An education in politics : the origins and evolution of No Child Left Behind / Jesse H. Rhodes.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rhodes, Jesse H. (Jesse Hessler), 1980-

Contributor:

White Burkett Miller Center, associated with work.

Series:

American institutions and society.

American institutions and society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

United States.

Education and state--United States--History--20th century.

Education and state.

Education and state--United States--History--21st century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (263 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Since the early 1990's, the federal role in education-exemplified by the controversial No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)-has expanded dramatically. Yet states and localities have retained a central role in education policy, leading to a growing struggle for control over the direction of the nation's schools. In An Education in Politics, Jesse H. Rhodes explains the uneven development of federal involvement in education. While supporters of expanded federal involvement enjoyed some success in bringing new ideas to the federal policy agenda, Rhodes argues, they also encountered stiff resistance from proponents of local control. Built atop existing decentralized policies, new federal reforms raised difficult questions about which level of government bore ultimate responsibility for improving schools. Rhodes's argument focuses on the role played by civil rights activists, business leaders, and education experts in promoting the reforms that would be enacted with federal policies such as NCLB. It also underscores the constraints on federal involvement imposed by existing education policies, hostile interest groups, and, above all, the nation's federal system. Indeed, the federal system, which left specific policy formation and implementation to the states and localities, repeatedly frustrated efforts to effect changes: national reforms lost their force as policies passed through iterations at the state, county, and municipal levels. Ironically, state and local resistance only encouraged civil rights activists, business leaders, and their political allies to advocate even more stringent reforms that imposed heavier burdens on state and local governments. Through it all, the nation's education system made only incremental steps toward the goal of providing a quality education for every child.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Explaining the Development of American Education Policymaking

1. The Structure of American Education Policy before 1980

2. A New Direction in American Education Policy, 1980-1988

3. Federal School Reform Builds Momentum, 1989-1992

4. A New Federal Role Is Born, 1993-1994

5. The Road to No Child Left Behind, 1995-2002

6. "Yes We Can" Improve America's Schools? From No Child Left Behind to President Obama's Education Initiatives, 2003-2011

Conclusion: Institutionally Bounded Entrepreneurship and the Future of American Education Policymaking

List of Abbreviations

Notes

Index

Notes:

"Published in association with the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9780801479540

0801479541

9780801464669

0801464668

9780801464195

0801464196

OCLC:

797828475