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  2. EDU BA801

Education Policy Analysis and Research in Comparative Perspective
EDU BA801

Course Information

Description

***ONLY OFFERED FOR OEL STUDENTS***How can policy analysts, leaders, consultants, and social entrepreneurs help improve educational opportunity around the world? How can policy analysis help poor and marginalized children get a relevant and meaningful education, that matters to their future life prospects and to the development of the societies in which they live? How can education support the development of inclusive and sustainable societies? This course examines key contemporary educational global challenges and debates, focusing on options to effect systemic change in public education systems. We will discuss current global efforts to increase the quality and relevancy of education. We will examine the role of international agencies and governments in advancing policy reform, and study various approaches to shaping policy reform. Students will conduct a policy analysis for a client examining how to align education policy to advance social equity, strengthen democracy and address climate change. The course may be of interest to students interested in education policy and leadership roles in system level reform in global contexts and in learning to draw lessons from international and comparative education.

School Graduate School of Education
Credits 4
Cross Reg

Not Available for Cross Registration

Department Education
Course Component Regular Course
Instruction Mode Online
Subject Education
Grading Basis HGSE Student Option (Letter Graded, Sat/Unsat)
Course Requirements Limited to Students in the Online Master's in Education Leadership program
Learning Goals This course is designed to help students develop policy analysis skills and learn to use the results of comparative and international education research to inform policy analysis. Specifically, the course will: 1. Familiarize course participants with the field of comparative and international education and with contemporary global education challenges and policy alternatives to improve education internationally. 2. Examine how education affects inequality and opportunities and identify opportunities to improve equitable educational opportunities. 3. Help participants develop an understanding of the process of policy formation; and of methodologies used to assess education needs, analyze policy alternatives to address those needs, make recommendations and translate those into project plans. 4. Develop course participants’ skills to draw policy implications from comparative educational research on school purposes and curriculum, teacher quality, school leadership and system reform.
Career Focus <p>This introductory course to education policy analysis as well as comparative and international education reviews some of the main issues affecting the opportunity to access and learning in schools in several national contexts. The focus of this introductory survey course is on the development of professional skills in policy analysis. We emphasize the pragmatics of education policy problem definition and solution, and the utilization of evidence-based knowledge to inform decision-making.<br><br>The course is divided into two parts:<br><br>1. The first part of the course is a substantive introduction to the field of comparative and international education in which we examine contemporary education challenges and the factors that influence educational opportunity as well as comparative and international research on selected areas of policy to improve opportunity to learn.<br>2. The second part of the course is methodological and reviews the process of education policy analysis and design, education sector assessments, project planning and evaluation, as well as methods to inform policy choices.</p>