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Articles by Mark Hlavacik
Absence of National Feeling: Education Debates in the Reconstruction Congress
Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1 Robert Asen, School Choice and the Betrayal of Democracy: How Market-Based Education Reform Fails Our Communities (Penn State Press, 2021); Robert Asen, “A Market For Civil Rights: Whiteness as Property, Colorblindness, and the Rhetoric of School Choice,” Quarterly Journal of Speech 109, no. 3 (2023): 276–297; Mark Hlavacik, Willing Warriors: A New History of the Education Culture Wars (University of Chicago Press, 2025).
Let’s Call a Truce Between Universities and the Trump Administration
On Monday, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon published “A National Call to Action to University Presidents and Governing Boards.” Following up on reports about declining trust in American universities and colleges, Secretary McMahon’s letter asked universities to “reaffirm their commitment to serving the American people.” As the Secretary warned, “higher education has drifted from the principles that built up so much public esteem” in the past. We agree with her.
Refining criteria for civic inquiry: An analysis of inquiry design model lessons
Ayuda Buscar en la ayuda Buscar en la ayuda Refining criteria for civic inquiry: An analysis of inquiry design model lessons Daniel G. Krutka [1] ; Mark Hlavacik [2] [1] University of North Texas [2] Texas A&M University Localización: Theory and research in social education, ISSN 0093-3104, Vol. 53, Vol. 4, 2025, págs.
Opinion | The Roots of the Public’s Cynicism About Higher Ed
In a recent poll, the Pew Research Center found that “seven in 10 Americans now say the higher-education system in the United States is generally going in the wrong direction.” The finding confirms what most who work in higher education already know: There is an urgent need to restore the public’s trust in colleges and universities.
Refining criteria for civic inquiry: An analysis of inquiry design model lessons
Advanced search Theory & Research in Social Education Latest Articles Submit an article Journal homepage Full Article Figures & data References Supplemental Citations Metrics Reprints & Permissions Read this article /doi/full/10.1080/00933104.2025.2507595?needAccess=true ABSTRACT The Inquiry Design Model (IDM) is a lesson-planning framework designed to implement inquiry for social studies educators as conceived in the C3 Framework.
Talking back to the failing-schools narrative
Over the years, the PDK Poll regularly asked Americans to rate the quality of our nation’s schools. And for the past few decades, roughly two-thirds of respondents have indicated low levels of satisfaction. Using the A-F letter grades so often given in schools, they land somewhere around a C or a C-. At the same time, however, the poll reveals higher rates of satisfaction among parents with children actually in the public schools.
Do 'sputnik moments' spur educational reform?
Ever since the USSR surprised the United States with the Oct 4, 1957, launch of the world’s first artificial satellite – Sputnik 1 – U.S. politicians and other public figures have used the term “sputnik moment” to describe times of crisis, where some sort of action is urgently needed in the realm of education.
Do 'sputnik moments' spur educational reform? A rhetoric scholar weighs in
By Mark Hlavacik, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, University of North Texas Policymakers and others often invoke the 1957 Russian launch of sputnik when trying to spark a discussion about education reform. A rhetoric scholar examines how often they succeed. Read complete article © The Conversation -
Do 'sputnik moments' spur educational reform? A rhetoric scholar weighs in
By Mark Hlavacik, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, University of North Texas Ever since the USSR surprised the United States with the Oct. 4, 1957, launch of the world's first artificial satellite - Sputnik 1 - U.S. politicians and other public figures have used the term "sputnik moment" to describe times of crisis, where some sort of action is urgently needed in the realm of education.
Do 'sputnik moments' spur educational reform? A rhetoric scholar weighs in Original
Ever since the USSR surprised the United States with the Oct. 4, 1957, launch of the world’s first artificial satellite – Sputnik 1 – U.S. politicians and other public figures have used the term “sputnik moment” to describe times of crisis, where some sort of action is urgently needed in the realm of education.
Do 'sputnik moments' spur educational reform? A rhetoric scholar weighs in
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Do 'sputnik moments' spur educational reform? A rhetoric scholar weighs in
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Do 'sputnik moments' spur educational reform? A rhetoric scholar weighs in
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) kAmW%wt r~}'t#$p%x~}X tG6C D:?46 E96 &$$# DFCAC:D65 E96 &?:E65 $E2E6D H:E9 E96 ~4E] c[ `hdf[ =2F?49 @7 k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^a__`\a__h]DE2E6]8@G^C^A2^9@^E:>6^=H^`_bfah]9E>QmE96 H@C=5’D 7:CDE 2CE:7:4:2= D2E6==:E6k^2m – $AFE?:< ` – &]$] A@=:E:4:2?D 2?5 @E96C AF3=:4 7:8FC6D 92G6 FD65 E96 E6C> “DAFE?:< >@>6?E” E@ 56D4C:36 E:>6D @7 4C:D:D[ H96C6 D@>6 D@CE @7 24E:@? :D FC86?E=J ?66565 :?
Do 'sputnik moments' spur educational reform? A rhetoric scholar weighs in
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) kAmW%wt r~}'t#$p%x~}X tG6C D:?46 E96 &$$# DFCAC:D65 E96 &?:E65 $E2E6D H:E9 E96 ~4E] c[ `hdf[ =2F?49 @7 k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^a__`\a__h]DE2E6]8@G^C^A2^9@^E:>6^=H^`_bfah]9E>QmE96 H@C=5’D 7:CDE 2CE:7:4:2= D2E6==:E6k^2m – $AFE?:< ` – &]$] A@=:E:4:2?D 2?5 @E96C AF3=:4 7:8FC6D 92G6 FD65 E96 E6C> “DAFE?:< >@>6?E” E@ 56D4C:36 E:>6D @7 4C:D:D[ H96C6 D@>6 D@CE @7 24E:@? :D FC86?E=J ?66565 :?
