The Malfunction of US Education Policy: Elite Misinformation, Disinformation, and Selfishness

by Richard P. Phelps

Overview

“Policy formation” should be an objective process. However, US education policy is formed by opportunistic “strategic scholars” promoting only their own work. Wealthy foundations, political parties, and celebrity-obsessed journalists sustain this information degradation. The Malfunction of US Education Policy examines how education suffers for it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475869941
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/05/2023
Pages:	196
Product dimensions:	5.95(w) x 8.99(h) x 0.59(d)

About the Author

Richard P. Phelps is founder of the muck-raking Nonpartisan Education Group, and editor and co-author of Correcting Fallacies about Educational and Psychological Testing (American Psychological Association) and Defending Standardized Testing (Psychology Press). He holds degrees from Washington and Harvard Universities, and a PhD in Public Policy Analysis from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Table of Contents

Preface: Protecting Endangered Theses Introduction:The Cartel Alliance and Honest Terminology Chapter 1. The View from 2001 Chapter 2. The Triumph of Strategic Scholarship Chapter 3. The Education Establishment Cartel Chapter 4. Linchpin of the Cartel Alliance: Koretz, Cannell, and the Ghost of Test Security Chapter 5. The Education Reform Cartel Chapter 6. A Dense Web of Common Core Confederates Chapter 7. The Permanent Education Press: A Breed Apart Chapter 8. The View from 2022 Conclusion: When What is Left Out is More Important About the Author

Editorial Reviews

I am delighted to see that Richard Phelps has written this particularly well-supported and thoughtful assessment of relatively recent national education reform efforts and the paucity of objective evidence of their, in the language of medicine, efficacy and toxicity. No one has a better demonstrated record writing about and giving voice to knowledgeable early critics of some of these efforts that never seem to be willing to allow anything but fawning praise until they are replaced with the next shiny object. Well studied traditional assessments of educational progress of students are dismissed as being inappropriate for these new and improved innovations. Regrettably, education writers are not nearly as knowledgeable nor as critical as their role should imply. Their work almost appears to have been written by the reformers themselves as opposed to objective neutral observers.

Wayne Bishop

Many who work in America’s public schools, teacher preparation programs, school district offices, and other such places often marvel at how out-of-touch education policy seems and wonder why it ignores the basic problems facing those in the trenches. In a masterful work, Phelps suggests this disconnect stems from the misinformation, disinformation, and selfishness of policy makers. The book's eight chapters address the view of education policy from 2001, the triumph of strategic scholarship, the education establishment cartel, linchpins of the cartel alliance, the education reform cartel, the dense web of Common Core confederates, the permanent education press, and the view from 2023. While many of these topics have been examined before, Phelps brings a fresh, piercing, and astute outlook. This book would be a superb complement for a class using Fullan’s Leading in a Culture of Change (Jossey-Bass 2020), Sizer’s Horace’s Compromise (Harper, 2004), or Duke’s Leadership for Low-Performing Schools (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015). While essential for those interested in school leadership and change, the work will also be of interest to those interested in public policy, ethics, or the political process. Essential. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers.

Choice Reviews

Richard Phelps’ latest publication (The Malfunction of U.S. Education Policy) addresses a badly needed topic—testing, or as is the actual thrust of much current education policy writing, anti-testing. Phelps’ book explains why the social sciences in particular do not provide a sturdy foundation for much if not most education policy today. Readers may find the claim that “no previous research” on important details exists. Thus, society and science are impoverished if not damaged by a truncated process for specific education policies that may reflect laziness or excessive reliance on one academic “celebrity” or publication.

Sandra Stotsky