Research

Jeffrey R. Henig is a professor of political science and education at Teachers College and a professor of political science at Columbia University. He is the author or coauthor of ten books, including The Color of School Reform: Race, Politics and the Challenge of Urban Education (Princeton, 1999) and Building Civic Capacity: The Politics of Reforming Urban Schools  (Kansas, 2001), both of which were named--in 1999 and 2001, respectively--the best book written on urban politics by the Urban Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. Spin Cycle: How Research Gets Used in Policy Debates. The Case of Charter Schools (Russell Sage, 2008) focuses on the controversy surrounding the charter school study by the American Federation of Teachers and its implications for understanding politics, politicization, and the use of research to inform public discourse; it won the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) Outstanding Book Award, 2010.  His most recent book, The End of Exceptionalism in American Education, was published by Harvard Education Press in January 2013.

The End of Exceptionalism in American Education: The changing politics of school reform. Harvard Education Press. Harvard Education Press, 2013.

Between Public and Private: Politics, Governance, and the New Portfolio Models for Urban School Reform, co-edited with Katrina E. Bulkley and Henry M. Levin, Harvard Education Press, October 2010. Winner of the Districts in Research and Reform SIG 

Best Book Award, 2012.

Spin Cycle: How Research Is Used in Policy Debates, The Case of Charter Schools. Russell Sage Foundation/The Century Foundation, 2008. Winner of the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) Outstanding Book Award, 2010.

Mayors in the Middle: Politics, Race and Mayoral Control of Urban Schools, co-edited with Wilbur C. Rich, Princeton University Press, 2004.

Building Civic Capacity: The Politics of Reforming Urban Schools, co-authored with Clarence N. Stone, Bryan D. Jones, and Carol Pierannunzi. University Press of Kansas, 2001. Named best book published in the field of urban politics in 2001 by the Urban Politics section of the American Political Science Association.

The Color of School Reform: Race, Politics, and the Challenge of Urban Education, co-authored with Richard Hula, Marion Orr, and Desiree Pedescleaux, Princeton University Press, 1999. Named best book published in the field of urban politics in 1999 by the Urban Politics section of the American Political Science Association.

Shrinking the State: The Political Underpinnings of Privatization, co-authored with Harvey Feigenbaum and Chris Hamnett, Cambridge University Press, 1998.

           Rethinking School Choice: Limits of the Market Metaphor, Princeton Univ. Press, 1994. Paperback edition with new "Afterword" released in 1995.

Public Policy and Federalism: Issues in State and Local Politics, St. Martin's Press, 1985.

Neighborhood Mobilization: Redevelopment and Response, Rutgers University Press, 1982.

“The Politics of Testing When Measures ‘Go Public’” Teachers College Record, special section on Validity: When Education Measures Go Public –Stakeholder Conversations on How and Why Validity Breaks Down, edited by Madhabi Chatterji, forthcoming, 2013.

“The Politics of Data Use,” Teachers College Record, special issue on data use edited by Andrea Bueschel and Cynthia Coburn, (November 2012): v. 114 (11).

“Shopping in the Political Arena: Strategic State and Local Venue Selection by Advocates,” co-authored with Thomas P. Holyoke and Heath Brown, State and Local Government Review (2012) 44(1) 9-20

“Geo-Spatial Analyses and School Choice Research,” American Journal of Education (August 2009) Vol. 115: 649-657.

“Mayors, Governors, and Presidents: The new education executives and the end of educational exceptionalism," Peabody Journal of Education (2009): 84:283-289.

"Policy Dynamics and the Evolution of State Charter School Laws." Co-authored with Thomas T. Holyoke, Heath Brown, Natalie Lacireno-Paquet. Policy Sciences (February 2009): 42: 33–55.

“Politicization of Evidence: Lessons for an Informed Democracy,” Educational Policy (2009) Vol. 23, No. 1, 137-160.

“Rethinking School Reform: The Distractions of Dogma and the Potential for a New Politics of Progressive Pragmatism.” Co-authored with Clarence N. Stone. American Journal of Education (May 2008): Vol. 114, no. 3, 191-218.

“Institution Advocacy and The Political Behavior of Charter Schools.” Co-authored with Thomas T. Holyoke, Heath Brown, and Natalie Lacireno-Paquet. Political Research Quarterly (June 2007): 202-214

“The Influence of Founder Type on Charter School Structures and Operations.”  Co-authored with Heath Brown, Thomas T. Holyoke, and Natalie Lacireno-Paquet. American Journal of Education 111 (August 2005): 487-522.

