Educational Goods - by Harry Brighouse (Paperback)

About the Book

This book, jointly authored by two distinguished philosophers and two prominent social scientists, has an ambitious aim: to improve decision-making in education policy. First they dive into the goals of education policy and explain the terms "educational goods" and "childhood goods," adding precision and clarity to the discussion of the distributive values that are essential for good decision-making about education. Then they provide a framework for individual decision-makers that enables them to combine values and evidence in the evaluation of educational policy options. Finally they delve into the particular policy issues of school finance, school accountability, and school choice, and they show how decision makers might approach them in the light of this decision-making framework. The authors are not advocated particular policy choices, however. The focus instead is a smart framework that will make it easier for policymakers (and readers) to identify and think through what they disagree with others about.

Book Synopsis

We spend a lot of time arguing about how schools might be improved. But we rarely take a step back to ask what we as a society should be looking for from education-what exactly should those who make decisions be trying to achieve?

In Educational Goods, two philosophers and two social scientists address this very question. They begin by broadening the language for talking about educational policy: "educational goods" are the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that children develop for their own benefit and that of others; "childhood goods" are the valuable experiences and freedoms that make childhood a distinct phase of life. Balancing those, and understanding that not all of them can be measured through traditional methods, is a key first step. From there, they show how to think clearly about how those goods are distributed and propose a method for combining values and evidence to reach decisions. They conclude by showing the method in action, offering detailed accounts of how it might be applied in school finance, accountability, and choice. The result is a reimagining of our decision making about schools, one that will sharpen our thinking on familiar debates and push us toward better outcomes.

Review Quotes

"An ambitious effort that succeeds in providing a fundamentally new way to talk about and, by dint of that, think about policy choices in education. The high quality and intellectually diverse team of authors work hard to make what could be dense and complex points as clearly as possible."--Jeffrey R. Henig, Teachers College, Columbia University

"Effective decision-making--whether educational or otherwise--requires not just weighing the evidence but also determining which evidence to privilege. This in turn requires making value judgments. This gifted team brings together insights from philosophy, political science, economics, public policy, and education to propose a framework for combining values and evidence for improved decision-making. Every education decision-maker--and every education researcher--would benefit from reading this book."--David N. Figlio, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University

"This strong team of philosophers and social scientists chart a path toward improvement in education policy that falls between the too-narrow bean counting of "No Child Left Behind" and its ilk, and the inspiring but often too-vague-to-be-useful rhetoric of ideals. The authors strive both to establish a general frame for such inquiry and to make a start on showing their own approach to filling in the details. A work that is imaginative, informative, and unfailingly constructive."--Michael S. McPherson, co-author of Lesson Plan: An Agenda for Change in American Higher Education

About the Author

Harry Brighouse is professor of philosophy, affiliate professor of educational policy studies, and Dickson Bascom Professor of the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Helen F. Ladd is professor emerita at Duke University. Susanna Loeb is the Barnett Family Professor of Education at Stanford University. Adam Swift is professor of political theory at the University of Warwick.