Shaping a National Policy Agenda in Education

Leading education research and policy analyst Michael Feuer, a program director with the National Research Council in Washington, D.C., will speak on national educational policy issues on Thursday, April 27 at the University of Georgia's College of Education.

Feuer will speak on what national educational policy issues are likely to shape the research agenda in education for the next 10 years in his presentation at 10:30 a.m. in Room G-23 in Aderhold Hall. He will respond to questions and continue the discussion with interested faculty over lunch from noon to 1:30 p.m. (RSVP for lunch, Sandy Smith, sandys@uga.edu).

Feuer will hold discussions in the afternoon with smaller groups of UGA faculty for more focused conversations in three areas:
* 2-2:50 p.m. Assessment (faculty facilitator: Allan Cohen)
* 3-3:50 p.m. Policy (faculty facilitators: John Dayton and Elizabeth DeBray)
* 4-4:50 p.m. Evaluation (faculty facilitator: Kathleen deMarrais)

Feuer is executive director of the Division of Behaviorial and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE) at the NRC, which is the operating arm of the National Academies, which is the umbrella organization for the National Academy of Science (NAS), National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine. The principla role of the NRC, a private, non-profit organization, is to provide independent and objective advice to the federal government.

"We do this by convening interdisciplinary committees of volunteer experts who are appointed by the president of the NAS. At present there are roughly 500 committees, involving some 7,000-10,000 volunteers working on studies covering the full range of scientific, technical and health issue," said Feuer. "Nearly every agency of the federal government has been or is currently a sponsor of this work; foundations and other private sponsors support about one-fifth of the total NRC portfolio."

Feuer's division, one of six major units within the NRC, conducts studies and other activities covering a broad range of issues in human development, criminal justice, demography, decision making, statistics, governance, economic welfare and education. The DBASSE has a staff of about 100, many of whom hold advanced degrees, an annual budget of roughly $20 million and an advisory board of distinguished scholars who helps identify research and researchers relevant to the review of studies and overall intellectual and procedural guidance.

Feuer has written a series of papers discussing the frayed link between cognitive science and the science of education policy. He argues that patching this link encourages the development of more rational programs of educational improvement, and more reasonable expectations for reform and research.

He explains how cognitive science has changed the way we understand and study human decision-making and rational judgment, and is a source of much of what we now know (or believe) about teaching and learning. However, this "science of rationality" has thus far had little impact on how we think about education policy and research.

Feuer focuses on sources of complexity in the American school system and implications for the design of rational models of education policy.

He emphasizes the intended and unintended effects of the fragmented system of school governance that exists in the United States, the limitations this imposes on the use of existing measurement tools to gauge individual and institutional progress, and the problems that arise from accountability systems that inadvertently create incentives for opportunistic behavior among students, teachers, and school authorities.

Given these constraints, Feuer argues for a new approach to understanding the strengths and weaknesses of alternative governance models, defining rational goals for education policy, and setting reasonable expectations for improvement.

"My hope is that this concept will be the basis for a new 'pact' between education researchers and policy makers -- one that embraces reasonable strategies rather than silver bullets, and reduces the tendecy to react to the rhetoric of educational crisis with unrealistic and ultimately disappointing proposals for reform," he said in an interview at the Harvard Graduate School of Education last year.

Feuer says education has already benefited greatly from more rigorous research and that the cognitive revolution in psychology has led to breakthroughs in the understanding of how human beings learn and on models for training and education (in schools as well as in business organizations and the military).

Other areas in which he says rigorous research is already impacting public education include measurement (testing and assessment), program evaluation, teaching of reading and mathematics, understanding the effects of race and class on educational attainment, the effects of computer and other information technologies on academic achievement and the conomics of resource allocation in schools.

"I am convinced that good science -- which, by the way, must not be confounded with any particular methodology used by scientists -- is fundamental to continuous learning about and improvement in public education," said Feuer.

If you would like to join us for lunch with Dr. Feuer, please RSVP to Sandy Smith at sandys@uga.edu no later than noon, April 25th.