Spin Cycle: How Research Gets Used in Policy Debates--The Case of Charter Schools

Contents

Contents About the Author vii Acknowledgments ix Chapter 1 The New York Times/AFT Charter School Controversy 1 Chapter 2 Informed Democracy: An Ideal and Its Skeptics 15 Chapter 3 How Cool Research Gets in Hot Waters: Privatization, School Choice, and Charter Schools 33 Chapter 4 Research in the Public Eye: Personalization, Polarization, and Politicization. 56 Chapter 5 Research Outside the Spotlight: Accumulation, Convergence, Contingency 90 Chapter 6 Follow the Money: The Role of Funding in the Politicization of Education Research 128 Chapter 7 How Research Reaches the Public Ear: Old Media and New 177 Chapter 8 Can the Ideal of Informed Democracy Be Revived? 217 Appendix 1 List of Those Interviewed 246 Appendix 2 Diana Jean Schemo, “Charter Schools Trail in Results, U.S. Data Reveals,” New York Times (Late Edition, East Coast), August 17, 2004, p. A1 248 Appendix 3 “Charter School Evaluation Reported by The New York Times Fails to Meet Professional Standards” 252 Notes 255 References 273 Index 287 vi Contents ...