Teach Truth to Power

How academics and researchers can influence education policy: putting research in a policy context, finding unexpected allies, interacting with politicians, and more.
 

Scholarly books and journal articles routinely close with policy recommendations. Yet these recommendations rarely reach politicians. How can academics engage more effectively in the policy process? In Teach Truth to Power, David Garcia offers a how-to guide for scholars and researchers who want to influence education policy, explaining strategies for putting research in a policy context, getting “in the room” where policy happens, finding unexpected allies, interacting with politicians, and more.  
 
Countering conventional wisdom about research utilization (also referred to as knowledge mobilization), Garcia explains that engaging in education policy is not a science, it is a craft—a combination of acquired knowledge and intuition that must be learned through practice. Engaging in policy is an interpersonal process; academics who hope to influence policy have to get face-to-face with the politicians who create policy. Garcia’s experience as trusted insider, researcher, and political candidate make him uniquely qualified to offer a roadmap that connects research to policy. He explains that academics can leverage their content expertise to build relationships with politicians (even before they are politicians); demonstrates the effectiveness of the research one-pager; and shows how academics can teach politicians to be champions of research.
 Acknowledgments ix
1 Setting the Context 1
I The Shift 25
2 Who Sets Policy? 27
3 Politicians and Knowledge 45
4 Problems with Research 71
5 Research Use in Policymaking 97
6 Asked, Brought, Inside, Outside 117
II Learning the Craft 141
7 Build Relationships with Politicians Before they are Politicians 143
8 The Influence of Unexpected Allies 151
9 Leveraging the Research to Predict Policy Outcomes 159
10 From Practical Problems to The Ask 167
11 The Research One-Pager 179
12 Answers, Advocacy, Activism, and Frameworks 187
13 Teach to Champion 203
14 A Renewed Role for Academics 209
References 217
Index 233“David Garcia is the perfect person to write this book, and he does so flawlessly. It’s clear, down-to-earth, and informed by academic literature as well as his personal experience bridging the worlds of research and policy practice.”
—Jeffrey R. Henig, Professor of Political Science and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University; author of Spin Cycle: How Research Gets Used in Policy Debates
 
“A practical guide for researchers who aspire to have an impact on policy. In clear and compelling language, Garcia provides a blueprint for how to directly engage in the political process and close the gap between research and policy.”
—Pedro Noguera, Dean of USC Rossier School of Education
 
“Garcia provides a compelling addition to the research-policy literature by focusing on how researchers can engage politicians. His advice is practical and actionable.”
—Vivian Tseng, Senior Vice President, Programs, William T. Grant Foundation
 
“No one is better positioned to offer insights into effectively influencing education policy than David Garcia. The wisdom in this volume—from scholarly inquiry and Garcia’s real-world experience—makes it an unrivaled guide for researchers.”
 —Christopher Lubienski, Professor of Education Policy, Indiana University; author of The Public School Advantage:Why Public Schools Outperform Private SchoolsDavid R. Garcia is Associate Professor in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. A former Arizona Associate Superintendent of Public Instruction, he was Arizona’s Democratic candidate for governor in 2018. He is the author of School Choice, a volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series.