Award Date

1-1-1987

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Administration

Number of Pages

155

Abstract

Public school education has always been perceived by the public as an institution to which laymen from all walks of life would provide input, good or bad, insightful or ignorant, solicited or unsolicited. The assumed responsibility phenomenon helped legitimize the continued contributions by the public of new concepts and ideas by which schools could supposedly solve glaring problems purportedly being experienced; The institution of education has always embraced the introduction of new concepts (either wholeheartedly or begrudgingly) and consequently became subject to the inevitable bandwagon of professionals who have continually searched for the ever-elusive manner by which all individuals could effectively be educated. Educational bandwagons (those individuals or forces making recommendations to improve education) are not new phenomena; rather, they have demanded acknowledgement from educators since the onset of public education. A most demanding and significant force has been the political establishment. The past two decades of political involvement have resulted in the hyperrationalization of schools (a concept originated by Arthur Wise). Consequently, educators no longer have complete command of the field of education; This study served to look at the impact of educational policy considered and/or enacted by the Nevada Legislature over a period of fifteen years (specifically, 1975-1990). Essentially, the study was designed to provide both a retrospective and prospective analysis of regulatory laws (legislative) considered and/or enacted with regard to education in the state of Nevada during the years reflected above. Hyperrationalization was equated to an effort by legislators to rationalize beyond the bounds of their knowledge concerning the field of education. Additionally, the amount of erosion with regard to educational traditions was determined. This determination was made with regard to how much of the so-called educational traditions were taken out of the realm of education and placed in the political realm. Educational traditions, as developed by Arthur Wise, were identified as follows: local control of education, teacher professionalism, the role of governance structure separate from general government and the belief that education was important as an end in itself; The entire analysis was accomplished by a study of the development of education in Nevada during 1975-1990 as directed and mandated by legislative acts. Data gathered were organized to reflect patterns of educational legislation (considered and/or enacted) and subsequent effects upon educational programs and practices.

Keywords

Educational; Educational Policy; Hyperrationalization; Laws; Nevada; Policy; Regulatory; Regulatory Laws; Regulatory Laws Schools

Controlled Subject

Education; History; Education; School management and organization

File Format

pdf

File Size

5949.44 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Permissions

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this dissertation or thesis and wish to have the full text removed from Digital Scholarship@UNLV, please submit a request to digitalscholarship@unlv.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Download


COinS