College launches new journal for school leaders, education policy scholars

Concerned about math and science education in America? Want to know how the French school system is reacting to the riots in the Paris suburbs? Need to know how to prepare East Asian graduate students for study in your college?

These and other timely topics are addressed in the first issue of the Florida Journal of Education Administration and Policy, the University of Florida’s new outlet for scholarship on the issues affecting school leaders from pre-kindergarten to the university level. The official launch date of the first issue is Oct. 15.

An online, blind, peer-reviewed publication, the Journal is devoted to scholarship on a wide range of issues in education administration and policy, with a focus on information useful to practitioners in the field. The journal is edited by faculty and students of the Department of Education Administration and Policy at UF’s College of Education.

“It is called the Florida Journal, but this is a nod to UF tradition – not a statement about the limits of our geographic reach,” said Linda Serra Hagedorn, professor and chair of the department and editor of the Journal. “We intend to address issues beyond the state of Florida, and indeed our first issue is international in scope.”

UF’s Department of Education Administration and Policy has long been known as a leader in the development of the nation’s community college system, and is the school of choice for Florida’s finest K-12 and college administrators.

Hagedorn says the Journal was originally conceived as a way to broaden the publishing experience of the department’s students, many of whom are also full-time, practicing school leaders.

“I wanted to give our graduate students more experience with publishing and peer review,” Hagedorn said. “But the journal quickly grew beyond what we originally envisioned, with submissions from all over the world.”

Among the topics covered in the current issue:

• A look at Education Action Zones, a concept the French government is using to address social disparities in the wake of recent riots in Muslim neighborhoods.
• An analysis of efforts to bolster science and math education in the U.S., as seen through the lens of the National Science Foundation’s Math Science Partnership program.
• The “Ten Negative Commandments” – a look at community college policies that do more harm than good.
• A look at what colleges should do to help East Asian students deal with language issues in their first year in the U.S.

Contributors include education consultant Patricia Maloney,
Valerie Storey of Lynn University and various UF faculty and
students.

Book reviews will also be a major feature of the journal, Hagedorn said. The journal is aimed at the needs of the practicing school administrator, she said, and book reviews can help practitioners choose the works that are most useful to them.

“If you’re working in this field, you are probably too busy to read everything,” she said. “But you should read the FJEAP.”

The journal is available at: https://education.ufl.edu/Leadership/FJEAP/info.html.