| Home |
Bio |
Books/Monographs/Articles | Blogging/Op-Eds |
Book
Reviews/Interviews |
Beverage/Humor | Reportage | Websites |
Contact |
 |
Failing Grades: The Federal Politics of
Education Standards by Kevin R. Kosar August 2005/240 Pages ISBN: 1-58826-388-6 Lynne Rienner Publishers "Well-written, accessible, and likely to be controversial." —Kathryn A. McDermott, University of Massachusetts "[A] timely and comprehensive assessment..." —Ken Wong, Vanderbilt University |
|
For bulk paperback orders (10 copies or more), review
copies, or discount desk copies-- please contact the publisher
at cservice@rienner.com or
303-444-6684. In the past
fifteen years, presidents from two parties, supported by parents,
teachers, and civic leaders have tried and generally failed to increase
student achievement through federal policymaking. Supposedly
pathbreaking legislation to "leave no child behind" has hardly made a
dent in the problem. What is going on? Kevin R. Kosar delves into the
political maneuvering behind the crafting of federal education
standards policy. Drawing on a wealth of evidence, Kosar argues that
high education standards for all students will help raise achievement
(policy analysis). Then, turning to the "real world" of Washington, he
shows how politics has thwarted tough education standards policy
(political analysis). Kosar concludes with modest proposals for
improving the standards and testing provisions of the No Child left
Behind Act of 2002 that have a chance of surviving political attacks
from both the right and the left.
Topics include: The current state of student
achievement, an introduction to education standards, an overview of the
history of the federal role in schooling, A Nation at Risk, America
2000, Goals 2000: Educate America Act, Voluntary National Tests, and
the No Child Left Behind Act |
| Contents: -Introduction. -Student Achievement: A Rising Tide of Mediocrity? -The Case for Federal Policy to Raise Education Standards -Education Policy and Politics Before 1993 -The Politics of Goals 2000 -Title I and Voluntary National Tests -The No Child Left Behind Act -Improving Federal Standards Policy |
Reviews/Press
Mentions of Failing Grades: REVIEW: Political Science Quarterly, Aut. 2006, pp. 533-534. REVIEW: Choice magazine, June 2006. MENTION: NYU Magazine, Spring 2006, p. 74. REVIEW: The Doyle Report, Mar. 14, 2006. MENTION: Eduwonk.com, Mar. 13, 2006. REVIEW: Education Review, Mar. 6, 2006. REVIEW: Teachers College Record, Jan. 19, 2006. MENTION: Clio: Newsletter of Politics and History, American Political Science Association, Fall/Wint 2005/2006, p. 35. MENTION: Politics of Education Bulletin, Wint. 2006, p. 6. INTERVIEW: This Week in Education, Nov. 17, 2005 REVIEW: Reference & Research Book News, Nov. 2005, p. 240.
REVIEW: The Education Gadfly (Thomas B. Fordham Foundation), Oct. 6, 2005. INTERVIEW: Hill
Rag newspaper, Sept. 2005, p. 103.
|