2015 Urban Affairs Association Conference

Interested? Please Apply for the Workshop
There is no fee for this workshop. We do however require that each participant complete a brief application form. This form will allow us to plan for the size of the group and determine our space needs. Please fill out this brief interest form so that you can be added to our contact list. The application deadline is February 23, 2015.

Questions? Please contact Barbara Ferman (bferman@temple.edu)

Summary
There is an emerging consensus among policy scholars, advocates, and policy makers, that education has become the civil rights issue for the 21st Century. Competing views of “rights” have created a divided landscape of policy reform. Growing inequities in funding across school districts, increases in the opportunity gap across racial lines, contested definitions of what constitutes “quality education,” and fervent debates over the “corporatization” of public education have inspired significant advocacy efforts in many larger urban areas. Paralleling these progressive efforts, but rarely intersecting them, are scholarly investigations of a myriad of issues in education. This workshop represents an attempt to bridge that chasm. It poses the overall question of how we, as researchers, can contribute work that supports a larger agenda of educational equity. Specifically, we are seeking researchers whose work addresses the following areas:

• school financing (how money is spent on various educational agendas such as vouchers, test preparation business; standardized test administration; state take-over administration and the like);


• composition of the teaching body (what does it look like and how can we diversify it to reflect the student population in public schools, changes in the preparation/experience base of the teaching labor force);


• standardized testing (its impact on teaching and learning; pedagogy and issues surrounding the common core);


• education policy and urban inequality


• market-based reforms (e.g., vouchers, charter schools, teacher accountability policies)

Through this workshop we hope to bring together scholar activists who are conducting or want to conduct research in one of the areas listed above and related areas. Participants will briefly discuss their research, identify others who are conducting similar research with whom we can network, explore ways to support and collaborate with activists and identify venues for disseminating the work in ways that reach audiences beyond the academy. In addition, the workshop discussants will describe strategies for navigating the academic tenure/promotion system while engaging in policy advocacy and direct engagement outside of the academy.