Course Listing

Other Courses:

EDPA4002 Data analysis for policy and decision making I
This is an introductory course in quantitative research methods that focus on non-experimental designs and the analysis of large-scale longitudinal datasets, especially those related to education policy. Students become familiar with the logic of inferential statistics and the application of basic analytic techniques. No prior knowledge of statistics or quantitative methods is required.

EDPA4013 Education Policy and the Management of Instruction
This course explores current ideas about desirable goals for student learning and development in K-12 education and will use a backward-mapping approach to consider how curriculum and instruction; classroom and school environments; organizational strategies; leadership practices; and local, state, and federal education policies can facilitate progress towards those goals. The course is intended to help students develop and articulate ambitious theories of action for school improvement and the management of instruction that can be useful in their work as education policy makers or analysts, academic researchers, and practitioners.

EDPA4025 Higher education policy
This course is provides an introduction to major policy enactments in higher education both in the United States and abroad. The policies reviewed include provision of different types of colleges, private higher education, tuition and student financial aid, affirmative action, quality assurance and performance accountability, and curricular and degree standardization (Bologna process). The course examines the forms, political origins, implementation, and impacts of these policies. The aim is to help students develop a broad and deep understanding of the main directions of - but also limitations to - higher educational policymaking in the United States and abroad.
Instructor: Kevin Dougherty

EDPA4033 Comprehensive Educational Opportunity
The course will provide students an overview of the concept of comprehensive educational opportunity and will analyze the feasibility of its implementation. Topics will include the impact of poverty on children's opportunities to succeed in school, the role of early childhood learning, out of school time, health factors, and family and community support on school success; the history of past attempts to overcome socioeconomic disadvantages; and the economic, political, administrative, educational, and legal issues that must be considered to advance this concept on a large scale.

EDPA4042 The role of the state in education governance, policy and practice
The impact of state authority on local schools and school districts, seen through case studies of contemporary educational issues. Roles, relationships, trends, and the political context of policy making at the state level.

EDPA4046 School Finance: Policy and Practice
Examination of the judicial and legislative involvement in school finance reform, taxation, and the equity and efficiency of local, state, and federal finance policies and systems.

EDPA4047 Politics and Public Policy
What are the relative roles of research and politics in determining public policy? One tradition considers public policy from the perspective of rational decision-making and considers research to be a source of objective enlightenment. A second tradition considers public policy as the outcome of battles among organized interests and portrays research as a weapon exploited by the powerful to further their own ends. This course addresses these and other issues as they relate to each of the stages in the policy process and as manifested in contemporary education policy debates such as that around school choice.
Instructor: Kevin Dougherty

EDPA4048 Education Policy Analysis and Implementation
Explores the issues of policy (or reform) implementation in schools and districts by focusing on the political reactions and organizational buffers to policy change and the ways that policies become adapted and changed to fit locally defined problems. Distinctions between implementation issues in bottom-up and top-down policy change are explored.

EDPA4086 Law and education: Regulation, religion, free speech, and safety
This survey course focuses on legal issues that arise in public and private schools. Topics include governmental regulation of public and private schools; church-state issues (prayer, vouchers, evolution); free-speech rights of students, teachers, and extracurricular groups; who controls the curriculum; the school's authority to make and enforce rules governing student and staff conduct on and off school grounds; the duty to protect the safety of students and others; child abuse; search and seizure; and due process. The course draws on the multidisciplinary perspectives of law, policy, research, and educational practice.

EDPA4899 Federal Policy Institute
The Federal Policy Institute (FPI) is designed to give students a first-hand opportunity to meet with key policy leaders around the most crucial, contemporary policy issues. Key themes will include the enduring values of American education and how they shape current policy; current issues in national educational reform; and the role of the federal government in shaping educational policy.

EDPA4900 Research and independent study in education policy
For students wishing to pursue independent study and/or research on topics not covered in regular courses. Requires faculty member’s approval of a study plan, reading list, and final paper or other products or projects. Permission required from individual faculty.

