Debates in U.S. Education Policy
This course will review the largest and most controversial K-12 educational reforms of the past 50 years, from desegregation and school finance equalization to charter schools and teacher accountability. In weekly structured debates, students will advocate both for and against each reform by appealing to research evidence. You will read 2-3 articles most weeks, and about twice as much in weeks when you lead debate. At the end of the course, you will have learned to evaluate controversial policies more impartially. In addition, you may have changed your mind regarding which past reforms have been successful and which future reforms are most worth pursuing.