Education debates are rife with references to war - but have they gone too far?
Education debates are rife with references to war – but have they gone too far? (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) As President Joe Biden oversaw the transfer of the remains of the U.S. soldiers killed in a suicide bomb attack at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport on Aug. 26, 2021, former Education Secretary Arne Duncan took to Twitter.
Education debates are rife with references to war - but have they gone too far?
Education debates are rife with references to war – but have they gone too far? (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) As President Joe Biden oversaw the transfer of the remains of the U.S. soldiers killed in a suicide bomb attack at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport on Aug. 26, 2021, former Education Secretary Arne Duncan took to Twitter.
Education debates are rife with references to war - but have they gone too far? Original
As President Joe Biden oversaw the transfer of the remains of the U.S. soldiers killed in a suicide bomb attack at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport on Aug. 26, 2021, former Education Secretary Arne Duncan took to Twitter.
The Echo of Reform Rhetoric: Arguments about National and Local School Failure in the News, 1984–2016 | American Journal of Education: Vol 127, No 4
Abstract The public discussion of education consistently emphasizes school failure. To better understand this rhetoric, we tracked its appearance in five prominent print outlets from 1984 to 2016. By distinguishing between arguments about local schools and the nation’s schools, we found that discussions of “failing schools” surged first as a claim about the nation’s schools and then as a claim about local schools.
Through divisive rhetoric,DeVos leaves troubled legacy of her own
Editor’s note: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos resigned from her post effective Jan. 8, 2021, saying there was “no mistaking” the impact that President Donald Trump’s rhetoric had on the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Here, five scholars offer their views on DeVos’ legacy at the federal agency she headed for four years.
Through her divisive rhetoric, Education Secretary DeVos leaves a troubled legacy of her own
Editor's note: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos resigned from her post effective Jan. 8, 2021, saying there was "no mistaking" the impact that President Donald Trump's rhetoric had on the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Here, five scholars offer their views on DeVos' legacy at the federal agency she headed for four years.
Through her divisive rhetoric, Education Secretary DeVos leaves a troubled legacy of her own Original
Editor’s note: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos resigned from her post effective Jan. 8, 2021, saying there was “no mistaking” the impact that President Donald Trump’s rhetoric had on the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Here, five scholars offer their views on DeVos’ legacy at the federal agency she headed for four years.
BookMark: "Beyond Civility" By Robert Danisch and William Keith
William Keith and Robert Danisch’s book, “Beyond Civility,” describes the dire condition of contemporary civic life in the United States as a problem of communication ethics. At first blush, the controversy they tackle might sound straightforward. Afterall, their answer to whether we should strive to be more civil when we talk politics with each other is a hearty, “Yes!” But, ideas about what it means to be civil in the United States bear the marks of the unequal history in which they were forged.
TCRecord: Article
reviewed by Mark Hlavacik — October 11, 2018 Title: Selling School: The Marketing of Public Education Author(s): Catherine DiMartino & Sarah Butler Jessen Publisher: Teachers College Press, New York ISBN: 0807758884, Pages: 208, Year: 2018 Search for book at Amazon.com The marketing of school is as old as formal education. Promoting his academy in fourth century B.C. Athens, the rhetorician Isocrates (in Against the Sophists, trans.
DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads
For each of these secretaries, the threat was external. By positioning herself as an outsider, Secretary DeVos has flipped that particular script. Instead of describing a perilous educational landscape that the education experts in her department should seek to reshape, DeVos insists that “those closest to the problem are always better able to solve it” — her way of emphasizing local control of education.
DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)(THE CONVERSATION) When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider. “Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital.
DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)(THE CONVERSATION) When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider. “Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital.
DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)(THE CONVERSATION) When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider. “Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital.
DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)(THE CONVERSATION) When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider. “Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital.
DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)(THE CONVERSATION) When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider. “Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital.
DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads
When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider. “Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital. “Outside ‘the system.’” “Some have questioned the presence of an outsider in the Department of Education,” DeVos conceded.
DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)(THE CONVERSATION) When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider. “Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital.
DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)(THE CONVERSATION) When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider. “Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital.
DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)(THE CONVERSATION) When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider. “Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital.
DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)Mark Hlavacik, University of North Texas(THE CONVERSATION) When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider. “Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital.
DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)(THE CONVERSATION) When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider. “Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital.
DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)(THE CONVERSATION) When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider. “Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital.
DeVos speech shows contempt for the agency she heads
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)(THE CONVERSATION) When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider. “Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital.
Analysis: DeVos Speech Shows Contempt For The Agency She Heads
When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos spoke at the American Enterprise Institute on Jan. 16, she began by emphasizing her role as an outsider. “Outside Washington. Outside the LBJ building,” she said of the department’s headquarters in the nation’s capital. “Outside ‘the system.’” “Some have questioned the presence of an outsider in the Department of Education,” DeVos conceded.
The 19th-Century Activist Who Tried to Transform Teaching
Teachers at charter schools are increasingly considering unionization, despite heavy management opposition. Today, we tend to see these debates in terms of teachers’ pay and satisfaction versus increased bureaucratic red tape. But, Mark Hlavacik writes, back when teacher unionization was a new idea, one of its first advocates framed it as a question of democracy. The daughter of a union worker and activist, Margaret Haley became a teacher at age 16.
Do 'sputnik moments' spur educational reform? A rhetoric scholar weighs in
Adastra/The Image Bank via Getty Images Ever since the USSR surprised the United States with the Oct. 4, 1957, launch of the world’s first artificial satellite – Sputnik 1 – U.S. politicians and other public figures have used the term “sputnik moment” to describe times of crisis, where some sort of action is urgently needed in the realm of education.
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