Petition to University of Chicago President Hugo Sonnenschein
President Hugo Sonnenschein
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
As researchers, practitioners, and policy makers in the field of education we write to
express our opposition to the recommendation of the Dean of Social Sciences to close the
Department of Education and to relegate the field of education to committee status at the
University of Chicago. We urge that you reject this recommendation for the following reasons:
By taking this step, the University declares educational research a low priority. This is
contrary to the U of C's longstanding commitment to ground breaking scholarship on almost
every facet of education--from discovering how individuals learn to explaining how societies
organize school systems. Chicago has consistently produced leading scholars in education,
trained in rigorous interdisciplinary social science. Work done by Chicago's education faculty has
been recognized as extremely influential by researchers in many disciplines, as well as policy
makers. In recent decades, for example, Chicago faculty have had great influence on
compensatory education, comparative understanding of the United States and other educational
systems, and discerning the relationship between spending and educational change. We reject the
low place of educational research in the University's new list of priorities.
The consequences for the field of education are enormous. The University of Chicago will
no longer produce educational scholars at a time when education is prominent on the national
agenda, when the fifty states face enormous educational challenges, and when urban leaders,
including those in the city of Chicago, are taking bold steps to improve their schools. Policy
makers rely on sound research to inform their decisions. We urge the University to fulfill its
obligations in preparing scholars who will produce this new knowledge.
This action betrays the legacy of Chicago's towering figures in educational research.
Distinguished faculties of education have played a significant role in securing the University of
Chicago's esteemed reputation. We are not invoking nostalgia here. In the past, when
departments at Chicago faced difficult times, problems were tackled and remedies were
implemented. That is the Chicago way. We are dismayed at the University's disregard for its own
institutional history.
Many of us are alumni and former faculty members of Chicago. Others are simply friends
of the department. We wish the University well. We understand that the University is facing a
crisis that precipitated this recommendation, but remind you that great universities do not improve
themselves by destroying the very source of their esteem--the disciplined inquiry of intellectual
problems.
We urge you to reject this recommendation.
Sincerely,
Peter W. Airasian, Professor, Boston College
Philip G. Altbach, Monan Professor of Higher Education, Boston College
James D. Anderson, Professor and Head, Educational Policy Studies,
University of Illinois-Urbana
Rene V. Arcilla, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Education, Teachers College,
Columbia University
Hanna Ayalon, Chair, Department of Education Policy and Organization,
School of Education,
Tel Aviv University, Israel
David Baker, Associate Professor of Sociology, The Catholic University of
America
Arnetha F. Ball, Assistant Professor of Education, School of Education,
University
of Michigan
Deborah L. Ball, Professor, School of Education, University of Michigan
Rebecca Barr, Program Officer, Spencer Foundation and Professor,
National Louis University
Betsy Jane Becker, Professor, College of Education, Michigan State
University
Charles J. Beirne, SJ, Academic Vice President, Universidad Landivar,
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Kathryn M. Borman, Associate Director and Professor, David C. Anchin Center,
University of South Florida
William Lowe Boyd, Distinguished Professor of Education, Pennsylvania State
University
David E. Brown, Associate Professor, Department of Education, University of
Illinois
Nicholas C. Burbules, Professor, Department of Educational Policy Studies, University
of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Patricia F. Campbell, Associate Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction,
University of Maryland
James G. Cibulka, Professor and Chair, Department of Education Policy, Planning, and
Administration, University of Maryland
William Clune, Professor of Law, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Paul Cobb, Professor of Mathematics Education, Vanderbilt University
Allan Collins, Professor of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern
University
Fred S. Coombs, Professor, Department of Educational Policy Studies, University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Larry Cuban, Professor of Education, Stanford University
Brian DeLany, Associate Professor, Michigan State University
Johanna S. DeStefano, Associate Dean for Research, College of Education,
Ohio State University
Kevin J. Dougherty, Professor of Sociology, Manhattan College
Mary Ann Dzuback, Associate Professor of Education and History, Washington
University
Elliot W. Eisner, Professor of Education and Art, Stanford University
Richard F. Elmore, Professor of Education, Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University
Joyce L. Epstein, Director, Center on School, Family, Community Partnerships, Johns
Hopkins University
Erwin H. Epstein, Professor of Educational Policy and Leadership, The Ohio
State University
Frederick Erickson, Judy and Howard Berkowitz Professor of Education,
University of Pennsylvania
George Farkas, Professor of Sociology and Political Economy and Director,
Center for Education and Social Policy, University of Texas at Dallas
Walter Feinberg, Professor, Educational Policy Studies, The University of
Illinois
Sheila Fitzgerald, Professor, Department of Teacher Education,
Michigan State University
Robert E. Floden, Professor of Teacher Education and Educational
Psychology, College of Education, Michigan State University
Linda Flower, Co-Director, Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy at
Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon, Carnegie Mellon University
Ken Frank, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University
Barry M. Franklin, Chair, Department of Education, University of Michigan-Flint
