Educational Politics in the United States

Catalog description

Social and institutional forces which shape the public school system and determine national, state, and local educational policy and politics. EDLDR 528 Educational Politics in the United States (3) "Educational Politics in the United States" focuses on the social and institutional forces that shape the public school system and determine national, state, and local educational policy and politics. The rationale underlying this course is that citizens and educators, particularly those in administrative roles, need to understand the social forces that influence educational policy and politics. Until the late 1960's there was a pervasive myth that school affairs could and should be separated from the world of politics. Few people now believe that schooling can be entirely separated from politics, but many people lack an understanding of the broad, recurrent forces and competing values that ensure that schooling in pluralistic societies will be affected by political factors. This course is intended to provide a sophisticated understanding of this subject, with emphasis on the acquisition of conceptual and analytical skills that will be useful for leaders in education. Student performance is assessed through group and individual activities and projects, students' contributions to class discussions, and exams.