Political Spectacle and the Fate of American Schools [Paperback]

The authors argue that the most influential and well-known educational policy programs in the past 30 years are not based on democratic consensus, but are instead formulated by the political community as symbolic efforts meant to generate personal partisan gain.Mary Lee Smithis Professor in the Department of Education Leadership and Policy Studies at Arizona State University and the Director of Southwest Education Policy Studies in Phoenix, Arizona. She has spoken at local schools and educational agencies nationwide on the topics of grade retention and mandated assessment.