ERIC Number: EJ1249812
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-May
Pages: 28
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0895-9048
EISSN: N/A
Shaping Educational Policy through the Courts: The Use of Social Science Research in "Amicus" Briefs in "Fisher I"
Horn, Catherine L.; Marin, Patricia; Garces, Liliana M.; Miksch, Karen; Yun, John T.
Educational Policy, v34 n3 p449-476 May 2020
Different from more traditional policy-making avenues, the courts provide an antipolitical arena that does not require broad agreement from various constituents for policy enactment. Seeking to guide court decisions on these policy issues, individuals and organizations have filed "amicus" briefs that increasingly include social science to support their arguments. The "Fisher v. University of Texas" at Austin Supreme Court case presents an ideal example to study the use of social science evidence in "amicus" briefs to shape educational policy. Findings from this study identify differences in the use of social science research that suggest many ways in which our current understanding of the efforts of actors to shape educational policy via the highest court in the nation is incomplete. This study also highlights why developing this understanding could be extremely useful to both the creation of educational policy and the use of antipolitical approaches to change such policy.
Descriptors: Educational Policy, Policy Formation, Court Litigation, Social Science Research, Federal Courts, Affirmative Action, Advocacy, Organizations (Groups), Decision Making, Research Design, Peer Evaluation, Geographic Location, State Universities, Constitutional Law, School Policy, Admission Criteria, Race
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Texas (Austin)
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Fourteenth Amendment
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A