EDPA5002 Data Analysis for policy and decision making II
This is an intermediate-level course in non-experimental quantitative research methods, especially those related to education policy. The class examines such topics as factor analysis, modeling non-linear relationships and interactions using regression, analyses of change, logistic and multinomial logistic regression, missing data analyses, and fixed effects models. Prerequisite: students should have completed at least one graduate-level course in applied statistics or data analysis (e.g., ORLA 4002).

EDPA5012 The social context of education reform: Public engagement and community development
Political analysis of administration at the service delivery and community levels.

EDPA5016 Educational equality: Role of Law
Historically, many barriers to educational equality - and many important efforts to overcome such barriers - have involved the law. This course examines major efforts to use law to attack discrimination and to ensure high-quality education for all children. Topics include: addressing racial segregation and concentrated poverty; the standards movement and high-stakes testing; the right to an adequate education; sex and gender discrimination; harassment; services for English-language learners; special education; and affirmative action. The course draws on the multidisciplinary perspectives of law, policy, research, and educational practice.

EDPA5086 Educational policy-making and the law
Beginning with the school desegregation decrees issued by the federal courts in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education, the federal and state courts have been called upon to consider a range of asserted educational rights and to oversee far-reaching institutional reforms that bear little relationship to traditional judicial remedies. This course will examine the legal and political justifications for the courts' role in making educational policy and reforming public institutions, as well as the courts' capacity to undertake these functions. The course will give particular attention to school desegregation and special education cases in the federal courts and education adequacy litigations in the state courts, including the recent decisions of the New York State Court of Appeals in CFE v. State of New York.

EDPA5515 Master's seminar in leadership, policy, and politics
This seminar is designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate a theoretical and analytical understanding of the practical problems inherent in conducting policy research for education clients. Policy analysis requires its practitioners to evaluate available information, to weigh the possible impacts of alternative policies; to understand political, legal, and/or economic ramifications; and to produce plans for action that are organizationally feasible and publicly valuable.

EDPA5541 Federal politics, federal policies, and administrators
The course will begin with a theoretical discussion of the meaning of "equal educational opportunity" from a variety of philosophical, economic, educational, and political perspectives. We will then review the egalitarian concepts reflected in Congressional statutes, administrative regulations, and court decrees in such areas as school desegregation, bilingual education, and special education and the extent to which these legal mandates have, in practice, advanced educational opportunity.

EDPA5880 School Law Institute
Explore important, timely issues of education law, including issues of race and poverty in education; serving English-language learners; the legal rights of students with disabilities; the right to an adequate education; and issues of safety and order (harassment, child abuse, tort liability, search and seizure, and cyber-bullying). For more information, see page 200, visithttp://www.tc.edu/ schoollaw, and/or contact Professor Jay Heubert at heubert@tc.edu.

EDPA6013 Early childhood development and education: Integrating research and policy perspectives
First section of a two-semester course with students participating in both semesters. Focuses on diverse perspectives framing the field and in so doing will present the most critical issues that require policy attention. Building on this background, the second semester will address steps that have been taken to ameliorate these issues, focusing heavily on research. By design, then, the first semester will present an array of issues and perspectives in order to provide the conceptual foundation for an exploration of salient strategies to address them in the second semester. By looking at early childhood development and learning from this stance, students will not only be exposed to diverse ideas about the content but will also be armed to address pressing challenges the field faces with them all in mind. (The second semester course is HUDK 6013, taught by Professor Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, is in the Department of Human Development.)

