Rhetoric Over Reason: The Rhetorical Assault on Education in the Absence of Argument and Evidence in Educational Discourse

Based on an overview of writings published or supported by the Fordham Institute and those associated with it over many years, this article brings together and examines a range of rhetorical tools employed to persuade policymakers and the public of their position. The article argues that in the absence of a reasoned or evidenced position, the rhetorical tools call upon emotions to guide decision making. The result is a form of demagogery. Because they are influential in the public debate on education, it is important that these writings and recommendations be recognized for what they are.     

The TIGER system: a Census Bureau innovation serving data analysts

This article describes the U.S. Census Bureau's TIGER (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) system, an automated geographic data base. The emphasis is on the availability of file extracts and their usefulness to data analysts. In addition to describing the available files, it mentions various applications for the data, explains the data limitations, and notes problems encountered to date.