Global Education Policy, Impact Evaluations, and Alternatives

This book contributes to how we conceptualize and investigate the role and influence of knowledge production by international organizations within the field of global education reform. After elaborating on what it means to approach the intersection of these issues from a political economy perspective, the book develops a focus on knowledge production broadly to examine specifically the production of impact evaluations, which have come to be seen by many as the most credible form of policy-relevant knowledge. Moreover, it not only unpacks the methodological, technical, political, and organizational challenges in the production of impact evaluations, but also details an approach to critically understanding and examining the role that impact evaluations, once produced, play within the political economy of global education reform more generally. Finally, this book demonstrates the application of this approach in relation to a global education policy from El Salvador and reflects on the implications of this case for alternative ways forward, methodologically and otherwise.

Reveals hidden history of an education policy that went global, with emphasis on the role of impact evaluations Proposes and then applies a novel way to approach the analysis of impact evaluations, i.e., within the political economy of knowledge production Reconsiders the effects and the legacy of the Education with Community Participation Program in El Salvador Identifies and discusses alternatives to impact evaluations for generating policy relevant knowledge

Autorentext
D. Brent Edwards Jr. is Assistant Professor of Theory and Methodology in the Study of Education at the University of Hawaii, Mnoa, USA. His research focuses on the political economy of education reform and global education policies. He was previously a Visiting Scholar at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Central America, El Salvador, and a Post-Doctoral Researcher at The University of Tokyo, Japan.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Knowledge production, the World Bank, and Global Education Reform.- 3. Critically Reviewing Impact Evaluations within the Political Economy of Global Education Reform.- 4. Methods.- 5. The Reform Context of El Salvador: Structural Transformation During a Civil War.- 6. EDUCO's Emergence.- 7. Impact Evaluations of EDUCO: A Critical Review.- 8. What Can We Say About EDUCO?.- 9. Implications: National and International.- 10. Conclusions: Persistent Limitations and Alternative Approaches.