The College of Education at Michigan State University
is recognized nationally and internationally for the work of its
faculty and students in the area of educational policy. In keeping
with the University's land-grant mission, educational policy work
in the College includes research on urgent policy issues, the
training of policy professionals, and outreach to policy makers
and policy communities in Michigan and beyond. The doctoral
program in educational policy prepares students to assume a
variety of professional roles in educational policy analysis and
policy development in local, state, national, and international
organizations, as well as faculty positions in higher education.
Faculty and students in the College of Education are currently
involved in a number of funded research projects on educational
policy issues. Several of these projects focus on the labor
market for teachers, and on policies aimed at increasing the
supply and improving the performance of teachers. For example,
MSU is the coordinator of the new International Association
for Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) study that will
examine the preparation, recruitment, and induction of teachers
in more than 30 countries around the world. Other current projects
are investigating a variety of policy initiatives aimed at improving
teacher quality in Michigan and in the United States. These
include a study on policies aimed at retaining new teachers
in the profession and another on the teaching force in charter
schools. In addition to these projects, the Education Policy
Center at MSU is engaged in a continuing program of policy research
that seeks to contribute to current policy debates in Michigan
and at the national level. Recent work in the Policy Center
has focused on two broad sets of issues: educational governance
and finance, and curriculum content and opportunities to learn.
The College of Education is also home to Promoting Rigorous
Outcomes in Mathematics & Science Education (PROM/SE), and
the Teachers for a New Era project (TNE), which will focus on
assessment policy and practice in the context of strengthening
the preparation of teachers. Graduate students in educational
policy work closely with faculty on these projects.
Michigan State University is located in East Lansing, close
to the Capitol and the other institutions of state government.
Proximity to Lansing facilitates access to key members of the
educational policy community, in the Legislature and the Executive
Branch, and enables students to keep track of current educational
policy issues and debates. Being close to the Capitol, MSU's
students in educational policy also enjoy a wide variety of
opportunities for internships and field experience in
policy-related work, both in and outside state government.
In
keeping with its commitment to policy outreach, the College of
Education has sponsored a regular series of policy forums on
educational issues for Michigan legislators. In addition, in
cooperation with the University President's Office, the College
has organized an annual conference focused on a particular policy
issue. Also, faculty and students in the College work closely with
Michigan schools and school districts in a variety of policy areas
including technology policy. And within the College there are
regular seminars and workshops on educational policy issues, in
which faculty and graduate students from the College present their
current research.
A
unique strength of Michigan State's College of Education is our
strong commitment to international work, which is reflected in the
educational policy concentration. Faculty from the College are
currently involved in policy-related research in countries around
the world, including China, Mexico, Tanzania, South Africa, and Thailand,
and students from these and other countries are enrolled in each
of the departments of the College. Students in educational policy
have completed internships in a variety of national and
international organizations, including the World Bank.
The
doctoral program in Educational Policy draws on the expertise of
faculty from across the College of Education:
Educational Administration, Teacher Education, and Counseling,
Educational Psychology, Special Education. It has
been developed in cooperation with faculty from other Colleges at
Michigan State, including Social Science, Business, and the
MSU College of Law, and students may take coursework in these
Colleges as well.
Policy students may design an individual program of study
that suits their specific scholarly and professional interests.
Possible concentrations within the policy major include:
- Economics and finance of education
- Educational politics, urban education, and policy analysis
- Social analysis of educational policy and educational
reform
- Policy for teaching and teacher education
- Assessment, evaluation, and quantitative analysis
- Comparative and international perspectives on educational
policy
