User:Cgwilliams327/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Education policy

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article as it pertains to the field of educational studies. As a college student enlisted in Foundations of Education at William & Mary, understanding the role of education policy is integral in answering questions pertaining to the various dimensions of the education system and its operation. Overall, my first impression of the article was that it is concise, informational, and well organized.

Evaluate the article

 * Lead Section: The lead section is consistent throughout, focusing on the subject at hand and several main facets that are further explored in the article (such as gender equality). The first sentence is informational and clearly summarizes the overall topic. However, some sections of the lead could be expanded on with the further explanation, particularly when referring to certain parties or institutions. For example, statements leading with "some analysts" or "some researchers" may require more data to support the analysis so as not to make a generalization.
 * Content: The content contained within the article is relevant to the topic. On the other hand, there are gaps in content and most of the information presented is from a western viewpoint. In the section addressing education reform in the United States and its connection to education policy, the section could benefit by including the educational policies of nonwestern countries in connection, diversion, or addition to education policy in the U.S. The inclusion of a nonwestern perspective could benefit the article by enriching an understanding of education policy and reform on a global scale. In addition to education reform, the section on teacher policy only details two of the nine dimensions it claims to possess, and of the social issues addressed in the lead only gender equality is fully explored.
 * Tone and balance: The tone of the article is relatively neutral in the lead. However, in the additional sections on education reform and teacher policy, the tone expresses alignment with a certain perspective by using leading statements or including a narrow range of examples. It refers to "our public schools" in the section on education reform in the U.S., thus incorporating within the article a western bias by aligning with an audience from the United States. As the overall article does not explicitly pertain to education policy in the United States alone, this language indirectly marginalizes communities belonging to countries with nonwestern examples of education policy. Additionally, the language used to explain the dimensions of teacher policy diverge into an appraisal of what makes a "good" educator rather than what those dimensions stand for in teacher policy. Though the information works well for a thesis, it is not supportable for an article that must maintain a neutral point of view.
 * Sources and references: The sources available are relevant and current, on the other hand, not all information is backed by sources and there are several sections present in the article in which a citation is required but not yet supported. There is also a lack of nonwestern voices and some references are opinion pieces that may detract from the neutral tone that should be present.
 * Organization and writing quality: Apart from the language used to formulate a persuasive tone, the writing quality is concise and simple to read. There are a few grammatical errors and the article is broken into relevant sections. On the other hand, there remain several sections that require additional information such as the sections on education reform, teacher policy, and social issues (i.e. gender equality).
 * Images and media: There are few images and media present in the article. The one image included is cited properly from a legitimate source, however, its relevance to the section on gender equality could be expanded on. As the image refers to nonwestern countries, this would be an excellent way to further implement a more diverse perspective on education policy by explaining it in greater depth, tying it to the section on gender equality at hand.
 * Talk page discussion: The talk page suggests expanding on educational policy to include the "extensive" and diverse range of ideologies and the state legislature that exists in the United States. However, the article has yet to improve or act on these suggestions which would strengthen the article's premise.
 * Overall impressions: While the article is concise and informational, it seems to be in the developing stage. The addition of more diverse perspectives, elimination of language that leans toward a certain view, and expansion of present information would help to strengthen an understanding of education policy as an expansive and complex component of education worldwide.