EDPA6023 Early Child Development & Education: Integrating Research & Policy Perspectives
This is the first section of a two-semester course with students participating in both semesters. The first semester will focus on diverse perspectives framing the field and in so doing will present the most critical issues that require policy attention. Building on this background, the second semester will address steps that have been taken to ameliorate these issues, focusing heavily on research. By design, then, the first semester will present an array of issues and perspectives in order to provide the conceptual foundation for an exploration of salient strategies to address them in the second semester. By looking at early childhood development and learning from this stance, students will not only be exposed to diverse ideas about the content, but will also be armed to address pressing challenges the field faces with them all in mind.

EDPA6027 International Perspectives on Early Childhood Policy
Looks at early childhood education policy through an international lens, addressing often neglected but highly salient policy questions, including the following: What have been the real effects of the Millennium Development Goals and the Education for All goals on education systems in general, and on early childhood education in particular? How have poverty, gender, and the needs of marginalized populations/cultures shaped early childhood policy in diverse countries? What are the unique policy properties that must be considered when developing policies for young children and their families? To what extent do the policy contexts of nations differ and how do these differences impact early childhood policies directly? To what extent can lessons learned in one context be faithfully transported across national boundaries?

EDPA6030 Institutional Theory: Sociological Perspectives on Institutional Change in Education
An introduction to organizational theory as it applies to a variety of institutions with particular attention to the potential of educational activities as a force in formal organizations.

EDPA6540 Topics in urban education policy
Leadership responsibility in the formulation, implementation, and assessment of urban education policy.

EDPA6542 Social and political history of American education reform
Over the past century, educators have experienced wave after wave of reforms intended to address the latest education "crisis." This perpetual cycle of school improvement stems in part from the competing and often contradictory demands placed upon public education. In response, school improvement efforts have alternated between a focus on equity and excellence, progressive and traditional pedagogical approaches, centralized and decentralized governance, and private rights versus public needs. Students in this course will explore the social and political roots of these pendulum swings and examine the historical forces that fuel America's desire for continual school reform. Issues of race, religion, class, and language - which are intimately tied to these tensions - are woven into the readings, discussions, and coursework. Permission of the instructor is required.

EDPA6641 Advanced topics in research methods and design
This course provides students the opportunity to explore advanced topics in research design and analytic methods, especially as they relate to studies of educational contexts and policies.

EDPA6900 Directed research and study in education policy
For students wishing to pursue independent study or original research as they prepare for their doctoral certification examination and/or dissertation proposal. Permission required from individual faculty.

EDPA7500 Dissertation seminar in education policy
This course provides students the opportunity to discuss topics related to the preparation of their dissertation proposal in a seminar format. Students present their ideas and writing for feedback from the instructor and other students. Students may enroll in this seminar once. Permission of the instructor is required.

EDPA7501 Dissertation research seminar
This course provides students the opportunity to discuss their dissertation proposal in a seminar format, with support and feedback from the instructor and other students. Students are eligible to enroll in this seminar after enrolling in ORLA 7500 and before their dissertation proposal has been approved. Students may enroll in this course once. Permission of the instructor is required.

EDPA8900 Dissertation advisement in education policy
Individual advisement on the doctoral dissertation. Students register for this in the first semester after their dissertation proposal has been approved and continue registering in this (or in another course, with sponsor approval) until the dissertation is completed. Requires ongoing consultation between the student and dissertation sponsor. The fee equals three points at the current tuition rate for each term. Permission required from individual faculty.

EDPE4050 Economics of Education
Teaches the basic economic concepts and methods to be used for further study and analysis of educational finance, education and inequality, education, and economic growth, the impact of educational policies on education; and outcomes, school reform, and school choice.

EDPE4051 Education and economic development
This course examines the links between education and various aspects of economic development. Topics include the impact of human capital accumulation on economic growth, the educational attainment of men and women in developing countries, the effects of schooling on labor force participation, wages and fertilities, and the issues of school finance and educational policy in the Third World.

EDPE4055 Resource Allocation in Education
This course reviews the literature on school effectiveness with respect to the allocation of resources. It addresses and analyzes education production functions and cost-effectiveness analysis in educational decision-making.

