Think! Evidence

The Question of the Student In Educational Reform

Show simple item record

dc.creator David P. Ericson
dc.creator Frederick S. Ellett
dc.date 2002-07-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned 2015-08-12T11:19:46Z
dc.date.available 2015-08-12T11:19:46Z
dc.identifier 1068-2341
dc.identifier https://doaj.org/article/968fca37dd444efabcb9df19d9f148d5
dc.identifier.uri http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/27838
dc.description In pursuing the goals of educational reform over the past several decades, educational policy makers have focused on teachers, administrators, and school structures as keys to higher educational achievement. As the would-be beneficiaries of reform, students, and their interaction with the educational system, have been almost entirely overlooked in the pursuit of educational excellence. Yet, as we argue, students are as causally central as educators in bringing about higher educational achievement. In what follows, we examine rational student interaction with the educational system and show why a large number of students have incentives to undercut the intent of the reforms. These are incentives created by our development of an educationally-based, meritocratic social and economic system. No one, apparently, is asking what exactly is in the reforms from the point of view of quite rational, if sometimes irresponsible, student self-interest. Indeed, the eduationally-based, meritocratic social and economic system may be actually forming student preferences guaranteed to result in educational mediocrity rather than excellence. Finally, we comment upon the meaning of "educational excellence" and show why the educational reformers' understanding of the purpose of public education—to compete in the global economic system—can only fail to capture it. In doing so, we point to the kinds of educational structures and policies that create multiple pathways to competent adulthood that do have a chance of bringing about the reformers' stated goal of excellence in the educational system. But these are structures and policies that challenge the entire conceptual framework of the current educational reform movement.
dc.language English
dc.language Spanish
dc.language Portuguese
dc.publisher Arizona State University
dc.relation http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/310
dc.relation https://doaj.org/toc/1068-2341
dc.rights CC BY
dc.source Education Policy Analysis Archives, Vol 10, p 31 (2002)
dc.subject Special aspects of education
dc.subject LC8-6691
dc.subject Education
dc.subject L
dc.subject DOAJ:Education
dc.subject DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject Special aspects of education
dc.subject LC8-6691
dc.subject Education
dc.subject L
dc.subject DOAJ:Education
dc.subject DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject Special aspects of education
dc.subject LC8-6691
dc.subject Education
dc.subject L
dc.subject Special aspects of education
dc.subject LC8-6691
dc.subject Education
dc.subject L
dc.subject Special aspects of education
dc.subject LC8-6691
dc.subject Education
dc.subject L
dc.title The Question of the Student In Educational Reform
dc.type article


Files in this item

Files Size Format View

There are no files associated with this item.

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record

Search Think! Evidence


Browse

My Account