Harvard Education PR When School Policies Backfire: How Well-Intended Measures Can Harm Our Most Vulnerable Students

Like medical practitioners, educators share the moral obligation to “first, do no harm.” But as this provocative volume shows, education policies do not always live up to this ideal, especially policies intended to help our most vulnerable students. When School Policies Backfire draws our attention to education policies designed to help disadvantaged students that instead had the perverse effect of harming them by exacerbating the very problems they were intended to solve.The rigorous case studies that make up the book are contributed by a diverse group of scholars with different methodological approaches. The cases address important areas of education reform, from literacy and technology programs to school closings, school choice, and accountability policies. Each case shows how and why a particular program backfired. Taken together, they present a wide-ranging critique of the kinds of policies that compose the cornerstones of current education reform efforts.Many books have examined policies that fall short of achieving their goals, or that result in unintended consequences. But few have documented the effects of policies whose failures have been so spectacular. When School Policies Backfire is a sobering reminder of the responsibility that policy makers and researchers bear for the well-being of our most vulnerable students. Review "When School Policies Backfire is a sobering reminder of the responsibility that policy makers and researchers bear for the well-being of our most vulnerable students." ―James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review "When School Policies Backfire provides, in a readable context, the need to analyze past policies and practices to understand that the best ideas do not always succeed nor do they help whom they are intended to help. The message of the book is simple and yet is so very important." ―Rosalind Raby, Teachers College Record From the Back Cover <div><i>When School Policies Backfire</i> focuses on education policies designed to help disadvantaged students that instead had the perverse effect of exacerbating the very problems they were intended to solve. The book features rigorous case studies addressing important areas of education reform, and shows how and why each intervention backfired. It offers a sobering reminder of the responsibility that policy makers and researchers bear for the well-being of our most vulnerable students.<br> &#160;<br> &#8220;<i>When School Policies Backfire</i> provides readers with powerful examples that illustrate how well-intentioned policies often &#8216;backfire&#8217; and produce unintended consequences that undermine the intent of the policy. Readers will be reminded that if we really seek to improve public education, good intentions are just not good enough.&#8221;<br> &#8212;Pedro A. Noguera, distinguished professor of education, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles<br> &#160;<br> &#8220;Highly readable, and rich with diverse examples, this terrific volume fills a gap in the literature on policy implementation in education. Gottfried and Conchas have assembled a fascinating set of thought-provoking case studies, and succeed in teasing out some important lessons.&#8221;<br> &#8212;Dominic Brewer, Gale and Ira Drukier Dean, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University<br> &#160;<br> &#8220;With the signing of ESSA, this book provides an important and timely discussion on some things to avoid in the rush to get it right&#8212;namely, policies that may backfire. <i>When School Policies Backfire</i> shows how efforts to rescue kids often ended up doing the opposite. School leaders can learn much from this important and groundbreaking work.&#8221;<br> &#8212;Carl A. Cohn, executive director, California Collaborative for Educational Excellence<br> &#160;<br><b>Michael A. Gottfried</b> is an associate professor at the Ge