What counts as educational policy?
Over the last century, efforts have been made in the USA to improve schools through education policy in areas such as curricular materials, libraries and early childhood classes. More recently, federal US education policy has been characterised by standardised testing, teacher professional development and an emphasis on achieving higher academic outcomes. At the state level, education policy has included ‘quasi-privatisation’ through charter schools, vouchers and other school choice programs. However, the impact of policy has been overwhelmed by the influence of social and economic conditions such as low wages, lack of quality jobs, and housing and transport policies that disadvantage poor ethnic minorities. Poverty generates cynicism and low expectations in these communities. Longitudinal studies identify family income as the factor that most consistently predicts students’ academic performance, even when other family characteristics are allowed for. New research suggests that even mo