Susan Fuhrman, Dean, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania
Karen C. Fuson, Professor, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern
University
Janet S. Gaffney, Associate Professor & Senior Researcher, Center for the Study of
Reading, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Nathaniel L. Gage, Margaret Jacks Professor of Education and, by courtesy, Professor
of Psychology, Emeritus, Stanford University
Adam Gamoran, Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Rick Ginsburg, Director, School of Education, Colorado State University
Gene V. Glass, College of Education, Arizona State University
Ellen B. Goldring, Professor of Educational Leadership and Associate Dean,
Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
John I. Goodlad, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles,
Professor Emeritus, University of Washington
Joan F. Goodman, Professor, Graduate School of Education, University of
Pennsylvania
Barry Greenwald, Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychology at The University of
Illinois
at Chicago and Northwestern University
Eunice Ann Greer, Assistant Professor, Department of Curriculum and
Instruction, College of Education, University of Illinois
Kris D. Gutierrez, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education and
Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
Edward H. Haertel, Professor of Education, Stanford University
Maureen Hallinan, Past President, American Sociological Association,
Department of Sociology, University of Notre Dame
Susan S. Hasseler, Associate Professor, Education Department, Calvin College
Robert M. Hauser, Vilas Research Professor of Sociology, Center for Demography,
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Martha K. Hemwall, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Dean of Academic
Services, Lawrence University
Barbara Heyns, Professor of Sociology, New York University
Harold S. Himmelfarb, Senior Research Analyst, U. S. Department of
Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement
Barton J. Hirsch, Professor of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern
University
Tom Hoffer, Senior Study Director, National Opinion Research Center
Christopher Jencks, Professor of Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government,
Harvard
University
Will J. Jordan, Associate Research Scientist and Assistant Professor of Sociology, Johns
Hopkins University
William W. Joyce, Professor of Education and Director, Canadian Studies
Centre, Michigan State University
C. Philip Kearney, Professor of Education, School of Education, The University of
Michigan
Alan Kerckhoff, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Duke University
David Kirp, Professor, Graduate School of Public Policy, University of California,
Berkeley
Paul F. Kleine, Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Oklahoma
Herbert M. Kliebard, Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Michael S. Knapp, Associate Professor, Education Leadership & Policy
Studies, College of Education, University of Washington
Teresa LaFromboise, Associate Professor, School of Education, Stanford
University
Carol D. Lee, Associate Professor of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern
University
Valerie E. Lee, Associate Professor, School of Education, University of Michigan
Nancy Lester, Director, Stanford Educational Collaborative, Stanford University School
of Education
Donald L. Libby, Assistant Scientist, Department of Preventive Medicine, University of
Wisconsin-Madison
Karen Seashore Louis, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Education and
Human Development, University of Minnesota
Tom Loveless, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government,
Harvard University
Larry Ludlow, Associate Professor, Program Director, Educational Research,
Measurement and Evaluation, Graduate Department of Education, Boston College
Susan L. Lytle, Associate Professor of Education, Graduate School of Education,
University
of Pennsylvania
Helen M. Marks, Assistant Professor of Educational Policy and Leadership, The Ohio
State University
Wanda T. May, Associate Professor, Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State
University
Teresa L. McCarty, Associate Professor of Language, Reading and Culture,
Co-Director,
American Indian Language Development Institute, University of Arizona
G. W. McDiarmid, Professor of Teacher Education, College of Education, Michigan
State
University
Patricia M. McDonough, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education and
Information Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles
Ellen Nestle McGregor, Research Analyst, Office of Institutional Research, Pima
Community
College, Tucson, AZ
Robert B. McKersie, Professor of Management, Sloan School of Management,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
James McPartland, Director, Center for Social Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins
University
Mary Haywood Metz, Professor of Educational Policy Studies, University of
Wisconsin-Madison
Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina,
Charlotte
Jeffrey Mirel, Professor, Department of Leadership and Policy Studies, Northern Illinois
University
Theodore R. Mitchell, Vice Chancellor for Academic Planning and Budget, University
of California, Los Angeles
Michael Murphy, Associate Vice-Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs and
Professor
of Education, University of Colorado-Denver
Fred Muskal, Professor of Educational Administration and Foundations, University of
the Pacific
Anna Neumann, Associate Professor, College of Education, Michigan State
University
Susan B. Nolen, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, University of
Washington
Martin Nystrand, Professor of English and Director, National Research Center on
English
Learning and Achievement, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Michael Olneck, Professor of Educational Policy Studies and Sociology, University
of Wisconsin-Madison
Gary Orfield, Professor of Education and Social Policy, Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University
Sanford E. Ostroy, Professor of Biological Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences,
Purdue University
Aaron M. Pallas, Associate Professor of Education and Adjunct Associate Professor
of Sociology, Michigan State University
