Jameson Brewer, Ph.D.

T. Jameson Brewer, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of social foundations of education at the University of North Georgia.  He received his Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he served as the O’Leary Fellow at the Forum on the Future of Public Education and was named as the 2016 College of Education’s Outstanding Doctoral Student.  Dr. Brewer received a M.S. in Social Foundations of Education from Georgia State University and a B.S.Ed. in Secondary Education of History, minor anthropology where he was named as a Distinguished Alumni in 2016.  Dr. Brewer taught high school history in the Atlanta Public Schools and middle grades social studies in Gwinnett County Public Schools.  His scholarly work has been published in the peer-reviewed journals of Education Policy Analysis Archives, Educational Studies, Critical Education, the Peabody Journal of Education, Critical Questions in Education, the International Journal of Play, and the Australian Educational Researcher.  His work has also appeared at the National Education Policy Center, the Progressive Magazine, the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, and Education Week.  He is co-editor of the book Teach For America Counter-Narratives: Alumni Speak Up and Speak Out (edited with Kathleen deMarrais, University of Georgia; Peter Lang, 2015) which has received attention and acclaim from NPR, NPR’s Marketplace, The Daily Beast, Jacobin, AlterNet, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Washington Post, NonProfit Quarterly, ReThinking Schools, Teaching for Change, Atlanta Blackstar, Esther Cepeda’s nationally syndicated column, and was named as a Teaching for Change Favorite Book of 2015.

• Ph.D., Educational Policy Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2016
• M.S., Social Foundations of Education, Georgia State University, 2012
• B.S.Ed., Secondary Education of History, minor Anthropology, Valdosta State University, 2007

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Brewer, T. J. & Lubienski, C.A. (in press). Homeschooling in the United States: Examining the rationales for individualizing education. Pro-Posições

Hartlep, N. D., Hensley, B. O., Wells, K. E., Brewer, T. J., Ball, D., & McLaren, P. (2017). Homophilly in higher education: Historicizing the AERA member-to-fellow pipeline using theories of social reproduction and social networks. Policy Futures in Education, 0(0), 1-25.

Lubienski, C. A., & Brewer, T. J. (2016). An analysis of voucher studies: A closer look at the uses and limitations of ‘gold standard’ advocacy research. Peabody Journal of Education, 91(4), 455-472.

Brewer, T. J., Kretchmar, K., Sondel, B., Ishmael, S., & Manfra, M. (2016). Teach For America’s preferential treatment: School district contracts, hiring decisions, and employment practices. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 24(15), 1-38.

Lubienski, C. A., Brewer, T. J., & La Londe, P. (2015). Orchestrating policy ideas: Philanthropies and think tanks in US education policy advocacy networks. Australian Educational Researcher. 1-19.

Brewer, T. J., & Wallis, M. (2015). #TFA: The intersection of social media and education reform. Critical Education, 6(14), 1-17.

Brewer, T. J., Myers, P. S., & Zhang, M. (2015). Islands unto themselves: How merit pay schemes undermine teacher collaboration. Critical Questions in Education, 6(2), 45-54.

La Londe, P., Brewer, T. J., & Lubienski, C.A. (2015). Teach For America and Teach For All: Creating an intermediary organization network for global education reform. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 23(47), 1-28.

Brewer, T. J. (2014). Accelerated burnout: How Teach For America’s “academic impact model” and theoretical culture of hyper-accountability can foster disillusionment among its corps members. Educational Studies, 50(3), 246-263.

Brewer, T. J. (2013). From the trenches: A Teach For America’s corps member’s perspective. Critical Education, 4(12), 1-17.

Lubienski, C., Puckett, T. & Brewer, T. J. (2013). Does homeschooling “work?” A critique of the empirical claims and agenda of advocacy organizations. Peabody Journal of Education, 88(3), 378-392.

Brewer, T. J. (2012). Rousseau plays outside in Norway: A personal reflection on how Norwegian outdoor kindergartens employ Rousseauian pedagogical methods of play. International Journal of Play, 1(3), 231-241.

Books

Brewer, T. J., & deMarrais, K. (Eds.). (2015). Teach For America Counter-Narratives: Alumni Speak Up and Speak Out. New York, NY: Peter Lang.

Book Chapters

Heilig, J, & Brewer, T. J., & White, T. (in press). What instead?: Reframing the debate about charter schools, Teach For America, and testing. In R. Ahlquist, P. C. Gorski & T. Montano (Eds.), Assault on Kids and Teachers: Countering Privatization, Deficit Ideologies and Standardization of U.S. Schools. New York: Peter Lang.

Lubienski, C. A., & Brewer, T. J. (2017). The weak case for vouchers. In R. A. Fox & N. K. Buchanan (Eds.), The Wiley Handbook of School Choice (p. 304-321). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Collier, D., Brewer, T. J., Myers, P. S., & Witt, A. (2017). It takes more than a village, it takes a country. In N. Hartlep (Ed.), The Neoliberal Agenda and the Student Debt Crisis in U.S. Higher Education: Voices of Students and Faculty. New York, NY: Routledge.

