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/lp/university-of-chicago-press/the-echo-of-reform-rhetoric-arguments-about-national-and-local-school-cjmf0bqDD5
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- Publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- Copyright
- © 2021 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.
- ISSN
- 0195-6744
- eISSN
- 1549-6511
- DOI
- 10.1086/715037
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
The public discussion of education consistently emphasizes school failure. To better understand this rhetoric, we tracked its appearance in five prominent print outlets from 1984 to 2016. By distinguishing between arguments about local schools and the nation’s schools, we found that discussions of “failing schools” surged first as a claim about the nation’s schools and then as a claim about local schools. But, whereas the discussion of national failure featured a narrowed set of arguments, the subsequent discussion of local failure was composed more broadly. Thus, we describe a rhetorical echo, wherein the discussion of local failure acquired the shape and intensity of the preceding national discussion, while taking on the particulars of community context. A national narrative frame shaped the telling of local stories.
Journal
American Journal of Education – University of Chicago Press
Published: Aug 1, 2021