government. Based on Manna's analyses of public laws, presidential speeches, congressional testimony, public opinion, political advertising, and personal interviews, this book draws on concepts of federalism and agenda-setting to offer an original view of the growing federal role in education policy.

While much mainstream educational research maintains that teacher unions should be outlawed or their powers greatly reduced, Bascia and her contributors, including many of the leading teacher union researchers working today, challenge this position. Instead, they recognize the important role teacher unions must play in defending public education and in minimizing the damage wrought by ill-thought-out educational policies. By avoiding idealization of these organizations and recognizing their limitations, Teacher Unions in Public Education demonstrates the necessity for union renewal for a successful education system.

Follows California’s efforts at reforming the public school system from 1983 to the present.