Brewer, T. J., & Myers, P. S. (2015). How neoliberalism subverts equality and perpetuates poverty in our nation’s schools. In S. N. Haymes, R. Miller & M. V. d. Haymes (Eds.), Handbook of Poverty and the United States (p. 190-198). New York, NY: Routledge.

Lubienski, C. A., & Brewer, T. J. (2015). Does home education “work”? Challenging the assumptions behind the home education movement. In P. Rothermel (Ed.), International Perspectives on Home Education: Do We Still Need Schools? London, UK: Palgrave.

Brewer, T. J., & Cody, A. (2014). Teach For America: The neoliberal alternative to teacher professionalism. In J. A. Gorlewski, B. Porfilio, D. A. Gorlewski & J. Hopkins (Eds.), Effective or Wise? Teaching and the Meaning of Professional Dispositions in Education (p. 77-94). New York, NY: Peter Lang.

Policy Briefs & Reviews

Brewer, T. J. & Lubienski, C. (2017). Review of: Differences by design? Student composition in charter schools with different academic models. Boulder, CO: National Educational Policy Center. Available at http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-charters

Brewer, T. J. (2014). How Teach For America Affects the Training and Effectiveness of Classroom Instructors. Cambridge, MA: The Scholars Strategy Network. Available at http://www.scholarsstrategynetwork.org/sites/default/files/ssn_basic_facts_brewer_on_teach_for_america2.pdf

Lubienski, C., & Brewer, T. J. (2014). Review of: Pluck and Tenacity: How Five Private Schools in Ohio Have Adapted to Vouchers. Boulder, CO: National Educational Policy Center. Available at http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-pluck-and-tenacity

Lubienski, C., & Brewer, T. J. (2013). Review of: Report Card on American Education: Ranking State K-12 Performance, Progress, and Reform (18^th Edition). Boulder, CO: National Educational Policy Center. Available at http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-report-card-ALEC-2013/

Other Publications

Brewer, T. J. (2017). [Fill-in-the-blank] for America organizations would never be accepted outside of education. Cloaking Inequity. Retrieved from https://cloakinginequity.com/2017/05/02/tfa-alum-fill-in-the-blank-for-america-organizations-would-never-be-accepted-outside-of-education/

Brewer, T. J. & Robinson, M. (2017). The empress has no clothes. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/589a8ed5e4b061551b3e057e?timestamp=1486524547580

Brewer, T. J. & Sondel, B. (2016). Teach For America: Lies, damned lies, and special contracts. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/t-jameson-brewer/teach-for-america-lies-da_b_9195600.html

Brewer, T. J. (2015). Teach For America’s biggest problem isn’t green teachers or failing schools: It’s that it can’t take criticism. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/10/20/teach-for-americas-biggest-problem-isnt-green-teachers-or-failing-schools-its-that-it-cant-take-criticism/

Brewer, T. J. (2015). Calling out Teach For America’s myths. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/t-jameson-brewer/challenging-teach-for-ame_1_b_7766472.html

Brewer, T. J., & Greene, D. (2015). School districts have the power to change TFA. EdCircuit. Retrieved from http://www.edcircuit.com/school-districts-have-the-power-to-change-tfa/

Brewer, T. J., & Matsui, S. (2015). Teach For America counter-narratives: Two alumni books reframe the discourse. Retrieved from http://www.livingindialogue.com/teach-for-america-counter-narratives-two-alumni-books-reframe-the-discourse/

Brewer, T. J. (2014). Questions about teacher preparation require answers to more difficult questions first. Zócalo Public Square. Retrieved from http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2014/11/19/how-do-we-keep-new-teachers-from-flunking/ideas/up-for-discussion/#T.+Jameson+Brewer

Brewer, T. J. (2014). Facilitating student growth and elevating access: The inaugural edition of peer review. Undergraduate Research at Illinois. Retrieved from http://publish.illinois.edu/ugresearch/2014/06/12/facilitating-student-growth-and-elevating-access-the-inaugural-edition-of-peer-review/

Brewer, T. J., & Lubienski, C (2014). Commentary elevates ideological ‘beliefs’ over evidence. The News-Gazette. Retrieved from http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/guest-commentary/2014-05-11/commentary-elevates-ideological-beliefs-over-evidence.html

Brewer, T. J. (2013). The TFA experience: A personal narrative. The Progressive Magazine’s “Public School Shakedown.” Retrieved from http://www.publicschoolshakedown.org/the-tfa-experience

Brewer, T. J. (2013). Elevating the collective good over the individual: The school “reform” that we need. Gospel Echo Magazine.

Cody, A., Veltri, B. T., Brewer, T. J., O’Brien, J., & Rubinstein, G. (2012). Deepening the debate over Teach For America: Responses to Heather Harding (contributor). Education Week: Living in Dialogue. Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/04/deepening_the_debate_over_teac.html

Brewer, T. J. (2012). Teach For America members debate: The leadership pipeline. Education Week: Living in Dialogue. Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/02/teach_for_america_corps_member.html

Brewer, T. J. (2012). Teach For America corps members in dialogue: Can this model work? Education Week: Living in Dialogue. Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/02/teach_for_america_corps_member.html

Brewer, T. J. (2012). Hyper-accountability, burnout and blame: A TFA corps member speaks out. Education Week: Living in Dialogue. Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/02/hyper-accountability_burnout_a.html