Policy studies for education leaders Exercises Chapter 9

1. Exercises on the techniques of control 1.1 Identify each of the following policies as distributive, regulatory, or redistributive. a, A federal preschool program for poor children. b, A school board policy detailing the procedure for expelling students. c, A legal requirement that minority teachers be hired to staff an inner-city dropout prevention program.

d, A bill to require all children in grades K-6 to study the dangers of drugs. e, A law requiring the development of state content standards in all major subjects, grades K-12. f, A bill to require a certification procedure for teachers’ aides. g, A state program that gives high schools $100 for each student enrolled in driver’s education. h, A state law that grants school districts funds to provide a mentoring program for first-year teachers.

i, A federal court decision requiring girls’ athletic programs to be funded equally with boys’ athletic programs. j, A school board’s plan to contract with an educational management company to operate five schools in the district. 1.2 For policies a, d, f, and h, describe the political arena that each policy will probably generate. Identify probable supporters and opponents as well as the nature of the conflicts that will ensure.

1.3 For policies c, e, g, and j, decide whether you support or oppose each policy. Then outline a strategy for influencing the policy process in the direction you refer. 1.4 Do any of the policies in Question 1 have the characteristics of more than one technique of control? If so, which? How would these mixed characteristics affect the politics surrounding the policy?

2. Exercises on the policy instruments 2.1 Write three brief policies designed to reach each of the following goals. Each policy should use a different instrument. A, Improve district test scores on the state proficiency examination. B, Expand the use of computers in schools across the state. C, Increase the number of young women enrolled in engineering program. D, Reduce student tardiness in a high school. E, Encourage students in the district to become more interested in mathematics.

2.2 For two of the policy goals is Question 1, develop a long-term set of coherent policies designed to reach the central objective over five years. 2.3 Analyze part of a school handbook or a board policy manual Describe its use in the five policy instruments. 2.4 Analyze education legislation introduced in the last session of your state legislature to determine which policy instruments the legislature uses most often and least often.

3. Exercises on cost analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis 3.1 A Midwestern stat legislature passed a law requiring all school districts to gather data on 78 demographic, financial, and educational variables, enter them in a special computer program, and send them via modem to the SDE each spring. Legislators bragged to the newspapers that this bill had a $0 “fiscal note” However, local school leaders did not believe this plan would cost them nothing. Using Levin’s ingredients method, calculate a reasonable cost for district compliance.

3.2 A southern school board is considering a policy which would require every third grader who fails the state reading test to repeat the third grade. Children who fail the test during their second year in third grade would be promoted to fourth grade, however. Assume that the district has 2000 third graders each year, that 10% fail the test each year, and that every student who fails third grade eventually completes the twelfth grade in this district. Assume also that the district spends an average of $3000 of local money on each student annually. Do a cost analysis of the cost to the district during the first 20 years of implementing such a policy.

3.3 A large East Coast district with an enrollment of has the lowest scores on the state’s twelfth-grade proficiency test. The school board wants to raise the scores over the next two years. Using cost analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis develop and evaluate three possible plans for reaching this goal and make a recommendation to the board.

3.4 A large suburban district in the Southwest is receiving $1 million in new revenues each year because of taxes generated by a new power plant. The school board is considering the following ways of using the money to improve students learning: (1) raising teachers’ salaries, (2) reducing average class size K-12 from 25-21,

(3) adding a half-day kindergarten program for four year olds to the existing full-day program for five year olds, and (4) establishing a merit pay plan for teachers, awarding significant pay raises to those whose classes score in the top 25% on a standardized achievement test. Using the research literature, which alternative would you recommend as the most cost-effective plan for improving student learning?