EDU801: K-12 Education Policy Analysis for School Leaders

Credit Hours:
3
Estimated Hours Per Week:
20

Overview

This course introduces candidates to K-12 policy analysis and education.  Candidates will investigate the politics and policies affecting the school leader, including:

  • The politics of intergovernmental relations and education policy-making
  • The standards-based education movement
  • State and Federal education policy and student achievement
  • Demographics and democracy

Focusing on politics and policy in education, the course project, Synthetic Monograph: Supporting Change in Policy Provision or Implementation Strategy, is drawn from the genuine needs of a specific learning community (at the building, district, state, or federal level). In the course, candidates will identify the policy and the legal, social, and ethical influences that shape the policy, document any changes that might have occurred since the policy was put into place, and write several professional abstracts and critiques of the research literature that affect the policy. Candidates will then analyze any differences between the stated language of the policy and its implementation. Finally, candidates will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the policy, and make recommendations for any changes.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Analyze and evaluate major issues confronting education policy-makers in the 21st century, education policies, and policy drivers.
  • Analyze and evaluate the changing roles of governments involved in education policy-making.
  • Analyze and evaluate the current federal role in education policy-making, the various current federal reform strategies, the impact of these federal reform strategies on the education policy-making system, and the impact of federal reform on a specific education problem.
  • Analyze and evaluate how key federal education policies have impacted states, local schools, and districts; the education policy challenges faced by state and local officials and policy-makers; state accountability measures and intervention policies; efforts to close achievement gaps; and the impact of state and local polic
  • Compare and contrast U.S. efforts to close achievement gaps with those of other countries and the outcomes.
  • Prepare a synthetic monograph with critical analysis and data supporting a change in a particular policy provision or implementation strategy to solve an important education problem.
ENROLLMENT
To enroll in this course, please complete the online application.

Prerequisites

EDU799 is a prerequisite for this course.

Required Texts
EDU801 texts are available from the JIU/MBS bookstore