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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 dont, 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.
List of contents
Acknowledgments Introduction 1. What Difference Does Head Start Make? 2. Is Bilingual Education a Good Idea? 3. Does Class Size Matter? 4. Is Social Promotion a Problem? 5. Does More Money Make Schools Better? Conclusion Notes Suggested Readings Index
About the author
Timothy A. Hacsi is a Lecturer in the History Department at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Summary
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 30 years. In the first book to unite the recent history of educational policy and politics with the research evidence, Hacsi presents the stories of these five controversial topics.
