The rankings were compiled by Frederick M. Hess, director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and published in Education Week, where Hess writes a blog.

Darling-Hammond ...]]> The academic who contributed the most to public debates about schooling in 2011 was Stanford University education prof Linda Darling-Hammond, according to the RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings.

The rankings were compiled by Frederick M. Hess, director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and published in Education Week, where Hess writes a blog.

Darling-Hammond is one of six Stanford scholars among the top 15. (Harvard led New England with four of the top 15 nationally.) The rankings are based on articles and academic scholarship, book authorship and current book success, and presence in new and old media.

Besides writing an Education Week column, Hess is the author of several books including The Same Thing Over and Over: How School Reformers Get Stuck in Yesterday's Ideas.

Says Hess of the rankings scheme: "Bottom line: this is a serious but inevitably imperfect attempt to nudge universities, foundations, and professional associations to consider the merits of doing more to cultivate, encourage, and recognize contributions to the public debate."