The Urban Education Policy studies specialization will provide opportunities for doctoral candidates to become knowledgeable about key urban public education policy issues in the United States. The studies specialization's central focus will be studying the interaction and conflict among the various social, philosophical, political, and economic forces that impact urban public education in America, and to identify effective policy strategies for enhancing student achievement in city schools. Students will acquire the diverse knowledge and research skills they need to analyze, within an integrated sociopolitical and pedagogical framework, the educational dilemmas that result from the complex interplay of forces at work in urban areas, and to suggest alternative strategies to bring about their resolution.

Work in this studies specialization will be grounded in studies of the philosophical, economic (including vocational), political and social (especially social mobility) antecedents of contemporary American education. Students will examine how the universe of potential students comes into being and is transformed over time, the factors that influence school attendance, the competition and allocation of students among private and public schools, and how public policy and private decisions define educational opportunities, the characteristics of schools, the nature of instruction, and, in general, determine the shape of the educational landscape in our cities.

All students will participate in an internship as part of Core 5, Educational Policy. Students who elect the Policy studies specialization will have additional opportunities for internships and participant observations during the time that they are engaged in their elective course studies.

The conceptualization and evaluation of alternative education policy frameworks will be the central research focus of the Policy studies specialization, as well as a central consideration in the research agendas of the other studies specializations. The research agenda of this program can help to build an informed consensus in support of new educational paradigms, regenerate loyalty to public education, and offer guidance in the difficult task of implementing enhanced forms of public education.

Area Seminars in Educational Policy Analysis
(3 credits each semester)

The area seminars in Educational Policy Analysis will provide an opportunity for in-depth study and critique of policy issues currently confronting the field. In these seminars students, senior scholars from the faculty, and invited guests will examine a variety of issues to advance policy analysis in these areas. Each semester one or two focal topics will occupy the work of the seminar. Prospective topics include:

Policy Studies Research Focus Areas

Urban School Restructuring and Reform

Do urban school systems need to be fundamentally restructured? What are the policy rationales, along with the benefits and risks of market-oriented initiatives and systemic reforms?

What are the best criteria and methods for evaluating such proposed shifts in policy frameworks (basic goals, roles, relationships, governance, accountability)?

Educational Opportunity for All

How should educational opportunity for all be defined and implemented?

What are the relationships between student integration (race, class, religion, ethnicity, language, gender, special needs, etc.) and educational opportunity?

How can schools legitimately recognize and respond to individual differences among children without excusing low expectations for poor and minority students? How can high standards for all help raise low expectations, without discouraging less capable students, students with unequal opportunities to learn, and students with various handicapping conditions?

Public Involvement in Urban Education

What are the most effective roles of inspection and oversight of education by community, city, state, and federal bodies?

How can schools and reform efforts relate more effectively with the mass media, so that parents and all sectors of the urban public become better informed about and engaged in efforts to reshape public education and support student learning?

What are the most effective alternatives to the mass media for informing and communicating with parents and various publics about critical educational issues, policy alternatives, school activities, ways to support student learning?

How do schools successfully communicate and build trust and partnership with families of diverse cultures and languages?

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