Beyond the Rhetoric: Examining the Economic Rationales and the Evidence-Based Support for Current Reform Strategies

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Many current education reforms are touted as having the potential to substantially enhance student achievement at scale and, thereby, contribute to the nation’s economic competitiveness. This symposium will offer a critical examination of the economic rationale, as well as the claims for two salient reforms: (i) data-driven improvement and accountability; and (ii) on-line, virtual schooling. Presenters will demonstrate that, contrary to the assertions of proponents, the evidence-base for these reforms is quite narrow and the prospects for success are much dimmer than promised. The symposium highlights the fact that policy makers’ desire “to do something” often leads to a rush to implementation built on an over-interpretation of the existing evidence -- or even a willful misreading of that evidence.

Sub Unit

• Division L - Educational Policies and Politics / Section 5: Accountability

Chair

• Henry I. Braun, Boston College

Papers

• Will Contemporary Reform Strategies Provide the International Economic Progress and Educational Equity Gains They Promise? - William J. Mathis, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Data-Driven Improvement and Accountability - Andrew Hargreaves, Boston College; Henry I. Braun, Boston College

• The Virtual Evidence Base for Virtual Education and the Implications for Policy - Jennifer K. Rice, University of Maryland; Luis Alberto Huerta, Teachers College, Columbia University

Discussant

• David C. Berliner, Arizona State University