DEMOCRATIC COMMUNITIES, EQUITY, AND EXCELLENCE - A DEWEYAN REFRAMING OF EDUCATIONAL-POLICY ANALYSIS

Concern for academic excellence and equity often structures the work o f mainstream policy analysts. These matters certainly deserve careful attention, but this focus often obscures many other important concerns . In particular, analysts are often inattentive to the relation betwee n educational policy and the creation of democratic communities. To hi ghlight the impact of this omission, I examine mainstream debates over tracking policy. While exploring these debates, I consider how placin g greater attention on Deweyan notions of democratic community might e nrich policy dialogues and alter the form and focus of mainstream poli cy discussions.