Faith G. Paul, President, Public Policy Research Consortium
P. David Pearson, John Hannah Professor of Education, Michigan State
University
Michelle Perry, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and Speech
Communication,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Kent D. Peterson, Department of Educational Administration, University of
Wisconsin-Madison
Teresa Pica, Associate Professor and Chair, Language in Education Division, Graduate
School of Education, University of Pennsylvania
Therese D. Pigott, Associate Program Officer, The Spencer Foundation, Chicago,
IL
Gerald Pillsbury, Assistant Professor, Department of Education and Professional
Development, Western Michigan University
David N. Plank, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Administration,
Michigan
State University
Stephen B. Plank, Associate Research Scientist at the Center for Social Organization,
and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University
Suet-ling Pong, Assistant Professor Sociology of Education, Pennsylvania State
University
Andrew C. Porter, Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
David Post, Associate Professor, Education Policy Studies and Human Development;
Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University
Ralph Putnam, Associate Professor, Department of Counseling, Educational
Psychology,
and Special Education, College of Education, Michigan State University
Stephen Raudenbush, Professor of Measurement and Quantitative Methods, College of
Education, Michigan State University
Brian J. Reiser, Associate Professor, School of Education and Social Policy, Chair,
Learning Sciences Ph.D. Program, Northwestern University
James E. Rosenbaum, Professor, Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research,
Northwestern University
Theresa Rogers, Associate Professor of Education, Language, Literacy and Culture
Section,
Ohio State University
Alan R. Sadovnik, Professor of Education, Director of Academic Programs, School of
Education, Adelphi University
Francis Scrag, Professor and Chair, Department of Educational Policy Studies,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Michael Seltzer, Assistant Professor, Department of Education, University of
California-Los
Angeles
M. Mobin Shorish, Associate Professor of Comparative Education and Economics of
Education, College of Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Roger C. Shouse, Assistant Professor, Department of Education Policy Studies,
Pennsylvania
State University
Diana T. Slaughter-Defoe, Professor of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern
University
Kathryn Sloane, Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign
Peter Smagorinsky, Associate Professor, College of Education, University of
Oklahoma
Mark A. Smylie, Associate Professor of Education, University of Illinois at
Chicago
Margaret Beale Spencer, Board of Overseers Professor of Education, University of
Pennsylvania
Melanie Sperling, Assistant Professor, School of Education, Stanford University
Mark A. Spikell, Professor, Coordinator, Ph.D. and M.Ed. Leadership Program in
Mathematics and Science Education, Graduate School of Education, George Mason
University
Gerald S. Sroufe, Director of Governmental and Professional Liaison, American
Educational
Research Association
Gary Sykes, Departments of Educational Administration & Teacher Education,
College of Education, Michigan State University
Maria Teresa Tatto, Assistant Professor, College of Education, Michigan State
University
Robert Tinker, President, The Concord Consortium Educational Technology Lab,
Concord,
MA
David Tyack, Vida Jacks Professor of Education and Professor of History, Stanford
University
Gilbert A. Valverde, Associate Director and Senior Researcher, U.S. National Research
Center, College of Education, Michigan State University
Arie van der Ploeg, North Central Regional Education Laboratory
Herve Varenne, Professor of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
Herbert J. Walberg, Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago
Decker F. Walker, Professor, School of Education, Stanford University
James V. Wertsch, Professor and Chair, Department of Education, Washington
University
Ian Westbury, Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Mark Wilson, Professor and Associate Dean, Graduate School of Education, University
of California, Berkeley
Robert K. Wimpelberg, Dean, College of Education, University of New Orleans
Merlin C. Wittrock, Professor, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies,
University of California, Los Angeles
Priscilla Wohlstetter, Associate Professor and Director, Center on Educational
Governance,
University of Southern California
Karen Kepler Zumwalt, Dean and Professor of Education, Teachers College,
Columbia
University
Names added via this website since October 31, 1996:
T. Joseph Sheehan, Professor, Department of Community Medicine,
University of Connecticut School of Medicine:
"I heartily endorse the sentiment of the petition. Chicago's leadership
in the systematic study of education has been monumental and should no
sooner be abandoned than its study of economics or health."
Carol M. Myford, Research Scientist, Educational Testing Service
Jeremy D. Finn, Professor,
State University of New York at Buffalo
Kathleen Hall, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Education,
University of Pennsylvania.
Sandra Acker, Professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of
the University of Toronto
F. Michael Connelly, Professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education of the University of Toronto
Eduardo Cabezon, Academic Secretary of the Postgraduate Program in
Education, Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educacion, Santiago, Chile and the
Regional Office of UNESCO for Latin American and Carribean countries
Mario Leyton, Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educacion, Santiago, Chile
Juan Enrique Froemel, Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educacion,
Santiago, Chile
Carlos Avalos, Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educacion, Santiago, Chile
Raul Pizarro, Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educacion, Santiago, Chile
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http://student-www.uchicago.edu/orgs/eduscholarship/ -- Revised: November 19, 1996
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