Education policies are the rules, guidelines, and/or boundaries that have shaped my career as a student, teacher, and, more recently, as an educational administrator. Throughout my career I have not always questioned the reasons for the development of these policies. From the readings in this course, I began to examine the hows and whys of policy development and began to understand the role that policy analysis has in evaluating education policies over time. The role of the state, the role of the individual within the state, changes in political ideologies and the development of globalization have all had a direct impact on the development of policies and the directions that education has taken over the last century. not simply a set of instructions or intentions. They represent political compromises between competing images of how educational change should proceed.” (Taylor, Rizvi, Lingard & Henry, 1997, p. 15) What is the meaning/purpose of a policy? As Taylor (1997) states, “a policy is a plan of action”, and more specifically public policy is a plan of action developed on behalf of the state to guide individuals. In practice, policies are state responses to an identified problem. I believe that understanding the purpose of public policies is only half the battle, it is equally important to be able to identify whether a particular policy is necessary, is it effective, is it transparent in its purpose, therefore public policies should be constantly analyzed and monitored. This essay will examine the “what's the problem” approach to policy analysis, as defined by Bacchi (1999). I believe this approach makes sense when examining education policy. Ask q......middle of paper......2004). The magic mirror: An investigation into the purposes of education. Journal of Educational Policy, 19(4), 515-528. Smith, W., & Lusthaus, C. (1995). The nexus between equality and quality in education: A framework for debate. Canadian Journal of Education, 20(3), 378-391. Retrieved October 22, 2008, from http://www.csse.ca/CJE/Articles/FullText/CJE20-3-11Smith.pdf Taylor, S., Rizvi, F., Lingard, B., & Henry, M. ( 1997). The political phenomenon. Educational policy and the politics of change (pp. 1-21). London: Routledge.Thomas, S. (2004). Reconfiguration in the public sphere; implications for educational policy analysis. British Journal of Educational Studies, 52(3), 228-248. Torres, C. (1996). State and education revisited: Why educational researchers should think politically about education. Review of education research: 1995-1996 (pp. 255-331). .: AERA.