How Can We Use Policy to Promote Educational Excellence? KAGE Jonathan Plucker, Ph.D .

1. How Can We Use Policy to Promote Educational Excellence? KAGE Jonathan Plucker, Ph.D. February 6, 2012 Indiana University

2. Presentation overview • Why Worry About Policy? • What to Do About It • Take-homes

3. Why Worry About Policy? The Current Policy Landscape for Education

4. Some Particularly Obvious Observations… • Americans are public education critics. • Shifting political landscape over the past 35 years has had obvious repercussions for education.

5. Skepticism has spread virally to all parties and politicians. • Criticisms are ridiculously broad and blunt. • Preparation programs are the new global warming.

6. Few policymakers are willing to make gifted education their key education issue. • On issues they don’t know about, they are as informed as your next door neighbor.

7. Several Implications • “Victory” is defined differently. • There’s no “war” to win here. • Redefine success as a series of small accomplishments (i.e., influence).

8. Focus on … • Impact • Impact • IMPACT

9. Several Implications • Stay on your heels, and you lose. • Critics expect you to be defensive, so when you are, it feeds their base.

10. What to Do About It?

11. It’s Not Personal, It’s Politics: Part I • Policymakers are generally nice, committed people. • Political enemies are very often private friends. • The further you move from federal to local levels, it’s less about politics than governance.

12. It’s Not Personal, It’s Politics: Part II • Many Capitol Hill education aides are in their mid-20s with little education expertise. • Most are heavily overworked. • Policymakers tend to focus on what they control – nothing else exists. • Caveat: Not talking here about lobbyists, advocates, or contractors.

13. Implications • Policymakers NEED your expertise. • Vast majority will listen to your input … • … but don’t expect them to follow your advice.

14. The Value of Personal Relationships • People will work with you if you have value to them. • Means you have to compromise every once and a while. • “I don’t love this, but should I still help?”

15. The Value of Personal Relationships • Once you prove value, it becomes a personal relationship … • Recent panel example • … but you have to take a hit every once and a while. • Charter schools, accountability system examples

16. Implications • Show a policymaker that you can and will help them out, and you will quickly gain an ally. • Successful policy leaders compromise.

17. Specific Strategies • Bring concrete solutions. • They expect you to complain • Communicate, communicate, communicate • I’m with you on this, but I can’t get out front • Offer help from inside and outside your program

18. Specific Strategies • Have a thick skin: Sometimes you just can’t win. • Don’t count on people having your back • Just about everyone is working behind the scenes, no matter what they tell you. • Responding to their initiatives with “Hey, we’re doing our own cool stuff” rings hollow.

19. Implications • It’s impossible to win them all. • Compromises are rarely public. • Communicate regularly and positively. • Don’t have your only contacts be “problem conversations.” • If a relationship gets frosty, get someone else in the game.

20. Take-homes

21. Redefine “success” and hold realistic goals. • Best defense is a good offense. • Make sure your program values policy involvement. • Communicate regularly and positively. • Use language your targeted policymaker understands and values.