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The 2014 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings (features 21 Stanford faculty)

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January 8, 2014
Education Week
Stanford dominated an annual list of the nation's most influential education scholars, which cited 21 faculty members from the university, the majority being affiliated with the Graduate School of Education. The rankings are compiled by Rick Hess, director of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute. The GSE's Linda Darling-Hammond tops the list of 200 scholars. Other ranked GSE faculty, both current and emeriti, are Larry Cuban, Martin Carnoy, Nel Noddings, Michael Kirst, Sean Reardon, Sam Wineburg, Susanna Loeb, Thomas Dee, David Labaree, Mitchell Stevens, Prudence Carter, Edward Haertel, Eric Bettinger and Michelle Reininger.
By 
Rick Hess
Publisher URL 
blogs.edweek.org

Today, we unveil the 2014 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence rankings. The metrics, as explained yesterday, recognize university-based scholars in the U.S. who are contributing most substantially to public debates about education. The rankings offer a useful, if imperfect, gauge of the public influence edu-scholars had in 2013. The rubric reflects both a scholar's body of academic work—encompassing the breadth and influence of their scholarship—and their footprint on the public discourse last year.

Here are the 2014 rankings.

... The top scorers? All are familiar edu-names, with long careers featuring influential scholarship, track records of comment on public developments, and outsized public and professional roles. In order, the top five were Linda Darling-Hammond, Diane Ravitch, Howard Gardner, Eric Hanushek, and Tony Wagner. Rounding out the top ten were Larry Cuban, Paul E. Peterson, Robert Slavin, Yong Zhao, and Joseph Murphy. Notable, if not too surprising, is that the top ten are all veteran, accomplished scholars who have each authored a number of (frequently influential) books, accumulated bodies of heavily cited scholarly work, and are often seen in the public square and working with state and district leaders. That reflects the intent of the scoring rubric, which weights the broader public influence of a scholar's work as much as their more recent visibility.

Stanford University and Harvard University both fared exceptionally well, with Stanford placing six scholars in the top 20 and Harvard placing four. New York University, the University of Oregon, and the University of Virginia were the other institutions to place multiple scholars in the top 20.

In terms of the most scholars ranked, Stanford topped all others with 21. Harvard came a close second with 19, and Columbia and Vanderbilt tied for third with a dozen ranked scholars. Overall, more than five dozen universities claimed a spot.

Read the entire announcement here.

Read a brief about the 2013 rankings.

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