From our journals: A special issue on understanding inequity in education and more
By: Margarita Pivovarova and Jeanne M. Powers, ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College
Published in: Education Policy Analysis Archives, Feb. 15, 2022
This study analyzes public school teacher employment data from 2009 to 2015 in an effort to understand why teacher attrition is 54% higher in charter schools compared to traditional public schools. The researchers investigated factors associated with the differences in exit rates of teachers from public and charter schools in Arizona, which has a large charter school sector. Findings suggest that the major factors behind the gap in retention rates between Arizona school sectors are teachers’ professional characteristics: less experienced teachers and teachers with alternative certification are more likely to exit schools. Charter schools employ a significantly larger share of these teachers. Pivovarova and Powers argue that charter school and school district leadership might consider interventions, such as mentoring and support for teachers in the early stages of their career.
By: Sarah Diem, University of Missouri; Jeffrey S. Brooks, Curtin University
Published in: Education Policy Analysis Archives, Feb. 8, 2022
This article is the introduction to the special issue of the journal, titled, “Critical Policy Analysis in Education: Exploring and Interrogating (In)Equity Across Contexts.” The special issue presents contemporary critical policy analyses from the U.S., Canada and Australia, which collectively represent methodological, contextual and theoretical diversity. The articles represent a spectrum of approaches to understanding (in)equity in education and point out various ways that educators, scholars, policymakers and activists can engage with systems to leverage change. In the article, the co-editors identify key themes that distinguish the special issue’s contribution and explain the importance of critical policy analysis as a relevant and necessary alternative to policy analyses that ignore issues of equity, social justice and oppression.
By: Camille M. Wilson, University of Michigan
Published in: Education Policy Analysis Archives, Feb. 8, 2022
In this editorial essay, Wilson pinpoints key insights, implications and cross-cutting themes that emerged from the special issue. The insights shed light on the interlocking connection between inequitable public education systems and vulnerable democracies, both of which fail to uphold their charge to be inclusive and just. Special attention is given to the harm of race-avoidant, classist and public-aversive discourse and policies, the co-opting of equity-oriented agendas for private interests, political underrepresentation and the multifaceted reach of global neoliberalism. The author emphasizes how these and other dynamics amount to the provision of educational equity being constrained by dominant logics of fear, scarcity and competition; the racialization and privatization of public education access; and the operation of elitist versus truly representative democracies. She builds upon the volume’s critical policy studies to stress the urgency of countering both covert and explicitly biased educational policy mechanisms in order to improve public education and construct more authentic democratic societies.
Review of “Trust, accountability and capacity in education system reform”
By: Carlos Ornelas, Metropolitan Autonomous University Xochimilco
Published in: Education Review, March 2022
Ornelas says, “Trust, accountability and capacity in education system reform” offers evidence of possibilities for change with a humanistic approach and the opportunity to achieve goals of equity and inclusion, while making student learning a practical reality. “If reformists cultivate trust in the context of governance through networks, create the block of accountability and build capacities, the right to education for all would be an attractive and achievable proposition,” he writes.
About our journals
MLFTC sponsors three innovative, open-access journals on education scholarship. EPAA is a peer-reviewed, international, multilingual and multidisciplinary journal designed for researchers, practitioners, policymakers and development analysts concerned with education policies. Education Review publishes reviews of books on education topics and Acquired Wisdom essays by esteemed educational researchers, and CIE is a peer-reviewed journal led by MLFTC graduate students.
Contact Stephanie McBride-Schreiner to learn more about our journals.