麻豆影院

Kenneth R. Howe is Professor of听Educational Foundations, Policy听and Practice and听past president of the Philosophy of Education Society.

Professor Howe specializes in education policy, professional ethics, and philosophy of education. He has conducted research on a variety of topics, ranging from the quantitative/qualitative debate to a philosophical examination of constructivism to a defense of multicultural education to education policy analysis, particularly school choice. He teaches courses in the social foundations of education, the philosophy of education, and philosophical issues in education听research.

Professor Howe's听books include the听Ethics of Special Education听(with Ofelia Miramontes),听Understanding Equal Educational Opportunity: Social Justice, Democracy and Schooling, Values in Evaluation and Social Research听(with Ernest House), and听Closing Methodological Divides: Toward Democratic Educational Research.听
听

Education

PhD Philosophy/Education (joint), Michigan State University, 1985
MA Philosophy, Michigan State University, 1978
BA Philosophy, Michigan State University, 1973

Professor Howe鈥檚 scholarship has been historically concentrated in three major areas: educational ethics, social justice in education, and the philosophical dimensions of educational research. Each is ongoing and each informs his recent work in educational policy.

Educational Ethics

Professor Howe has worked in medical and nursing ethics, where he developed a general view that he also applies to education: professional ethics should be based on a model in which practitioners both help define the ethical problems to be addressed and participate in their solution. In 1992, he published the听Ethics of Special Education听(with Ofelia Miramontes), a book based largely on cases collected from practicing special educators and that incorporates the approach to professional ethics just described. He has also published several articles in educational ethics, the most recent of which is听Ethics in Educational Research听(with Michele Moses) in听Review of Research in Education听(1999).

Social Justice in Education

Professor Howe has an ongoing interest in the principle of equality of educational opportunity and its role in social justice. He has analyzed the concept of equal educational opportunity across a variety of educational policy issues, such as multicultural education, gender equity, testing and standards, separatism, and school choice. He has published a number articles in this general area in addition to a book,听Understanding Equal Educational Opportunity: Social Justice, Democracy, and Schooling, in 1997.

The Philosophical Dimensions of Educational Research

Professor Howe also has an ongoing interest in the philosophical dimensions of educational research methodology. He has focused especial attention on the quantitative-qualitative and fact-value distinctions, the "two dogmas of educational research." He has written a number of articles on these topics, five of which have appeared in the听Educational Researcher. His most recent book,听Closing Methodological Divides: Toward Democratic Educational Research听(2002), traces and extends this work. In a related vein, Professor Howe鈥檚 1999 book,听Values in Evaluation and Social Research听(with Ernest House), articulates a conception of evaluation research that advocates fostering democratic deliberation in designing and conducting evaluations of educational and social policies.

Education Policy Research

Professor Howe鈥檚 fourth and newest area of scholarship is empirical research on educational policy. He has published several articles听in the听Phi Delta Kappan听and in听Educational Leadership听(both with Margaret Eisenhart and Damian Betebenner)听on an empirical study of the听school choice system in 麻豆影院, Colorado. He also conducted a study of the role of the American College Testing (ACT) examination in Colorado鈥檚 standards-based accountability system (with Damian Betebenner). (For more information, see:听.)听

Professor Howe endeavors to have students come away from his courses with an appreciation for complexity and a respect for opposing viewpoints. Many (all) of the issues he considers involve controversy, for which there are no unquestionably right answers. Digging into complex material and engaging in critical dialogue about it helps reveal the kind of complexity that is almost always there. Thus, when students take their own positions, they should not be inclined to rely on caricatures and to demonize those with whom they disagree. They should also appreciate that their own view is not perfect, but rather the best they can do under conditions of uncertainty.

