ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the usefulness of few core concepts constituting some essential components of the interpretation of education policy as it manifests today. The clearest starting point for interpreting education policy today is to recognize that implementation failure is widespread and has multiple causes. Douglas Reed, Tedi Mitchell, and Douglas Mitchell trace the rise and fall of judicial influence over three types of constitutional issues: student due process, free speech rights, and civil rights for groups of students facing limits on their educational opportunities. McDonnell points out that the K–12 standards-based reform (SBR) regime led to a reconceptualization of equality, shifting its operationalization from equity of opportunity to the achievement of a minimum academic performance by every student. Both market-driven options and SBR have been promoted by the same philanthropists, who have emerged as powerful and resourceful decision makers outside of the education system.
