Policy Studies For Educational Leaders: An Introduction, 4th Edition

For courses in Educational Policy and Educational Leadership;

From a leader in the field–a comprehensive text covering education policy and the policy process that encourages future educational leaders to be proactive–and gives them a firm understanding of educational policy and the important political theories upon which it is based.

 While expressing the belief that it is important for today’s school leaders to know how to track educational policies and to seek to influence them, Frances Fowler, a well respected authority in the field of educational policy, recognizes that most leaders have little or no background in political science or policy studies and even less experience with the state politics of education. For these future and current administrators, Professor Fowler presents essential background information about the cultural, economic, demographic, and institutional roots of educational policy. She identifies and describes the major policy actors, and gives educators in depth descriptions of each stage of the policy process, complete with numerous examples of how policy unfolds in the development of educational policy. A goal of the book is to ensure that educational leaders understand the basic political theories that underpin educational policy development. To that end, the author provides example of how to apply this knowledge in everyday practice.

PART ONE: THE BACKGROUND OF EDUCATION POLICY

Chapter 1: Policy–What It Is and Where It Comes From

Chapter 2:  Power and Education Policy   

Chapter 3:  The Economy and Demographics

Chapter 4:  The Political System and Political Culture

Chapter 5:  Values and Ideology   

PART TWO: POLICY ACTORS AND THE POLICY PROCESS 

Chapter 6:  The Major Education Policy Actors  

Chapter 7:  Setting the Stage and Getting on It: Issue Definition and Agenda Setting  

Chapter 8:  Getting the Words and the Money: Policy Formulation and Policy Adoption  

Chapter 9:  Looking at Policies: Policy Instruments and Cost Effectiveness    

Chapter 10:  Policy Implementation: Getting People to Carry Out a Policy

Chapter 11:  Policy Evaluation: Determining If the Policy Works

Chapter 12:  Education Policy in the United States: Retrospective and Prospective   

Glossary

Appendix

Useful Web Sites for Following Education Policy

How to Locate Government Web Sites for Specific States

References  

Name Index  

Subject Index