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Studies in Postwar American Political Development
The Allure of Order: High Hopes, Dashed Expectations, and the Troubled Quest to Remake American Schooling
Ted Kennedy and George W. Bush agreed on little, but united behind the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Passed in late 2001, it was hailed as a dramatic new departure in school reform. It would make the states set high standards, measure student progress, and hold failing schools accountable. A decade later, NCLB has been repudiated on both sides of the aisle. According to Jal Mehta, we should have seen it coming. Far from new, it was the same approach to school reform that Americans have tried before.
In The Allure of Order, Mehta recounts a century of attempts at revitalizing public education, and puts forward a truly new agenda to reach this elusive goal. Not once, not twice, but three separate times-in the Progressive Era, the 1960s and '70s, and NCLB-reformers have hit upon the same idea for remaking schools. Over and over again, outsiders have been fascinated by the promise of scientific management and have attempted to apply principles of rational administration from above. Each of these movements started with high hopes and ambitious promises, but each gradually discovered that schooling is not easy to "order" from afar: policymakers are too far from schools to know what they need; teachers are resistant to top-down mandates; and the practice of good teaching is too complex for simple external standardization.
The larger problem, Mehta argues, is that reformers have it backwards: they are trying to do on the back-end, through external accountability, what they should have done on the front-end: build a strong, skilled and expert profession. Our current pattern is to draw less than our most talented people into teaching, equip them with little relevant knowledge, train them minimally, put them in a weak welfare state, and then hold them accountable when they predictably do not achieve what we seek. What we want, Mehta argues, is the opposite approach which characterizes top-performing educational nations: attract strong candidates into teaching, develop relevant and usable knowledge, train teachers extensively in that knowledge, and support these efforts through a strong welfare state.
The Allure of Order boldly challenges conventional wisdom with a sweeping, empirically rich account of the last century of education reform, and offers a new path forward for the century to come.
In The Allure of Order, Mehta recounts a century of attempts at revitalizing public education, and puts forward a truly new agenda to reach this elusive goal. Not once, not twice, but three separate times-in the Progressive Era, the 1960s and '70s, and NCLB-reformers have hit upon the same idea for remaking schools. Over and over again, outsiders have been fascinated by the promise of scientific management and have attempted to apply principles of rational administration from above. Each of these movements started with high hopes and ambitious promises, but each gradually discovered that schooling is not easy to "order" from afar: policymakers are too far from schools to know what they need; teachers are resistant to top-down mandates; and the practice of good teaching is too complex for simple external standardization.
The larger problem, Mehta argues, is that reformers have it backwards: they are trying to do on the back-end, through external accountability, what they should have done on the front-end: build a strong, skilled and expert profession. Our current pattern is to draw less than our most talented people into teaching, equip them with little relevant knowledge, train them minimally, put them in a weak welfare state, and then hold them accountable when they predictably do not achieve what we seek. What we want, Mehta argues, is the opposite approach which characterizes top-performing educational nations: attract strong candidates into teaching, develop relevant and usable knowledge, train teachers extensively in that knowledge, and support these efforts through a strong welfare state.
The Allure of Order boldly challenges conventional wisdom with a sweeping, empirically rich account of the last century of education reform, and offers a new path forward for the century to come.
406 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2013
27 people are currently reading
257 people want to read
About the author
Jal Mehta
8 books4 followersJal Mehta is Assistant Professor of Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is the co-editor of The Futures of School Reform.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 6, 2013
This is a recently published dissertation study in the sociology of education. Its focus is an institutional examination of three different waves of educational reform in the 20th (and 21st) century, all focusing on promoting improved educational standards and increasing teacher accountability through testing. The novel part of the study framework is the combination of an institutional focus on the professions involved in education with a history of how the educational problem (or crisis) is defined (or framed). This combination allows one to see how it was that different levels of organization and government agencies got involved in different reform waves, how it was that the reformers triumphed (to the extent that they did) and they opponents of reform (often the teachers) did not. The interaction of changing ideas with relatively less changing institutional arrangements also provides a way of understanding how one wave of reform led to another or built upon a prior one. Sociologists have generally not been very effective in dealing with social dynamics, especially longer term ones. The resulting studies have tended to emphasis forces promoting order and stability or those promoting disorder and change. This study is a refreshing change from that and seems to be part of some new institutional research that may actually have an impact.
