scholarly journals Ethnicity, Exclusion, and Exams: Education Policy and Politics in Burundi from the Independent Republics to the Civil War (1966–1993)

2021 ◽  
pp. 000203972110235
Author(s):  
Emily Dunlop
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Important Case ◽  
Potential Mechanism ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Ethnic Inequalities ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Inequality In Education ◽  
Perceptions Of Inequality ◽  
Ethnicity And Politics

Education policy can embed ethnic inequalities in a country. Education in Burundi, with its historically exclusive political institutions and education, represents an important case for understanding these interactions. In this article, I interview twelve Burundians about how they experienced and perceived ethnicity and politics in their schooling from 1966 to 1993. I argue that education contributed to tangible and perceived social hierarchies based on ethnic inequalities. I show that this exclusion reflected both overt and covert policy goals, through proxies used to identify ethnicity in schools and through the exclusive nature of national exams at the time, which promoted members of the Tutsi minority at the expense of the majority Hutus. This study has implications for understanding how perceptions of inequality in education manifest as grievances against the state. It sheds light on the importance of understanding covert education policy as a potential mechanism for generating exclusion and contributing to conflict.

“Planting the Seeds”: The Influence of the Council on Education Policy and Practice

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (13) ◽  
pp. 189-202
Author(s):  
Melanie Bertrand ◽  
Arlene J. Ford
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Educational Policy ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Relative Power ◽  
Youth Participatory Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Inequality In Education

This chapter explores the influence of a youth participatory action research (YPAR) group, viewing the group's efforts as challenges to manifestations of racial inequality in education, such as the inequitable distribution of educational resources. The authors examine how individuals in positions of relative power—teachers, school administrators, and public officials— respond to the group's advocacy efforts. The analysis illustrates the complexity of the group's influence: Some individuals report that the Council sparks meaningful changes, while others have negative reactions. Overall, the chapter sheds light on the ways that YPAR can encourage change in education by incorporating the voices of Black and Latina/o youth into educational policy and practice. “What really stuck with me was this idea of traditional versus organic forms of leadership… and that it's my responsibility to help my students develop as leaders.” – Ms. Bauman1

Anatomy of an Evidence Base

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 454-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Malouf ◽  
Juliana M. Taymans
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Research Evidence ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Intervention Effect ◽  
What Works ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Education Interventions ◽  
What Works Clearinghouse ◽  
Adequate Research

An analysis was conducted of the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) research evidence base on the effectiveness of replicable education interventions. Most interventions were found to have little or no support from technically adequate research studies, and intervention effect sizes were of questionable magnitude to meet education policy goals. These findings painted a dim picture of the evidence base on education interventions and indicated a need for new approaches, including a reexamination of federal reliance on experimental impact research as the basis for gauging intervention effectiveness.

scholarly journals Governing education policy: the European Union and Australia

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gosia Klatt ◽  
Marcella Milana
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Education Policy ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Data Generation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Modes Of Governance ◽  
The Eu

This paper considers the changing modes of governance of education policy in the European Union (EU) and Australia through a lens of ‘soft governance’. It considers the increased use of ‘policy instruments’ such as benchmarking, targets, monitoring, data-generation in policy-making in recent decades. It considers the roles these policy instruments play in coordinating education policy in the EU and Australia as well as their intended and unintended consequences. It shows that in the EU, these instruments played a role in strengthening the coordination through the links between individuals and programs, and networking, which is seen as resulting in enhanced creativity in policy solutions, development of new norms and new means for achieving policy goals. While in Australia it seems that the role of these instruments is focused on consolidating the role of the Commonwealth’s oversight and control over what constitutionally is a responsibility of States which adds to several policy tensions already existing in the federal coordination of education.

Bureaucracy and the Failure of Politics: Challenges to Democratic Governance

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (10) ◽  
pp. 1576-1605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Meier ◽  
Mallory Compton ◽  
John Polga-Hecimovich ◽  
Miyeon Song ◽  
Cameron Wimpy
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
The World ◽  
Quality Of Governance ◽  
Bureaucratic Reforms

Bureaucratic reforms worldwide seek to improve the quality of governance. In this article, we argue that the major governance failures are political, not bureaucratic, and the first step to better governance is to recognize the underlying political causes. Using illustrations from throughout the world, we contend that political institutions fail to provide clear policy goals, rarely allocate adequate resources to deal with the scope of the problems, and do not allow the bureaucracy sufficient autonomy in implementation. Rational bureaucratic responses to these problems, in turn, create additional governance problems that could have been avoided if political institutions perform their primary functions.

scholarly journals Education Policy Trump Style: The Administrative Presidency and Deference to States in ESSA Implementation

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-445
Author(s):  
Kenneth K Wong
Keyword(s):  
School Choice ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Education Policy ◽  
Elementary And Secondary Education ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Public School Choice ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

Abstract Since the 1960s, U.S. presidents have used their executive, administrative, and political power to pursue policy goals in elementary and secondary education. This article analyzes the K-12 education policy strategies pursued during the first three years of the Donald Trump presidency, focusing on two main aspects of Trump’s approach to education policy. First, I analyze Trump’s heavy reliance on executive and administrative tools and his use of these tools to promote state flexibility, diminish federal direction on civil rights issues, and expand private and public school choice. Second, I examine the Trump administration’s approach to implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), especially in reviewing state plans pursuant to the ESSA. The administration took a highly deferential approach as states sought approval for their ESSA plans and in a way that suggests the Trump presidency is shifting federal involvement in K-12 education policy away from prioritizing equity and oversight.

Agenda Setting and Political Control in India’s Sanitation Policy Subsystem

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.C. Martel
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Political Freedom ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Political Control ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Policy Subsystem

India has the worst sanitation situation in the world. Over the past century, Indian political leaders have made public statements expressing the intensity of the problem, deeming sanitation more important than political freedom, independence and religion. Recently, two prominent political parties—National Congress and Bharatiya Janata—argued about who deserves credit for improving India’s cleanliness. In response, this article is guided by the question: Does it matter which political institutions are supporting sanitation improvements in India? Using two theoretical lenses, agenda setting and political control of bureaucracy, this article discusses (1) the problem, politics and policies in India’s sanitation policy subsystem, and (2) mechanisms to align policy preferences across levels of government. Utilizing an agenda setting conceptual framework, the discussion highlights the role of international organizations in problem identification; party ideology and values and capacity issues that challenge the policy arena. The discussion turns to alignment of policy preferences across India’s multi-level governance structure, pointing to monitoring to reduce principal-agent problems, drawing from political control of bureaucracy theory. Given that national political leaders observably support sanitation, this article proposes that aligning policy preferences between national political institutions and local implementation agencies is imperative for achieving sanitation policy goals in federalist India.

When Do Ideas Matter?

2000 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMES I. WALSH
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Integrated Framework ◽  
Policy Goals

The field of comparative politics has begun to take seriously the role of ideas in politics, but to date this interest has not clearly specified the conditions under which ideas influence public policy. The author develops an integrated framework that shows ideas about policy goals and instruments are most influential when they do not attract substantial opposition from voters and interest groups and when political institutions concentrate decision-making authority. The author tests this framework by examining the fates of three ideas, facing different degrees of societal opposition and concentrated authority, adopted by the first Thatcher government in Britain.

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