Three University of Colorado Boulder education faculty were recently recognized in the “Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings” as being among the nation’s top 200 researchers whose scholarship had a notable influence on educational practice and policy last year.
American Enterprise Institute director of education policy studies and Education Week blogger Frederick M. Hess recently released 2019 rankings, which included CU Boulder School of Education researchers: Gene V. Glass (No. 38), William Penuel (No. 66), and Kevin Welner (No. 142).
The annual Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings were first published in December 2010, and its founder sees the list as “one small way to encourage academics to step into the fray and revisit academic norms.”
Given that more than 20,000 university-based faculty in the U.S. are researching education and are eligible, the recognition of top 200 scholars is highly competitive. The exercise aims to spotlight scholars who move ideas from academic journals into the national conversation.
Using nine metrics, Hess and a selection committee of 29 accomplished scholars attempt to calculate how much university-based academics contributed to public discussions of education. The categories include: Google scholar scores, book points, highest Amazon ranking, syllabus points, education press mentions, web mentions, newspaper mentions, congressional record mentions, and Kred score.
Hess noted the limitations, including senior scholars’ increased opportunities to build a substantial body of work and influence and that readers may care more for some categories than others, yet he added “the point is to spur discussion about the nature of constructive public influence.”
The full 2019 list and archives can be found on Hess’ blog in Education Week.