New Directions in Law and Education Reform Research

• In Event: New Perspectives on the Roles of Institutional Actors in Education Reform

Abstract

Extensive law and education reform scholarship demonstrates the persistent gap between law in the books and law in action, and the myriad ways that public education falls short of the equity ideals contained in landmark litigation, such as Lau v. Nichols, and historic legislation, such as the Individual with Disabilities Education Act. This paper provides a review and critique of this literature and suggests that to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the role of law in education reform, we must attend to the full range of legal activities surrounding schools, the normative and cognitive influences of law, and the impact of law on embedded organizational actors.

Author

• Danfeng Soto-Vigil Koon, University of California - Berkeley