EDPE4056 Microeconomic Theory Applications Education
A survey of intermediate microeconomic theory combined with applications of relevance to the economics of education. At the theory level, the course covers utility maximization, income and substitution effects, labor supply, the analytics of market equilibrium, consumer surplus, cost minimization, production and cost functions, the determinants of the demand for factors of production, labor demand and the demand for skilled labor, market imperfections, monopoly pricing, monopolistic competition, externalities and public goods. Applications are included for each of these topics in the area of education. Instructor(s): Francisco Rivera-Batiz

EDPE4057 Economics of urban and minority education
Policy-oriented approach to the connections between education and the economy in an urban context. Topics include urban industrial restructuring and socioeconomic trends, equity in school finance, teacher salaries, public versus private roles in education, linkages between schools and the business sector, the economics of discrimination, and immigration policy issues.

EDPE4058 Economics of higher education
This course uses theoretical and empirical economic analysis to analyze the behavior of higher education students and institutions and to study private and public policy related to post-secondary education.

EDPE4060 Latinos in urban schools
Faculty. Students will be introduced to theories and research explaining why Latinos in the United States are least likely of all major social groups to be enrolled in school and, as adults, are most likely to lack a high school diploma. The course will explore the racial/ethnic differences that exist between and within recent immigrant groups, drawing especially on research that shows the diversity of cultural backgrounds within Latino subgroups. Topics will include assimilation of new immigrants, educational achievement and persistence in school, language and schooling, the interplay of race and gender and class with educational attainment, and transitional communities. Instructor(s): Francisco Rivera-Batiz

EDPE4097 International and comparative studies in educational finance
Educational finance in international settings. Financing role of international development agencies. International and comparative studies in educational finance.

EDPE4151 Special topics in the economics of education
Professors Bailey, Levin, Rivera-Batiz and Tsang. A seminar on topics in the economics of education. Themes to be announced each term.

EDPE4155 Evaluating educational privatization and school choice
This course addresses the increasing emphasis on market-type choice systems including educational vouchers, for-profit educational firms, and charter schools. It places great emphasis on the theory of emerging empirical evidence underlying these developments in education.

EDPE4900 Research Independent Study: Economics & Education
Instructor(s): Thomas Bailey, Hank Levin, Francisco Rivera-Batiz, Judith Scott-Clayton, Mun Tsang

EDPE5550 Workshop in Economics and Education
For doctoral students and others with research projects or potential research projects in the field. Participation required for doctoral students writing their dissertation. Students who are beginning to think about their dissertation topic or working on proposals are also encouraged to participate. Faculty members may also be invited from within or outside the department to present their work.

EDPE5650 Readings in the economics of education
Selected readings in the economics of education. Recommended for students with background in economics or a related discipline. As the selection of readings differs in different semesters, a student may register for more than one semester of ITSF 5650.

EDPE6000 Advanced analysis in economics of education
The course focuses on the evaluation of state-of-the art research papers in the economics of education. The purpose is to provide critical readings and reviews of articles and papers across many different methods.

EDPE6023 Quantitative Methods for Causal Inference in Education Research
This doctoral course covers the design, implementation, and interpretation of econometric methods used for evaluating causal relationships in education research, reading and discussing applied methodological texts as well as journal articles using advanced causal methods. The course covers randomized experiments, natural experiments, differences-in-differences, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity, and propensity score matching.

EDPE6050 Education and Economic Development: advanced topics
This course provides an advanced discussion of the links between education and economic development, including both theoretical frameworks and empirical models.

EDPE6052 Labor Economics
This course covers important concepts in labor economics, with a focus on how those concepts can be applied and tested in practice. The course will provide an overview of labor market topics such as the returns to education and training, non-monetary forms of compensation, models of labor migration, and models of imperfect or asymmetric information about skills. For each topic, we will examine influential papers and the empirical methods they use. The course is intended for doctoral students and will count towards the Labor Economics requirement for the Economics of Education Ph.D. program.

