This book investigates the interrelationship between educational reforms and pedagogical and technological innovations, as well as the implications of this relationship for the quality of human capital. By analyzing recent educational reforms in Russia and the US, the authors shed new light on how these reforms may help or hinder innovations, such as the introduction of computer technologies into classrooms, new methods of teacher evaluation, constructivist teaching methods, and governance in public schools. Taking labor economics as a useful lens for conceptualizing the diffusion of innovation, in the first part of the book the authors analyze book how certain power arrangements can block educational innovations in schools. In the second part they examine recent educational reforms in the US and Russia. The final part presents a vision of the next generation of educational reforms, which may enable innovation diffusion, rather than hamper it.

Measuring innovation in education and understanding how it works is essential to improve the quality of the education sector. Monitoring systematically how pedagogical practices evolve would considerably increase the international education knowledge base. We need to examine whether, and how ...

First published in 1968, The Irony of Early School Reform quickly became essential reading for anyone interested in American education. One of the first books to survey the relationship between public educational systems and the rise of urbanization and industrialization,Irony was instrumental in mapping out the origins of school reform and locating the source of educational inequalities and bureaucracies in patterns established in the nineteenth century. This new and enhanced version of the classic text is now available for the legions of people who have asked for it. It includes an update by the author along with the same cohesive text and criticism contained in the original. Readers will appreciate that this edition: brings back into print a book that holds an important place in the field of educational history and in the modern literature of educational reform; assesses the impact of the original publication in light of writing about American history and education since its original publication and explains its continuing significance; shatters warm and comforting myths about the origins of public education; and shows how some of the most problematic features of public education have their origins in nineteenth century styles of educational reform.

This ambitious book aims to reorient discussions about school reform by moving away from "whole-school" solutions to customized services and products. The book surveys the current landscape of customized entrepreneurial activity in education, looks closely at particular customized innovations by schools and education entrepreneurs, and addresses persistent concerns that arise in connection with customized reforms. A volume that is both far ranging and insistently pragmatic, Customized Schooling aims to spur fresh thoughts about the scope and nature of promising education reforms and to open up strikingly new possibilities for entrepreneurial activity in today's schools. Customized Schooling is a volume in the Educational Innovations series. "Customized Schooling dares the reader to look at what schooling could be like if we end our reliance on the one-stop-shop schoolhouse. Alongside a score of policy leaders, esteemed researchers, and on-the-ground practitioners, Hess and Manno lay out the case for individualizing education so that student, teacher, and district demands are heard and followed. What are the contours of such a system? How will it handle financial, data, and accountability concerns? And how will we listen more effectively to the wants of education customers? This volume provides fuel for the crucial discussion of these and other questions." -- Clayton M. Christensen, Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School "Rick Hess and Bruno Manno argue that contemporary education is 'an anachronism in today's world of specialized services.' The book persuasively puts forth a strong rationale for abandoning past practices and provides a compendium of cutting-edge innovations and innovators. Do not put this book aside; read it again and again. Customized Schooling is an essential book for those of us committed to the transformation of learning in the United States." -- Gene Wilhoit, executive director, Council of Chief State School Officers Frederick M. Hess is director of educational policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and executive editor of Education Next. He has edited and authored numerous books, including What Next? Educational Innovation and Philadelphia's School of the Future and Stretching the School Dollar: How Schools and Districts Can Save Money While Serving Students Best, both published by Harvard Education Press. Bruno V. Manno is senior advisor for education with the Walton Family Foundation. He is coauthor of Charter Schools in Action and numerous other works on education policy and reform.

This open access book is a comparative analysis of recent large scale education reforms that broadened curriculum goals to better prepare students for the 21st century. The book examines what governments actually do when they broaden curriculum goals, with attention to the details of implementation. To this end, the book examines system level reforms in six countries at various levels of development. The study includes system level reforms in jurisdictions where students achieve high levels in international assessments of basic literacies, such as Singapore and Ontario, Canada, as well as in nations where students achieve much lower levels, such as Kenya, Mexico, Punjab-Pakistan and Zimbabwe. The chapters examine system-level reforms that focus on strengthening the capacity to teach the basics, as in Ontario and Pakistan, as well as reforms that aim at building the capacity to teach a much broader set of competencies and skills, such as Kenya, Mexico, Singapore and Zimbabwe. The volume includes systems at very different levels of spending per student and reforms at various points in the cycle of policy implementation, some just starting, some struggling to survive a governmental transition, and others that have been in place for an extended period of time. From the comparative study of these reforms, we aim to provide an understanding of how to build the capacity of education systems to teach 21st century skills at scale in diverse settings.

The United States' failure to educate its students leaves them unprepared to compete and threatens the country's ability to thrive in a global economy and maintain its leadership role. This report notes that while the United States invests more in K-12 public education than many other developed countries, its students are ill prepared to compete with their global peers. According to the results of the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international assessment that measures the performance of 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics, and science every three years, U.S. students rank fourteenth in reading, twenty-fifth in math, and seventeenth in science compared to students in other industrialized countries. The lack of preparedness poses threats on five national security fronts: economic growth and competitiveness, physical safety, intellectual property, U.S. global awareness, and U.S. unity and cohesion, says the report. Too many young people are not employable in an increasingly high-skilled and global economy, and too many are not qualified to join the military because they are physically unfit, have criminal records, or have an inadequate level of education. The report proposes three overarching policy recommendations: implement educational expectations and assessments in subjects vital to protecting national security; make structural changes to provide students with good choices; and, launch a "national security readiness audit" to hold schools and policymakers accountable for results and to raise public awareness.

Lead between the lines— evaluate Ed policies to emphasize the positives and minimize the negatives Although educational reform is intended for positive change, sometimes it misses the mark. However, when school leaders capitalize on the positive aspects of reforms they can strategize to ensure the best outcomes for students. Christopher Tienken, professor and international speaker, shares his insights on how to identify both positive and negative aspects of education reform to maximize the benefits for students. This book introduces a practical framework for interpreting educational reform within an evidence-based practice, and provides thoughtful ways to finesse results out of challenging policies. Designed for use on the ground level, this book features: • Seven specific creative compliance strategies to maximize student and educator success • Case studies that illustrate how to critique reforms and take action • Reflective questions to guide evaluation and application • Ethical decision-making checklist Analyzing both successful and unsuccessful reform ideas from the past, this book champions creative compliance and how to lead innovatively/judiciously.