EDUC 8150:Critical Analysis of Educational Policies and Change

3 Class Hours 0 Laboratory Hours 3 Credit Hours
Prerequisite: Admission to the Ed.S. or Ed.D. program.
This course provides a critical analysis of K-12 education policy at the national, state, and local levels. Topics include issues related to historical, political, cultural, and social contexts of American education. Students examine institutions and processes of public policymaking, the values and assumptions that underlie different types of policies, the political factors that shape their formulation and implementation, and the links between policy and educational practice. The goal of the course is to help teachers think critically about education policy and its influences on their students as learners. Successful candidates will complete a Teaching for Transformative Change Product that includes a) critical analysis of local, state, and national policies as they impact change at all educational levels, b) contextual analysis and evaluation of influence of select policy upon student learning at the classroom and school levels, c) proposal for transformative change, d) proposal for evaluation, e) collected literature and resources.