Children as Pawns: The Politics of Educational Reform [Paperback]

Timothy A. Hacsi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0674012496 | ISBN-13: 978-0674012493

Head Start. Bilingual education. Small class size. Social promotion. School funding. Virtually every school system in America has had to face these issues over the past thirty years. Advocates and dissenters have declared confidently that "the research" is on their side. But is it?

In the first book to bring together the recent history of educational policy and politics with the research evidence, Timothy Hacsi presents the illuminating, often-forgotten stories of these five controversial topics. He sifts through the complicated evaluation research literature and compares the policies that have been adopted to the best evidence about what actually works. He lucidly explains what the major studies show, what they don't, and how they have been misunderstood and misrepresented. Hacsi shows how rarely educational policies are based on solid research evidence, and how programs that sound plausible simply do not satisfy the complex needs of real children.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Hacsi (research assistant, Harvard; Second Home) opens this book with a simple question "How can we improve our schools?" and goes on to suggest that reform efforts must be rooted in solid research. Unfortunately, as he notes, the manner in which evaluative research on educational programs is conducted is fraught with difficulties, and, even worse, the ways in which the results of educational research are disseminated and reported are subject to powerful political pressures at every level. By providing historical case studies of what the research "really" tells us about controversial programs such as Head Start and bilingual education, Hacsi clearly demonstrates the influence that political interests can have on public perception of the efficacy of educational reform programs. As he demonstrates in every case presented in this book, we must all "be wary of advocates for a specific program who tell [us] that 'the evidence shows' the advocate is right." This sage advice reinforces the lessons learned in other recent studies of the politics of educational research, including Maris A. Vinovskis's History and Educational Policymaking (Yale Univ., 1999) and Ellen Condliffe Lagemann's An Elusive Science (LJ 5/15/00). Highly recommended for all academic libraries. Scott Walter, Washington State Univ., Pullman
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Hacsi opens this book with a simple question--"How can we improve our schools?"--and goes on to suggest that reform efforts must be rooted in solid research. Unfortunately, as he notes, the manner in which evaluative research on educational programs is conducted is fraught with difficulties, and, even worse, the ways in which the results of educational research are disseminated and reported are subject to powerful political pressures at every level. By providing historical case studies of what the research "really" tells us about controversial programs such as Head Start and bilingual education, Hacsi clearly demonstrates the influence that political interests can have on public perception of the efficacy of educational reform programs...Highly recommended.
--Scott Walter (Library Journal 20020201)

Children as Pawns is what most of us has wished for whenever we have gotten into one of those tedious arguments in which none of us had the essential facts. Hacsi is a social policy historian with expertise in methods of evaluation. He describes the important research, points out its strengths and weaknesses, and tells how policies changed over time. It is a treasure trove of facts on our clumsy efforts to help children learn...[Hacsi's] depth and clarity are not only helpful, but brave.
--Jay Mathews (washingtonpost.com 20020709)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674012496
• ISBN-13: 978-0674012493
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.7 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,446,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An Educational Reform Primer July 13, 2006

By Kenneth Auger

Format:Hardcover

Political leaders are not using evaluation evidence as a leading determinant in selecting educational policies, and we need to better evaluate school reform measures to intelligently apply our less-than-infinite school funding resources to improve our schools. Mr. Hacsi, with lucid writing and great intellect, lays out his primary arguments. In his well reasoned introduction and conclusion he states that most of the studies of existing programs are inconclusive or provide conflicting evidence. He asserts that advocates and opponents of education reform initiatives often misuse the available program evaluation information to support their positions. He then reviews five highly-controversial educational issues, Head Start, bilingual education, class size, social promotion, and public funding of education. For each of these he summarizes the positions of the proponents and opponents, reviews the evaluations that were done on each, the quality and reliability of these evaluations, and provides a brief history. All of this is done in an even-handed manner, and conclusions about particular issues are left to the reader.