The writing is passable but remember -- it is a dissertation. The syllable count is high and there are more than a few repetitions of riffs that did not need repeating. If you follow through however, the study in well organized and fairly interesting. I had not drawn the connections between the Progressive reforms, the reforms around the Coleman Report in the 1960s and 1970s and the most recent wave that has brought us "No Child Left Behind" and "Race to the Top". If you are interested in these areas, then you will find this a useful book.
The study does not provide much in the way of new answers, however. The preferred direction of change -- professionalize the teachers to promote change from inside the profession -- is not new here and makes good intellectual sense. The problem is how to bring about the institutional changes -- you know, reorganize school districts nationwide, substantially increase pay and recruitment efforts for teachers, build an acceptable and useful knowledge base, etc. With more to offer on how to do this, the recommendations come across a bit as an exercise in redefining the problem in the form of a solution. Buy hey -- that would be too much for any study to do (even the Coleman Report has its limits) -- and on the whole the book is worthwhile.
The writing is passable but remember -- it is a dissertation. The syllable count is high and there are more than a few repetitions of riffs that did not need repeating. If you follow through however, the study in well organized and fairly interesting. I had not drawn the connections between the Progressive reforms, the reforms around the Coleman Report in the 1960s and 1970s and the most recent wave that has brought us "No Child Left Behind" and "Race to the Top". If you are interested in these areas, then you will find this a useful book.
The study does not provide much in the way of new answers, however. The preferred direction of change -- professionalize the teachers to promote change from inside the profession -- is not new here and makes good intellectual sense. The problem is how to bring about the institutional changes -- you know, reorganize school districts nationwide, substantially increase pay and recruitment efforts for teachers, build an acceptable and useful knowledge base, etc. With more to offer on how to do this, the recommendations come across a bit as an exercise in redefining the problem in the form of a solution. Buy hey -- that would be too much for any study to do (even the Coleman Report has its limits) -- and on the whole the book is worthwhile.
May 19, 2022
Amazing book, a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the educational politics and underlying assumptions that led us to the No Child Left Behind era of the 2000s. The author combines common sense with rich theoretical insight. The text does get rather repetitive and unnecessarily wordy at times.
March 9, 2019
Read parts for grad school.
April 18, 2024
yes, this was for grad school but lots of information!!
July 31, 2015
I read the introduction and the final chapter, as the history of K12 education in America and its reform movements was already mostly familiar to me. I was convinced by his argument that US school reform has gone about the process backwards, and that instead of focusing on high-stakes evaluation of outputs, it would make sense to carefully select and train teachers, provide them with opportunities to grow, develop, and improve their practice, and let them work. Thought it's correlative rather than causative, it's intriguing that this is what the countries with the best PISA results do.
He outlines the history of how reforms in the early 1900s were supported by universities, which sought to establish their scientific credentials by embracing "scientific management in the training of (primarily male) superintendents and distanced themselves from the pedagogical training of the (primarily female) teaching force" (3).
"driving force behind the modern standards and accountability movement was the linking of educational to economic concerns" through A Nation At Risk (4).
"Across this history, we see some recurring themes . . . The first is the outsized faith that Americans have placed in the tools of scientific management as a mechanism for improving schools. Reliance on the techniques of American industry, an unshakable faith in science, and a belief in the ability to remake ourselves by remaking our schools have created a potent combination. Each of these movements has been justified on the grounds that it would bring objective data to a 'soft' and undisciplined field and standardization to a highly variable social landscape. Each was bolstered by attaching its claims to higher status fields, particularly business, but also the Defense Department, and leading management ideas from the academy and industry. Despite the fact that both experience and research has told us that teaching is not like factory work, that it requires skill and discretion as opposed to the following of rules and procedures, we continue to be attracted to the idea that if we can only get the right outcome targets in place, we will be able to 'order' the whole system for the better. Scientific management also seems to promise that the answer can be found without confronting difficult questions of distribute justice; we persist in the illusion that science combined with policy can fix our problems without requiring any difficult choices or tradeoffs" (5).
2. another theme is the inability of the educational profession to take control of its own sphere in the way that medicine did, partly b/c the front line staff have largely been women, partly because the bureaucracy prevented the development of "guild" power, and partly b/c categorizing teachers as labor deprofessionalizes them.
