Shaping Education Policy is a comprehensive overview of education politics and policy, which provides conceptual guideposts for future policy development and strategies for change.

Shaping Education Policy is a comprehensive overview of education politics and policy, which provides conceptual guideposts for future policy development and strategies for change. Leading scholars explore the interacting social processes and the dynamics of power politics as they intersect with democratic ideals and shape school performance. Chapters cover major themes that have influenced education, including the Civil Rights Movement, federal involvement, the accountability movement, family choice, and development of nationalization and globalization. This edited collection examines how education policy in the United States has evolved over the last several decades and how the resulting policies are affecting schools and the children who attend them. This important book is a necessary resource for understanding the evolution, current status, and possibilities of educational policy and politics.

Praise for the First Edition "Shaping Education Policy provides a comprehensive overview of where new policy initiatives and governance structures come from. Perhaps more importantly, it raises questions about what we might expect of their implementation."-Teachers College Record review by Jack Schneider, Assistant Professor, Education, College of the Holy Cross "It is a truth universally acknowledged that American schools are in need of dramatic improvement. Those seeking to understand why this is so-and why 'reforms' almost always fall short of their goals-will not find a better starting point than this volume, which brings together an outstanding group of authors to explore the vexed relationships among history, politics, and educational policy. As political and policy environments grow darker and more turbulent Shaping Education Policy offers a steady perspective on the things that matter most for American schools, and why they are so difficult to achieve."- David N. Plank, Research Professor, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University