International Education Policy

Curriculum

The IEP curriculum is designed to develop students' capacity to think critically and systematically about educational inequality and educational reform, to analyze policy alternatives, and to evaluate policies and programs. It is rigorous but flexible, providing students with structured choices in international education and related curricular areas.

IEP students must successfully complete eight courses (32 credits), five of which must be at the School of Education. Students must complete two international education and development courses, including one that focuses on comparative international education policy concepts and issues; one course in research and evaluation, preferably covering multivariate and regression analysis; and a course in microeconomic analysis applied to education. In addition, the IEP program requirements are as outlined below:

Select two courses in International Comparative Education and Development

At least one of these must be an International Education Policy Concepts and Issues course:

Concepts and Issues Courses:

A-801 Education Policy Analysis and Research in Comparative Perspective (fall, Reimers)
A-804 Monitoring and Evaluation for Improving Education Systems (spring, Hua)
AH-106 Promoting Learning in Global Context (spring, Jukes)

Other International Education Courses:

A-130 Sparking Social Change (spring, Moore & Fung)
A-132 Educational Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in Comparative Perspective (spring, Reimers)
A-133 Cultural Influences in Ethnic/Racial Inequality in Education (fall, Warikoo)
A-142* Analyzing Education Policy (spring, Goodman)
A-707 Diversity and Excellence in Higher Education in the United States and Britain (spring, Warikoo)
A-810D Building Institutional Capacity for Large-Scale Education Reform: International Cases (winter, Velez)
A-810F Human Rights in Education (spring, Tibbits)
A-810J* Education at the Cusp of Change in the Middle East (fall, Al Barwani)
A-819* Contemporary South Asia: A Survey of Intractable Problems and Innovative Solutions (fall, Khanna)
AH-103 Educational Outcomes in Cross-national and Cross-cultural Perspectives (spring, Harris)
AH-125 The Science of Learning Behavior and Health: Implications for Early-Childhood Policy (spring, Shonkoff)
AH-516 Chinese Education in Comparative Perspective (fall, Fong)
H-514 Comparative Perspectives on Immigration and Education Policy (spring, Louie)
H-813* Bilingual Learners: Literacy Development and Instruction (spring, Uccelli)
HT-123* Informal Learning for Children (winter, Blatt)
H-512 Research Seminar on Early Childhood Language Development across Cultures, Languages, and Countries (yearlong, Fong)

Microeconomics

A-205A Microeconomics: A policy tool for educators (fall, Barrera-Osorio)
A-205B Microeconomics: A policy tool for educators (spring, Deming)

One Course in Research and Evaluation

S-012 Understanding Today's Educational Testing (fall, Tivnan)
S-030^ Intermediate Statistics: Applied Regression and Data Analysis (spring, Ho)
S-040 Introduction to Applied Data Analysis (fall, Masyn)
S-052^ Applied Data Analysis (spring, Willett)
A-164^* Program Evaluation (winter, Kane)

Electives

Three electives from courses in IEP, other HGSE programs, space permitting, courses at other Harvard schools. Students are encouraged to take at least one course that focuses on curriculum design, learning, or human development.

Note on Courses:

^ This course has a pre-requisite.

* Limited enrollment course / permission of the instructor required.

Seminars

As an integral part of the program, IEP students engage in professional and scholarly dialogue through weekly scheduled seminars with leaders in the field of education and international development. IEP seminars are in a range of formats that afford students a variety of “real-life” perspectives on educational reform. The social aspects of these seminars also serve to foster cohesion among the students in each cohort.

Students are required to attend a minimum of ten seminars throughout the academic year with a suggestion of five per semester. Each semester, there will be some mandatory seminars. Seminars are typically held on Mondays, 4:00-6:00 p.m..

Last year's seminar speakers included:

Fred Mednick, CEO, Teachers Without Borders
Abhijit Banerjee, Founder/Director, Poverty Action Lab
Hyun Sik Kim, North Korean Dissident, Former Tutor to the Kim Il Sung family, Education Advocate
Ron Israel, Vice President, Education Development Center (EDC)
Sarah Moten, Former USAID Chief, Africa Bureau: Office of Sustainable Development, Education Division
Eugenio Gonzalez, Director, IER Institute
Sergio Bitar, Former Minister of Education of Chile
Jeffrey Puryear, Codirector, PREAL and Vice President, Social Policy, Inter-American Dialogue