Fowler Comments:

Issue Definition: Setting the Stage: Fowler states:

• Intelligent definition of an issue can increase the likelihood of political

support, reduce the likelihood of opposition, and shape the policy debate. It
sets the stage for the more visible phases of the process to follow.

• In thinking about issue definition, distinguishing problems from policy issues

is important.

• It is a discursive process, occurring through both written and oral

communication.

Agenda Setting: Fowler states:

• If an issue is ever to become official policy, it must eventually reach the

governmental policy agenda.

• The educational policy agenda includes all issues under discussion at

professional conferences, in education journals, among well-informed
educators, in the mass media, among the general public, and among
government officials (Kingdon, 2003).

• The policy agenda is usually set by powerful politicians, such as presidents,

governors, and legislators.

Policy Formulation:

• Before a policy can be adopted formally, it must be expressed in written

form.

• The first written text developed is usually a bill, a draft of a proposed statute.

• Rules and regulations are written after statutes have been adopted. They
may pass through several drafts before becoming official.

Policy Adoption:

• In order for a policy to take effect, its written formulation must be adopted
officially by the appropriate body. Statutes are adopted by a majority vote in
Congress and in state legislatures.

• In public education, rules and regulations are adopted by authorized officials

within such agencies as the U.S. Department of Education, state departments
 of education, and local school districts. Some district policies, but not all,
require a majority vote by a school board.

Implementation:

• The passage of a statute and accompanying rules and regulations does not
mean the new policy automatically goes into operation. Education policies
must be implemented at the grassroots level by district administrators,
principals, and classroom teachers.

• The success of implementation depends on motivating educators to

implement the new policy and providing them with the necessary resources
to do so.

• Of all the stages of the policy process, implementation is the one with which
education leaders can least avoid involvement.

• Implementation is the stage of the policy process in which a policy formally

adopted by a governmental body is put into practice.

• Questions to ask: “Do we have good reasons for adopting a new policy?”
“Who should participate in planning?”

Policy Evaluation:

• Evaluation defined by the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational

Evaluation, 1994, p. 3, states…Evaluation is the systematic investigation
of the worth or merit of an object. (PLEASE REPHRASE)

• The basic steps in the policy evaluation process consists of determining

the goals of the policy, select indicators, select or develop data collection
instruments, collect data, analyze and summarize data, write evaluation
report, and respond to evaluator’s recommendation.

• Evaluation is a form of applied research designed to achieve this purpose.