3. scientific rationality "often emphasizes the measurable to the exclusion of the meaningful" (this item seemed less clear and coherent to me than the first two).
He outlines the history of how reforms in the early 1900s were supported by universities, which sought to establish their scientific credentials by embracing "scientific management in the training of (primarily male) superintendents and distanced themselves from the pedagogical training of the (primarily female) teaching force" (3).
"driving force behind the modern standards and accountability movement was the linking of educational to economic concerns" through A Nation At Risk (4).
"Across this history, we see some recurring themes . . . The first is the outsized faith that Americans have placed in the tools of scientific management as a mechanism for improving schools. Reliance on the techniques of American industry, an unshakable faith in science, and a belief in the ability to remake ourselves by remaking our schools have created a potent combination. Each of these movements has been justified on the grounds that it would bring objective data to a 'soft' and undisciplined field and standardization to a highly variable social landscape. Each was bolstered by attaching its claims to higher status fields, particularly business, but also the Defense Department, and leading management ideas from the academy and industry. Despite the fact that both experience and research has told us that teaching is not like factory work, that it requires skill and discretion as opposed to the following of rules and procedures, we continue to be attracted to the idea that if we can only get the right outcome targets in place, we will be able to 'order' the whole system for the better. Scientific management also seems to promise that the answer can be found without confronting difficult questions of distribute justice; we persist in the illusion that science combined with policy can fix our problems without requiring any difficult choices or tradeoffs" (5).
2. another theme is the inability of the educational profession to take control of its own sphere in the way that medicine did, partly b/c the front line staff have largely been women, partly because the bureaucracy prevented the development of "guild" power, and partly b/c categorizing teachers as labor deprofessionalizes them.
3. scientific rationality "often emphasizes the measurable to the exclusion of the meaningful" (this item seemed less clear and coherent to me than the first two).
October 1, 2014
A decent history of education reform efforts over the last century. A host of problems have created the situation we find ourselves in (though, interestingly, not partisan politics). Everyone is pretty darn sure they know how teachers should do their job, which they can conveniently convert into policy by voting without having to deal with all those pesky details and responsibility for results. Politicians of all stripes are never going to say "your kid's education is good enough." Both sides promise us better results with less inputs, then run into the thorny topic of defining just what "results" even mean. Have to attach a number to it, so standardized test it is.
Unions, doing their part to screw things up, keep acting like teachers are the modern day equivalent of the factory workers fighting for their rights on the barricades, when in fact actual workers see their summers off and seven hour days. Those seeking to push accountability through any haphazard method couldn't ask for a better gift in terms of optics.
Perhaps the worst part is that nobody knows the purpose of education. Since "A Nation At Risk", it's been tied primarily to economic factors, which isn't unreasonable, but again politics comes into the matter. We see the attitude that every kid must be ready for college in the post industrial era. To say there were unintended consequences would be an understatement.
Mehta rightly points out the lack of professionalism in the field, especially compared with other nations. Our teachers are often (no, not always, that's why we have two different words, but definitely often) pulled from the bottom half of college graduating classes. Offering higher salaries is easy to say but hard to do in many places. There isn't much reason to believe it would do much other than raising the salary of those we don't want to hang on to. Until the profession can better regulate who gets in, I doubt it will ever improve. I've met a couple of great teachers; with a school full of their knowledge of their subjects, dedication to their students, and joy in improving in their profession, combined with the authority to decide future membership, the push for outside accountability would be far outpaced by the drive to improve from within.
How we get there, I can't say.
Unions, doing their part to screw things up, keep acting like teachers are the modern day equivalent of the factory workers fighting for their rights on the barricades, when in fact actual workers see their summers off and seven hour days. Those seeking to push accountability through any haphazard method couldn't ask for a better gift in terms of optics.
Perhaps the worst part is that nobody knows the purpose of education. Since "A Nation At Risk", it's been tied primarily to economic factors, which isn't unreasonable, but again politics comes into the matter. We see the attitude that every kid must be ready for college in the post industrial era. To say there were unintended consequences would be an understatement.
