EPE 670: Policy Issues in Higher Education
Summer Session 2008:
Dr. Stephen K. Clements
Director, Institute for Educational Research
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506
skclements@alltel.net, or
Stephen.Clements@uky.edu
Dr. Christina Whitfield
Director, Institutional Research
KCTCS
Versailles, KY 40383
Christina.Whitfield@kctcs.edu
Course period: May 6 through June 19
Various assignments—
Face to Face meetings—
Across course period
May 20-23; June 3-6
May 20 & 21: Noon—4:00 p.m.
May 22 & 23: 8:30 a.m.—12:30 p.m.
June 3 & 4: Noon—4:00 p.m.
June 5 & 6: 8:30 a.m.—12:30 p.m.
Course Goals for Students:
1) Deepen understanding of the policymaking process and factors that influence the policy
environment
2) Develop an analytic orientation toward higher education policy matters
3) Appreciate the importance of arguments and data in P-20 education policy analysis
4) Place education policy analysis within the larger context of social science research
5) Grapple in a thoughtful, rigorous manner with pressing policy issues in higher education
6) Develop basic proficiency in crafting analytic essays on higher education policy topics
Course Description:
Traditionally, educational policy analysis has been concerned with determining the effects of
specific governmental policies on educational outcomes, practices, and organizational structures. The
audience for this work has usually been governmental officials, or those who are in some position to
manipulate education policies. For the purposes of this class, however, we will define educational policy
analysis as the application of sound social scientific inquiry methods to problems in the practice of
education at all levels, with due attention given to the historical, socio-economic, and political context of
those problems. This broader definition of educational policy analysis reflects the fact that the
“discipline” has been varied, and that the ground rules for its practice are not fixed. Moreover, there is no
reason why work in this field should not be addressed to wider audiences, nor should its practitioners
hesitate to borrow heavily from a range of methodologies, disciplines, and conceptual orientations.
Though policy analysis techniques can be applied to all levels of education, this course will focus
on the higher education policy arena specifically. The course is not designed to teach specific data
analysis skills, but to familiarize students with several key problems in higher education policy, and help
them think more coherently and systematically about this policy arena. We focus first on the policy
process itself and its politics, then turn more specifically to higher education and numerous issue areas.
The following books should be acquired for this class, although we will also consider a range of
articles, chapters, and excerpts from other sources. They are easily available through online sources.
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John W. Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, New York: HarperCollins College
Publishers, 1995 (2nd Edition).
Donald Heller, Ed., The States and Higher Education Policy: Affordability, Access, and Accountability.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.
Eugene Bardach, A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem
Solving (2nd Ed.). Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2005.
Clifford Adelman, Moving Into Town—And Moving On: The Community College in the Lives of
Traditional-age Students. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2005. (Downloadable
PDF via www.ed.gov)
Course Plan
Part I: Background Reading (May 6-19)
Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies
(Assignment 1)
Heller, The States and Higher Education Policy
(Assignment 2)
Part II: First Face-to-Face Sessions (May 20-23) 109 Dickey Hall, UK College of Education
May 20:
May 21:
May 22:
May 23:
Introductions; Policy landscape; Kingdon discussion
Discussions of additional higher ed readings; Guest: Michael Childress,
Executive Director, Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center
Discussion of Heller; Guest: Gary Cox, Executive Director, Association of
Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities
Group work on case studies; Discussion of case study progress; Wrap-up
Part III: Reflections and Further Reading (May 24-June 2)
Bardach, A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis
(Assignment 3)
Part IV: Second Face-to-Face Sessions (June 3-6) 109 Dickey Hall, UK College of Education
June 3:
June 4:
June 5:
June 6:
Focus: Developmental education policy; Guest: Shauna King-Simms, KCTCS
Focus: Transfer policy; Guest: Nicole McDonald, KCTCS
Focus: Affordability/budget policy; Guests (Tentative): Ron Carson and Lee
Nimocks, Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education
Final discussions: Guest: Bill Swinford, Policy Analyst, UK
Part V: Synthesis (June 7-19)
(Assignment 4)
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Grading
Course Participation –– Each student should come to face-to-face sessions having read and
reflected upon the readings, and should be ready to discuss them. Graduate seminars provide marvelous
opportunities to interact with and learn from others, but you must be prepared if we are to derive the
greatest benefit from the setting. Participation includes both engagement in whole group and small group
discussions, and with guest speakers as well. (Participation activities: 30% of grade)
Writing Assignments (variable length) –– Students will be graded largely on the basis of four
writing assignments in the course, three of which are short memos that provide an opportunity to
summarize and reflect on the required books. The final, longer writing assignment will grow out of the
group work that begins in the face-to-face sessions, and that involves analysis and critique of a policy
problem area selected for the course and assigned to each small group. Each group will collaboratively
produce a summary of the policy issue they are assigned. And each group member will produce an
individual report on a component of the larger problem that he or she has chosen. The final assignment
handed in to the instructors by each student will include both the group report he or she helped produce,
his or her individual report, and a very short reflection on the exercise. Note: Writing assignments will
generally be returned to students within a reasonable time frame, and with grades and feedback. If
students are displeased with their work or their grade, they will be given the opportunity to revise their
assignments before the end of the course. (Variable Due Dates: 70% of grade)
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