EDPE6151 Advanced microeconomics with applications to education
A doctoral-level survey of microeconomic theory with applications of relevance to the economics of education. Includes the theory of the firm and its implications regarding factor demands, educational production functions, and the demand for education. Consumer theory and the theory of labor supply. Human capital externalities. Intertemporal decision-making. Public finance and local public goods.

EDPE6900 Studies in economics and education
In each of the areas within the department, advanced students may register for intensive individual study of some aspect of their specialization. Registration is only by permission of the instructor under whose guidance the work will be undertaken. Times for individual conferences will be arranged. Enrollment may be for 1 or more points each term, and registration is not limited to one or two terms. Instructor(s): Thomas Bailey, Hank Levin, Francisco Rivera-Batiz, Judith Scott-Clayton, Mun Tsang

EDPE7500 Dissertation seminar in economics and education
Faculty. Permission required. Proposal writing. Required of doctoral students in the semester following successful completion of certification examinations.

EDPE8900 Dissertation advisement in economics and education
Individual advisement on doctoral dissertations. Fee to equal 3 points at current tuition rate for each term. For requirements, see section in catalog on Continuous Registration for Ed.D./ Ph.D. degrees. Instructor(s): Thomas Bailey, Hank Levin, Francisco Rivera-Batiz, Judith Scott-Clayton, Mun Tsang

EDPP4040 American politics and education
Introduction to the basic analytical categories of political science as they apply to the politics of education, including the influence of federal, state, and local governments in school policy-making, decentralization, school finance, and desegregation.

EDPP4042 Comparative politics and education
The politics of education in settings outside the U.S. Topics include the role of education in political development, political socialization, and student politics.

EDPP4043 Political thought and education
Study of the educational imperatives inherent in the classics of Western political thought.

EDPP5041 Politics of centralization and decentralization
Analyzes the political underpinnings and consequences of centralization versus decentralization at various levels of governance with special but not exclusive attention to educational decision-making.

EDPP5042 Urban politics and education
Politics in the nation’s largest cities with a particular focus on educational politics and policy.

EDPP5044 Modern political theory and education
Explores a number of educational policy issues from the perspective of contemporary political theory.

EDPP5045 Race, ethnicity, and U.S. educational policy
Examination of the impact of race and ethnicity on the formation and implementation of policies such as desegregation, affirmative action, bilingual education, and choice.

EDPP5046 Education and politics in Western thought
Study in historical perspective of the interactions between technological innovation and education.

EDPP5640 Colloquium on the politics of education
Continuous participation required of doctoral students until their dissertation proposals are accepted. A critical review of important works in politics and education, discussions with invited guests, presentations of work in progress.

EDPP5642 Colloquium in political economy and education
Political and economic perspectives on contemporary problems of public policy and education.

EDPP6540 Seminar in politics of education
Permission required. Selected topics in the politics of education.

EDPP6900 Research and independent study
Permission required.

EDPP6940 Studies in politics and education
Faculty.

EDPP7503 Dissertation seminar
Permission required. Development of doctoral dissertation proposals.

EDPP8900 Dissertation Advisement
Individual advisement on doctoral dissertations. Fee to equal 3 points at current tuition rate for each term. For requirements, see section in catalog on Continuous Registration for Ed.D./Ph.D. degrees.

EDPS4000 Education and public policy
Examination of the federal role in k-12 educational policy over the course of the 20th century and its impact on states and districts.

EDPS4010 Sociology of online learning
Exploration of the social dimensions of online learning. Students examine the structure of online learning programs, the social organization of online learning communities, and the social experience of online learning activities.

EDPS4021 Sociology of education
A broad analysis of education using basic sociological concepts, including schools as organizations, socialization, stratification, and ethnic relations.

EDPS4022 Sociology of urban education
Analysis of urban schools and districts within the context of urban social and political systems.