Mehta rightly points out the lack of professionalism in the field, especially compared with other nations. Our teachers are often (no, not always, that's why we have two different words, but definitely often) pulled from the bottom half of college graduating classes. Offering higher salaries is easy to say but hard to do in many places. There isn't much reason to believe it would do much other than raising the salary of those we don't want to hang on to. Until the profession can better regulate who gets in, I doubt it will ever improve. I've met a couple of great teachers; with a school full of their knowledge of their subjects, dedication to their students, and joy in improving in their profession, combined with the authority to decide future membership, the push for outside accountability would be far outpaced by the drive to improve from within.
How we get there, I can't say.
January 3, 2014
Educators who are concerned about and wanting to understand and avoid the threat of outside meddling in our field need to read Jal Mehta's The Allure of Order, first of all to see and understand the history of public education in the US vis à vis the current and previous external reform efforts and the power positions of the various groups involved, and then to gain an understanding of how we can avoid repeating previous disempowering mistakes in order to build a strong profession that will obviate the perceived need and the possibility of outside intervention in our schools.
According to Richard F. Elmore, Gregory Anrig Professor of Educational Leadership, Harvard Graduate School of Education: "In this detailed historical and political reanalysis of America's checkered history of school reform, Jal Mehta finds two major patterns: an impulse on the part of reformers and policymakers for the imposition of order and coherence on a set of institutions that lack the incentives and capacities to respond to these ideas, and a persistent lack of attention to the underlying problems of human values, knowledge, and skill that actually determine the value of schooling to individuals and society over time. His analysis leads to a vision of the future that will be harder to achieve but more likely to succeed, based on valuing human knowledge and skill over technical order in the learning sector."
And finally, "Documenting that the current 'rationalization of schools' has reached its limits, Dr. Mehta points us to an approach that produces greater learning outcomes by trusting educators, sharing ideas, and moving away from the concept of 'one best system" (Robert Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education).
The understanding and insights to be gained from reading and discussing The Allure of Order are necessary for anyone who wants to affect the course of education change.
According to Richard F. Elmore, Gregory Anrig Professor of Educational Leadership, Harvard Graduate School of Education: "In this detailed historical and political reanalysis of America's checkered history of school reform, Jal Mehta finds two major patterns: an impulse on the part of reformers and policymakers for the imposition of order and coherence on a set of institutions that lack the incentives and capacities to respond to these ideas, and a persistent lack of attention to the underlying problems of human values, knowledge, and skill that actually determine the value of schooling to individuals and society over time. His analysis leads to a vision of the future that will be harder to achieve but more likely to succeed, based on valuing human knowledge and skill over technical order in the learning sector."
And finally, "Documenting that the current 'rationalization of schools' has reached its limits, Dr. Mehta points us to an approach that produces greater learning outcomes by trusting educators, sharing ideas, and moving away from the concept of 'one best system" (Robert Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education).
The understanding and insights to be gained from reading and discussing The Allure of Order are necessary for anyone who wants to affect the course of education change.
January 1, 2015
Mehta makes a compelling case that external accountability is an inadequate approach to improving schools and that higher-performing nations have done a better job than the U.S. in attracting, developing, and retaining teachers. He raises the critical point that the lack of a defined body of knowledge essential to teaching and the demand for teachers limits the profession's power to define and enforce standards for entry. The book includes three case studies (from Maryland, Michigan, and Utah) of the development of educational policy and how policy is shaped by the way various actors defined the problem. In the final chapter, Mehta contends that education policy to date has tried to address "a problem of professional practice by bureaucratic means." He advocates for action research by teachers, school-based research institutes, and attention to not just accountability or human capital, but also school-level processes of improvement and external support.
May 21, 2013
Very detailed discussion of the history of K-12 school reform in the U.S., going back to the Progressive movement. Shows how and why liberals and conservatives managed to find common ground and align against the teacher unions to implement the testing everyone helps. Author ends with some recommendations for tweaks in the implementation that might actually get results, instead of the current top-down industrial management approach using threats for poor performance instead of assistance to improve.
March 5, 2014
Really nice overview of the history of accountability in the U.S. educational system. Excellent review of the literature in the politics of education. The last chapter contains a lot of ideas about how to move forward, some better hashed out than others. Overall, this is well written, and does a nice job analyzing accountability in education.
February 14, 2016
I really think I need to read this again to really understand it. The book is much more complicated than it needs to be. Basically, it's a skeptical history of attempts to institute standards in American education and why they haven't worked.
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November 20, 2015371.01097 M4988 2015
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews