Education, Equity, and the States: How Variations in State Governance Make or Break Reform

by Sara E Dahill-Brown

Education, Equity, and the States examines how variations in state governance determine how federal initiatives are implemented and makes recommendations for approaching reform from this perspective. The book defines the key ways in which state policy environments differ from one another, illustrates how those differences matter, and encourages reformers to account for these disparities to achieve more sustained and equitable improvement.
 
Drawing on original research, Sara E. Dahill-Brown highlights three major factors that differ from state to the number of districts (fragmentation); the degree to which education governance is separated from other political issues (exceptionalism); and how much state legislation tends to impinge on local autonomy (local control). She examines the historical and political trends that have shaped differences among the states and how they affect the impact of education reforms. By identifying typical patterns in state governance, Dahill-Brown suggests ways to work with varying governance structures to lead to more successful and equitable outcomes.
 
Dahill-Brown argues that reformers at every level must routinely assess the appropriateness of their consensus-building and collaboration strategies. With the increasing importance of states in education, her work makes a notable contribution to our understanding of the landscape of education reform.
 

288 pages, Paperback

Published February 26, 2019

Reviews

[Marianne KB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well written but dense explanation of many aspects of public school governance on the National, state and local levels. Focuses on education reforms over the decades, and differences among states in the way education is governed. There are interesting explanations on how segregation is maintained by fragmentation of school districts. Also explanations of how components of governance evolved, including measuring student and school district achievement, teacher licensing, graduation requirements, textbook adoption, unions, appointments or elections of school boards, and state takeovers of school districts. All in all a very informative book that occasionally gets so deep in the details that only the most dedicated scholar of public education could follow or maintain interested.

[Jeni Enjaian · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the first time in a long time, I read an assigned textbook for a class and wholeheartedly loved it. I would have picked up this book even if my professor had not assigned it (and had I known that it existed).
Dahill-Brown takes a complicated issue, stated right in the title, and objectively analyzes all the varying factors from historical to political and more. She does so in a way that respects the intellectual level of the educators reading the book without sacrificing any academic depth. I also greatly appreciate the fact that Dahill-Brown came from education herself. She has had significant educational experience as well as rigorous research training and experience.
If you fancy a little bit of a challenge and find yourself interested in why fixing the public education system in the United States causes people so much trouble, run, don't walk, to buy this book.

I wholeheartedly recommend it.

[Lia Busby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly well-written and well-researched book on education inequity. I would highly suggest this book to anyone interested in the intersection between policy/legislation and how it translates to education "on the ground" or at the local level. Although the reading might be considered a little dense to some, the information gained is well-worth the "denseness." Overall, the book is extremely well-organized and all the concepts are explained perfectly.