Rob Reich among the most influential in shaping education policy

The American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., released its annual list of 200 national education scholars who are contributing most substantially to discussions on schools and schooling policy and practices. Among them was Stanford PACS Faculty Co-Director Rob Reich.

Twenty scholars from Stanford, including 15 from the Graduate School of Education, are among those recognized. LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND, professor emerita of education, tops the list.

Other ranked faculty are LARRY CUBAN, professor emeritus of education; ERIC HANUSHEK,senior fellow at the Hoover Institution; MICHAEL KIRST, professor emeritus of education and current president of the California State Board of Education; MARTIN CARNOY, professor of education; NEL NODDINGS, professor emerita of education; SAM WINEBURG, professor of education; CAROLINE M. HOXBY, professor of economics and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution; SUSANNA LOEB, professor of education; TERRY M. MOE, professor of political science and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution; SEAN F. REARDON, professor of education;DAVID F. LABAREE, professor of education; THOMAS S. DEE, professor and associate dean for faculty affairs in the Graduate School of Education and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research; MARGARET RAYMOND, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution;BRUCE MCCANDLISS, professor of education; ROB REICH, professor of political science;PRUDENCE L. CARTER, professor of education, who recently was named the next dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley; EDWARD HAERTEL,professor emeritus of education; MITCHELL STEVENS, associate professor of education; andERIC BETTINGER, associate professor of education.

Stanford – with 20 faculty members included – and Harvard – with 21 – have the most scholars on the list. Columbia comes in third with 14.

AEI education policy director Rick Hess, who produces the list based on nominations and metrics regarding academic body of work and public impact, said that by recognizing and valuing scholars who engage in public discourse, the list – called “The 2016 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings” – acts as one small way to encourage academics to “step into the fray and revisit academic norms.”

“As I see it, the extraordinary policy scholar excels in five areas: disciplinary scholarship, policy analysis and popular writing, convening and shepherding collaborations, providing incisive media commentary, and speaking in the public square. I’m not sure I’ve got everything exactly right, but I think such efforts convey real information and help to spark useful discussion,” he said.