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Along with Policy-related degree programs and the College-wide policy concentration, Teachers College offers a wide array of education policy courses to students in all programs. Students may enroll in these courses as long as they meet prerequisites. Policy classes at TC fall into four general categories:

1. The Craft of Policymaking and Analysis [see courses]
Courses that Provide Students with a Skills-Based, Hands-on Approach to Policymaking and Analysis

Within this category of policy courses, students will learn the "how" and "why" of the policymaking and policy analysis processes. Courses in this category help students think about policy broadly and help them become familiar with various concepts about and approaches to policymaking irrespective of discipline.

Courses within this category help students to:

• Understand the policy formation process.
• Analyze policy problems and goals.
• Write effective policy briefs for different audiences.
• Present policy recommendations.

2. The Context and History of Education Policy [see courses]
Courses that Provide Students with a Broader Understanding of the Various Policies that Have Shaped Public Education in the U.S.

Classes within this category help students understand the broader political and social context of education. They emphasize the historical development of education institutions and the role of key public policies - both within the field of education and outside of it - that have shaped our current schooling system. Courses in this category also help students place recent educational reform efforts and the policies that shape them into a larger social and political framework.

Courses within this category help students to:

• Analyze policy issues using an historical framework.
• Place multiple policy issues within a broader context.
• Understand education policy within the context of U.S. social policy.
• Examine the influence of suburbanization and metropolitan fragmentation on education.
• Explore issues of race, class, and gender and their relationship to education policy.

3. Content-Driven Policy Courses [see courses]
Courses that Focus on Specific Topics/Issues

Courses in this third category focus on more specific educational policy topics and provide students with an in-depth examination of policy issues associated with the topic. Through these more specialized courses, students are able to develop a degree of expertise on critical and timely policy issues such as school finance, school choice, curriculum policy, early childhood, or special education. Classes in this category have relatively little overlap, providing students with a wide range of policies and topics.

Courses within this category help students to:

• Explore research and literature on specific policy issues and topics in the field of education.
• Identify policy trends and developments in particular areas of education.
• Understand the ways in which public policy directly affects the supply and quality of specific education programs.
• Explore how public financing differs from private financing.
• Examine controversies surrounding certain policy proposals.

4. Research Methodology [see courses]
Courses that Introduce Empirical Ways of Studying and Evaluating Policy

This fourth category consists of classes designed to help students learn the methodology of policy research and evaluation. Such courses enable students to become informed critics and consumers of policy-related research as well as researchers in their own right.

Courses within this category help students to:

• Plan and design an evaluation of a policy or program.
• Design and validate instruments to measure educational constructs; mastery of the essential concepts of evaluation design.
• Understand the ways in which public policy directly affects the supply and quality of specific education programs.
• Identify and formulate problems and objectives suitable for survey research.
• Understand basic concepts of sampling theory.