Courses Frequently Taught:

Philosophy of Education (EDUC 5055)

The course is devoted primarily to examining the role of education in promoting a just and democratic society. It examines the views of philosophers such as Plato, John Dewey, and Amy Gutmann. Plato provides the first fully developed Western conception of education, a nondemocratic conception, and his views serve as a foil for democratic views, as well as the more radical views of thinkers such as Foucault and Freire. One of the major issues addressed is how these thinkers might respond to the challenge to incorporate oppressed and excluded "voices." Feminism is an important part of this conversation.

Seminar in Philosophical Issues in Educational Research (EDUC 8804)

General topics include a comparative analysis of the 鈥減aradigms鈥� of positivism, interpretivism, critical theory, feminism, postmodernism, and pragmatism. Topics that cut across these general paradigms and help distinguish them from one another include the quantitative/qualitative debate, the fact/value distinction, relativism, objectivity/subjectivity, and bias. The emphasis is often on philosophy of science as much as (or more than) on educational research per se, but the course generally seeks to explore and strengthen linkages between philosophy of science and educational research wherever they exist.

Social Foundations of Education (EDUC听5005)

The course is designed to acquaint students with the broad moral-political dimensions of public education that frame competing positions on issues such as tracking, multiculturalism, gender, and school choice, to name a few.听

Two major threads are woven through the more specific issues examined: (1) the traditionalism versus progressivism divide, and (2) the drive for educational equality, spurred in recent history by the landmark听Brown versus the Board of Education听decision in 1954.

Professor Howe is active in the Philosophy of Education Society and the American Educational Research Association. He serves on editorial boards and as a reviewer for several professional journals. He currently co-edits the Kluwer philosophy of education series.

(For complete list of publications, please see the faculty member's curriculum vitae.)

Articles

Betebenner, D. W., Howe, K. R., & Foster, S. S. (2005).听. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 13(4).

Howe K. & Ashcraft, C. (2005).听Deliberative democratic evaluation: Successes and limitations of an evaluation of school choice.听Teachers College Record, 107(10), 2274-2297.

Howe, K. (2004).听A critique of experimentalism.听Qualitative Inquiry, 10 (4), 42-61.

Howe, K., & Welner, K. (2002).听School choice and the pressure to perform: D茅j脿 vu for children with disabilities.听Journal of Remedial and Special Education, 23(4), 212-221.

Howe, K., Eisenhart, M., & Betebenner, D. (2001).听School choice crucible: A case study of 麻豆影院 Valley.听Phi Delta Kappan, 83(2), 137-146.

Howe, K. (2001).听Qualitative educational research: The philosophical issues.听In V. Richardson (Ed.),听Handbook of Rsearch on Teaching听(pp. 201-208). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.

Howe, K., & Moses, M. (1999).听Ethics in educational research.听Review of Research in Education,听24, 21-60.

Howe, K. (1998).听The interpretive turn and the new debate in education.听Educational Researcher, 27(8), 13-20.

Howe, K. (1994).听Standards, assessment, and equality of educational opportunity.听Educational Researcher,听23 (8), 27-33.

Howe, K., & Dougherty, K. (1993).听Ethics, institutional review boards, and the changing face of educational research.听Educational Researcher, 22(9), 16-21.

Howe, K. (1992).听Getting over the quantitative-qualitative debate.听American Journal of Education,听100(2), 236-256.

Howe, K. (1992).听Liberal democracy, equal educational opportunity and the challenge of multiculturalism.听American Educational Research Journal, 29(3), 455-470.

Howe, K. (1990).听AIDS education in public schools: Old wine in new bottles?听Journal of Moral Education, 19(2), 114-123. Posted here with the permission of Taylor & Francis, journal available听.

Howe, K., & Eisenhart, M. (1990).听Standards in qualitative (and quantitative) research: A prolegomenon.听Educational Researcher, 19(4), 2-9.

Howe, K. (1989).听In defense of outcomes-based conceptions of equal educational opportunity.听Educational Theory, 39(4), 317-336.

Howe, K. (1988).听Against the quantitative-qualitative incompatibility thesis (Or dogmas die hard).听Educational Researcher, 17(8), 10-16.