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Ryan Arbuckle

arbuckle.ryan@bls.gov

Ryan Arbuckle is an economist in the Office of 

Employment and Unemployment Statistics, U.S. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Reforms in education: the challenges in Michigan 

(and elsewhere)

Education Reform and the Limits of Policy: Lessons from 

Michigan. By Michael F. Addonizio and C. Philip Kearney, 

Kalamazoo, MI, W.E. Upjohn Institute, 2012, 297 pp., 

$18.00/paperback

The past several decades have seen a number of reforms 

in education at both the state and federal level. In 

Education Reform and the Limits of Policy: Lessons from 

Michigan, authors Michael F. Addonizio and C. Philip 

Kearney explain why they feel the results have been mixed 

(at best). Honing in on educational reform policies enacted 

in Michigan and on federal education policies that have 

affected Michigan since 1973, Addonizio and Kearney 

provide insight into three important questions: (1) What was 

the nature of these reforms? (2) What were their specific 

goals in terms of what they hoped to accomplish? (3) How 

successful were they? Addonizio and Kearney’s book adds 

value to the existing literature by focusing on the issue in a 

specific locality: Michigan, a state that, despite experiencing 

higher unemployment rates than the national average, 

could nonetheless be considered a microcosm of the nation 

at large.

Addonizio and Kearney first provide a historical overview of 

educational reform in Michigan going back nearly 200 

years; included are discussions of the University of 

Michigan’s founding in 1817 and its early attempts at an 

accreditation program, the formation of the North Central 

Association Commission on Accreditation and School 

Improvement in 1895, and court rulings over the years that 

have allowed individual states to levy taxes to support their 

own system of public education. More recent events they 

discuss are ramifications of the launching of Sputnik and 

how rising fears during the Cold War led to the creation of the National Defense Education Act in 1958. Each of the 

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events considered has had important consequences, and together they highlight the prominent role the state of 

Michigan has played in shaping the future of educational reform since the 1970s. Simultaneously, they tackle one 

of the most controversial topics in educational reform: the impact of money on schools and on student 

achievement. Frankly put, do schools perform better with additional funding? In particular, Addonizio and Kearney 

examine how property taxes, state budget crises, and Michigan’s high unemployment rate affected education 

during the 2000–2009 timeframe. Their findings replicate those of others: additional funding in and of itself hasn’t 

proven to be the answer. Too often, money appropriated is wasted on programs that are quickly realized to be 

ineffective and are therefore discontinued, to be replaced by a new policy that might or might not be more 

effective. At the same time, the authors caution against reducing educational funding so much that the outlook for 

schools in the poorest districts, which are already struggling under difficult circumstances, appears even more 

dismal after the cuts. Their conclusion is that Michigan’s fiscal difficulties have harmed not just the educational 

outcome of the children, but also the health and well-being of families and communities all over the state.

Addonizio and Kearney also focus on policy, specifically (1) the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2003 and how 

well it aligned with adequate yearly progress (AYP) requirements and (2) EducationYES!, a system used by the 

state of Michigan to measure performance in 2007–2008 in which schools receive a grade of A, B, C, D-Alert, or 

Unacceptable. The authors explain both policies in great detail, ensuring that even a reader with no previous 

knowledge gets a good understanding of their inner workings. They conclude this section by talking about what the 

future holds for state accountability programs in Michigan. They argue that there are four specific questions that 

need immediate attention: (1) What are the consequences if Michigan (or, indeed, any state) fails to meet the AYP 

NCLB goal? (2) What if a state meets its internal goal but fails to meet the AYP NCLB goal? (3) How will recent 

“resurgences of curriculum” arguments play out? (4) If the resurgences are accepted, will there be an increased 

diversity in courses offered to high school students on the basis of their personal interests or will schools hold fast 

and continue to demand that rigorous high school graduation requirements be met? 

Addonizio and Kearney move on to cover topics such as charter schools and school choice. They find mixed 

results in terms of the success charter schools have had improving academic achievement. Regarding school 

choice, the authors find it to be a zero-sum game: the benefits of gaining quality nonresident students in one 

district are offset by the costs incurred by the district losing these students.

What helps differentiate this book from others in the field is the microlevel of research that it provides. This kind of 

analysis can be seen throughout the book; however, it is highlighted exceptionally well in a chapter focusing on the 

Detroit public schools. The authors provide a well-written history of these schools, noting how and why this once 

exemplary school district has become not only the lowest in reading and math scores for the fourth and eighth 

grades in the nation but, on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress, the lowest in the history of the 

40-year testing program. (The authors do find mitigating circumstances, however: from 1960 to 1980, Detroit lost 

more than a quarter of its population (falling from 1.67 million to 1.2 million), including many of its best and 

brightest, who sought employment elsewhere). Addonizio and Kearney then guide the reader through a 

chronological history of reform programs designed to bring Detroit back to its former glory. After explaining why 

these programs failed, the authors round out this section by projecting the future for Detroit public schools, 

factoring in a number of concerns, such as Michigan’s continued high unemployment rate.
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Education Reform and the Limits of Policy: Lessons from Michigan provides an indepth look at the history of the 

Michigan school system and the educational reform movement in a clear and convincing style that doesn’t get lost 

in confusing statistics or complicated formulas. Any individual who is interested in the formation of the Michigan 

school system and/or the negative impact that school reform policies have had on the very systems they seek to 

reform should consider reading this excellent book.