EDPS4024 Social stratification and education
An examination of the link between education and social inequality in Western societies, questioning whether schools are a mechanism of social mobility, enabling poor and disadvantaged children to get ahead in life, or whether schools perpetuate the hardships faced by poor and minority populations. Topics include the importance of quantity and quality of schooling for adult success; the ways in which race/ethnicity, sex, and social class background structure students’ educational experiences; the role of tracking and ability grouping within schools; and the link between schooling and the economy.

EDPS4027 Sociology of classrooms
An examination of sociological research on the structure and operation of classrooms. Particular attention to the processes of stratification, socialization, legitimation, and social organization.

EDPS4028 Sociology of the life course
Sociologists define the life course of individuals by when, and in what order, people assume key social roles, such as becoming an adult or moving from the workforce to retirement. This course looks at the sociology of the life course. Focusing on how historical and societal factors combine with the personal characteristics of individuals to produce unique life course patterns.

EDPS4029 Sociology of schools
An examination of sociological research on the structure and operation of schools. Particular attention to the processes of socialization, stratification, and legitimation as well as social organization and the sociology of school curriculum.

EDPS4030 Sociology of educational processes in formal organizations
An introduction to organizational theory as it applies to a variety of institutions with particular attention to the potential of educational activities as a force in formal organizations.

EDPS4031 Sociology of evaluation
An examination of the social dimensions of the development and operation of different kinds of evaluation systems in modern societies. Major topics include the social, political, and intellectual contexts for evaluation, the institutional bases of evaluation activities, the social settings in which evaluation takes place, and the effects of evaluations on individuals and groups.

EDPS4032 Gender, difference and curriculum
A study of the extent and causes of gender inequality in society and the ways in which schools work both to reduce and exacerbate inequality.

EDPS4620 Introductory colloquium in sociology of education
Permission required. Intensive readings and discussions of basic literature in sociology of education, with attention to common issues and research strategies.

EDPS4903 Research and independent study
Permission required.

EDPS5020 Methods of social research: Survey methods
Relationship between research problem and study design, choice of population, sampling methods, instrument construction, interviewing, data processing, and analysis.

EDPS5022 Sociological analysis of educational systems
Analysis of local and national education systems through application and adaptation of organization theory, with special attention to problems of innovation.

EDPS5430 Internship
Permission required. Supervised experience in diverse settings designed to develop skills in policy-related research, development, planning, and evaluation.

EDPS5620 Advanced colloquium in sociology of education
This course is designed to enhance student knowledge of social theory in sociological research. Particular attention is devoted to deductive models of explanation and their use in the construction of theory and its application as a basis for empirical inquiry.

EDPS5645 Policy seminar I
Conceptualization and identification of social and educational problems that can be subjected to policy interventions. Design and evaluation of alternative policy choices. Effective strategies for presenting policy analysis to multiple audiences.

EDPS5646 Policy seminar II
An introduction to the evaluation of social and educational programs. Topics include evaluation to inform program conceptualization and design; measuring program implementation; impact assessment, including randomized experiments; cost-effectiveness analysis; and the social and political context of program evaluation.

EDPS6021 Social research methods: Reporting
Students wishing to complete a master's essay or thesis instead of taking the master's exam will design a study, collect and analyze data and write an extensive paper.

EDPS6525 Seminar in sociology of education
A seminar for doctoral students to further their professional development and to prepare for doctoral research.

EDPS6903 Research and independent study
Permission required.

EDPS6920 Studies in sociology and education
Studies in sociology and education

EDPS7503 Dissertation seminar
Permission required. Required of doctoral students in the semester following successful completion of certification examinations.

EDPS8903 Dissertation advisement
Individual advisement on doctoral dissertations. Fee to equal 3 points at current tuition rate for each term. For requirements, see section in catalog on Registration for Ed.D./Ph.D. degrees.