Patrick McGuinn
Professor of Political Science and Education, Drew University
Areas of Expertise:
- Government Agencies
- Public Sector Reforms
- State & Local Government
- K-12 Education
- School Reform
Connect with Patrick
About Patrick
McGuinn’s research and teaching focus on American politics and public policy and in particular on education policy and the politics of school reform. He has produced a number of policy reports for the Brookings Institution, the American Enterprise Institute, the Center for American Progress, and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, and is a regular commentator on education in media outlets such as Education Week, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the New Jersey Star Ledger.
Briefs
The Role of State Education Agencies in Reforming Teacher Evaluation
SSN Key Findings,
Podcast
Publications
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.
"“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.
"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.
"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 ) (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.
In the News
Patrick McGuinn quoted on education research, "Drew’s Patrick McGuinn is Nationally Recognized as a Voice on Education" Drew Today, January 6, 2016.
" How the Federal Government Can Promote Innovation," Patrick McGuinn (with ), Education Week, May 3, 2012.