McGuinn

Patrick J. McGuinn

Professor of Political Science and Education, Drew University
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About Patrick

Patrick J. McGuinn is Professor of Political Science and Education at Drew University and a Senior Research Specialist at the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE). He holds a Ph.D. in Government and a M.Ed. in Education Policy from the University of Virginia. Patrick’s first book, No Child Left Behind and the Transformation of Federal Education Policy, 1965-2005, (Kansas, 2006) was honored as a Choice outstanding academic title. He is also the co-editor of The Convergence of K-12 and Higher Education: Policies and Programs in a Changing Era (Harvard Education Press, 2016) and Education Governance for the 21st Century (Brookings)

Contributions

In the News

Quoted by in "Rockefeller Fellowship for Drew Professor," Drew Today, February 15, 2018.
Opinion: "Not Your Parents' PTA," Patrick J. McGuinn (with Andrew P. Kelly), Education Week, September 25, 2012.
Opinion: " How the Federal Government Can Promote Innovation," Patrick J. McGuinn (with Larry Berger and David Stephenson), Education Week, May 3, 2012.
Opinion: " The Time is Right for Teacher-Tenure Reform," Patrick J. McGuinn, Education Week, May 3, 2010.

Publications

"The Federal Role in Educational Equity: The Two Narratives of School Reform and the Debate over Accountability" in Education, Democracy, and Justice, edited by Danielle Allen and Rob Reich (University of Chicago Press, 2013), 221-242.
Traces the shifts in federal education policy over the past half-century, as well as a growing debate inside of the Democratic Party over the place of accountability reforms in bringing about greater educational equity. It analyzes the debate between proponents of the “equalize schooling” and “equalize educational opportunity” approaches to school reform and its implications for the politics of education.
Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century: Overcoming the Structural Barriers to School Reform (edited with Paul Manna) (Brookings Institution Press, 2013).
Deals with the governance challenges that are myriad, persistent, and obtrusive at multiple levels of our fragmented education system, and puts forward a broad range of arguments, evidence, and case examples culled from leading experts studying these issues today.
"The State of Evaluation Reform: State Education Agency Capacity and the Implementation of New Teacher Evaluation Systems," Center for American Progress, October 31, 2012.
Explores how states that adopted teacher-evaluation reform early have undertaken the preparation and implementation of new evaluation systems and how SEAs have struggled to overcome administrative capacity gaps.
"“Stimulating Reform: Race to the Top, Competitive Grants and the Obama Education Agenda" Educational Policy 26, no. 1 (2012).
Offers an analysis of the origins, evolution, and impact of the Obama administration’s Race to the Top (RTTT) competitive grant program and places it in the broader context of the debate over the No Child Left Behind Act and the shifting intergovernmental relations around education.
"No Child Left Behind and the Transformation of Federal Education Policy, 1965-2005" (University Press of Kansas, 2006).
Provides an in-depth analysis of how and why federal education policy evolved after the passage of ESEA in 1965 and how No Child Left Behind (NCLB) became law. Also shows how the struggle to define the federal role in school reform took center stage in debates over the appropriate role of the government in promoting opportunity and social welfare.