“Calling the Shots in Public Education: Parents, Politicians, and Educators Clash.” Co-authored with Eva Gold and Elaine Simon. In Public Education Under Siege, edited by Michael B. Katz and Mike Rose. Philadelphia PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, forthcoming 2013.

“The Rise of Education Executives in the White House, State House, and Mayor’s Office,” in Paul Manna and Patrick McGuinn, eds., Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century: Overcoming the Structural Barriers to School Reform. Washington DC: Brookings (2012): 178-205.

“Addressing the Disadvantages of Poverty: Why ignore the most important challenge of the post-standards era?” Co-authored with Helen Janc Malone, Paul Reville. In Jal Mehta, Robert Schwartz, and Frederick M. Hess eds., The Future(s) of School Reform. Cambridge MA: Harvard Education Press (2012): 119-149.

“ I Used to Think: "Ideas Have Sharper Edges Than Real Phenomena."” In I Used to Think . . . And Now I Think: Twenty Leading Educators Reflect on the Work of School Reform, I Used to Think . . . And Now I Think . . .: Twenty Leading Educators Reflect on the Work of School Reform

edited by Richard F. Elmore. Cambridge MA: Harvard Education Press (2011): 65-70.

“Parent and Community Engagement in NYC and the Sustainability Challenge for Urban Education Reform.” Co-authored with Eva Gold, Marion Orr, Megan Silander, Elaine Simon. In Education Reform in New York City: Ambitious Change in the Nation's Most Complex School System, edited by J. O'Day, C. Bitter, & L. Gomez, L.  Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press (2011): 33-54.

“The Contemporary Context of Public Engagement: The New Political Grid.” In Public Engagement for Public Education, edited by Marion Orr and John Rogers. Stanford University Press (2011): 52-85.

“Portfolio Management Models and the Political Economy of Contracting Regimes.”  In Between Public and Private: Politics, Governance, and the New Portfolio Models for Urban School Reform, co-edited with Katrina E. Bulkley and Henry M. Levin, Harvard Education Press, (2010): 27-52.

“NYC: Strong Vision, Learning by Doing, or the Politics of Muddling Through?” co-authored with Jonathan Gyurko. In Between Public and Private: Politics, Governance, and the New Portfolio Models for Urban School Reform, co-edited with Katrina E. Bulkley and Henry M. Levin, Harvard Education Press, (2010): 91-126.

“Where Public Meets Private: Looking Forward” co-authored with Katrina E. Bulkley. Between Public and Private: Politics, Governance, and the New Portfolio Models for Urban School Reform, co-edited with Katrina E. Bulkley and Henry M. Levin, Harvard Education Press, (2010): 323-340.

“Would Better Research Lead to Better Schools?” In Taking Measure of Charter Schools, edited by Paul Hill and Julian Betts. Rowman and Littlefield (2010).

“The Politics of Localism in an Era of Centralization, Privatization, and Choice.” In R. L. Crowson & E. B. Goldring (Eds.), The New Localism in American Education, The 108^th Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Volume 1(2009): 112-129.

 “Correlates of Mayoral Takeovers in City School Systems” (with Elisabeth Thurston Fraser). In Nancy Pindus, Howard Wial, and Harold Wolman, eds., Urban and Regional Policy and Its Effects: Volume 2. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press (2009): 69-123.

 “Mayoral Control: What We Can and Cannot Learn from Other Cities?” In When Mayors Take Charge School Governance in the City, edited by Joseph P. Viteritti. Brookings Institution Press (2009).

“Education Policy from 1980 to Present: The Politics of Privatization.” In Conservativism and American Political Development, edited by Brian J Glenn and Steven M Teles.  Oxford University Press (2009): 291-323.

“The Evolving Relationship between Researchers and Public Policy.” In When Research Matters: How Scholarship Influences Education Policy, edited by Frederick M. Hess. Cambridge MA: Harvard Education Press (2008): 41-62.

“The Political Economy of Supplemental Education Services.” In No Remedy Left Behind

Lessons from a Half-Decade of NCLB, edited by Frederick M. Hess and Chester E. Finn Jr. Washington DC: AEI Press  (2007): 66-94.