- 510-642-4740
- University of California, Berkeley, African American Studies, Faculty MemberUniversity of California, Berkeley, Goldman School of Public Policy, Faculty Memberadd
- Social Choice Theory, Educational Inequalities (class; race; gender etc), Politics Of Education, Privatization, Neoliberalism, Race and Racism, and 29 morePolitics, Race and Ethnicity, Democracy, Diversity, Social Stratification, Policy, Policy Studies, Social Network Analysis (Social Sciences), Charter schools, School Choice, Districts, Education, Political Science, Research Methodology, Teacher Education, Qualitative methodology, Social Networking, Qualitative Research, Social Networks, Social Research Methods and Methodology, Urban Education, Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, School Desegregation, Educational Equity and Justice, Education Policy, Social Movements, New Public Management and Governance, Venture Philanthropy, and Research Utilizationedit
A growing body of research investigates how intermediary organizations (IOs) and their networks navigate, promote, and produce evidence on social media. To date, scholars have underexplored blogs, an important milieu in which IOs produce... more
A growing body of research investigates how intermediary organizations (IOs) and their networks navigate, promote, and produce evidence on social media. To date, scholars have underexplored blogs, an important milieu in which IOs produce and disseminate information. In this analysis, we broaden the emerging scholarship on evidence brokering by examining how IOs and individual and independent bloggers broker knowledge via education policy blogs on charter schools and related education policy. Although blogging can potentially enhance knowledge production and dissemination, our findings demonstrate that bloggers often promote research evidence of uneven quality and scientific rigor.
Research Interests:
Researchers have noted with concern the often weak link between research evidence and policymaking, particularly in some areas such as education. In this introductory essay—dedicated to the late Carol Weiss—we consider this issue first by... more
Researchers have noted with concern the often weak link between research evidence and policymaking, particularly in some areas such as education. In this introductory essay—dedicated to the late Carol Weiss—we consider this issue first by reflecting on how changing historical conditions can shape institutional demands on and for research production, promotion, and use. This leads to the questions: How can institutions use evidence on different policy options? How do policymakers and other information consumers sort through competing claims? Are new processes and institutions emerging to shape research use? In view of the current calls from public policymakers in the government and private policymakers in philanthropies for rigorous research on the effectiveness of policy interventions, we compare the relative role of research use in education policy to other issues, such as climate science, and highlight the growing role of intermediate actors as they shape research use. And we cons...
Research Interests:
This chapter uses the policy-planning network concept to explain why charter school reform has become a prominent reform strategy, especially in urban districts serving primarily poor children of color. It then identifies components of... more
This chapter uses the policy-planning network concept to explain why charter school reform has become a prominent reform strategy, especially in urban districts serving primarily poor children of color. It then identifies components of the emerging charter school policy-planning network. Informed by social network and document analysis drawn from foundation financial reports, examinations of boards of directors and advisors, reviews of works cited in advocacy and research reports, speeches, and media reports, the chapter finds that the charter school policy-planning network is made up of at least eight interrelated institutional forms. Specifically, this network is characterized by: (1) local charter schools; (2) charter school management organizations; (3) charter school real estate development corporations; (4) charter school and school choice advocacy organizations; (5) alternative teacher and leadership preparation programs ; (6) choice-sympathetic policy makers; (7) independent research units (think tanks, university-affiliated groups, and research corporations); and (8) foundations and venture philanthropies. The chapter discusses the implications of this network for democratic participation in urban schooling.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The authors situate the emergence and effects of contemporary market-based reforms within a framework of urban political economy that centers on racial inequality. They discuss how and why market-based reforms have evolved alongside... more
The authors situate the emergence and effects of contemporary market-based reforms within a framework of urban political economy that centers on racial inequality. They discuss how and why market-based reforms have evolved alongside racialized political and economic trends that have transformed cities over the past century, and they critically evaluate the research literature in light of such trends. The authors argue that deterioration of the urban core’s infrastructure, schools, and housing has created ripe conditions for market-oriented reforms to take root. They also argue that these reforms have exacerbated divides in increasingly unequal and bifurcated cities. The authors conclude that these intersections and interactions between market-based reforms and urban contexts must be addressed by policy and research.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
F or at least two decades, conservatives have argued that school choice was the last unachieved civil right. In 2010, some powerful moderate voices echoed their view and invoked the name of Rosa Parks to support it. At one screening of... more
F or at least two decades, conservatives have argued that school choice was the last unachieved civil right. In 2010, some powerful moderate voices echoed their view and invoked the name of Rosa Parks to support it. At one screening of the documentary ...
Research Interests:
In this article, we advance a conceptual framework for the study of Teach For America (TFA) as a political and social movement with implicit and explicit ideological and political underpinnings. We argue that the second branch of TFA's... more
In this article, we advance a conceptual framework for the study of Teach For America (TFA) as a political and social movement with implicit and explicit ideological and political underpinnings. We argue that the second branch of TFA's mission statement, which maintains that
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Maxwell and Donmoyer both argue in this issue of Qualitative Inquiry that narrow definitions of causality in educational research tend to disqualify qualitative research from influence (and funding) among policy makers. They propose a... more
Maxwell and Donmoyer both argue in this issue of Qualitative Inquiry that narrow definitions of causality in educational research tend to disqualify qualitative research from influence (and funding) among policy makers. They propose a process view of causality that would allow qualitative researchers to make causal claims more grounded in the thick description of practice settings. In this article, we build on this notion of process causality, but further argue that unless we also broaden traditional notions of context in qualitative research, we will continue to seek policy solutions primarily at individual, local institutional, and cultural levels. Although qualitative researchers have made progress in acknowledging the intersectionality of race, class, and gender at the cultural level, this intersectionality seldom extends to macro level structures and forces, in part because current notions of causality make such links difficult at low levels of inference. Borrowing on Donmoyer’s notion of preponderance of evidence, we suggest a way to use process causality as a scaffolding for multilevel analysis.
Research Interests:
This article provides an overview to this special issue on advocacy and education. It describes three key areas of advocacy in education, including 1) Congress, states, and the courts, 2) Think tanks and philanthropies, and 3)... more
This article provides an overview to this special issue on advocacy and education. It describes three key areas of advocacy in education, including 1) Congress, states, and the courts, 2) Think tanks and philanthropies, and 3) Sociopolitical movements. It also discusses the ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Public education struggles have often revolved around equity and choice, and race and racism are central in these struggles. Racial exclusion and Native American genocide were part of the foundations of American public and private... more
Public education struggles have often revolved around equity and choice, and race and racism are central in these struggles. Racial exclusion and Native American genocide were part of the foundations of American public and private education systems (Anderson, 1988; Donato, 1997; Telles & Ortiz, 2008). When the United States began developing its state systems of public education, African American, Latinx, Native American, and Asian American children were often excluded from the schooling opportunities afforded to most white children, or offered woefully substandard versions of the ones provided to white children (Tyack, 2001). Parents, advocates, and community leaders pursued a range of strategies to pressure national, state, and local officials and agencies to deliver schooling that was high quality, equitable, and that honored the linguistic, cultural, and other strengths of children in order to realize the elusive potential of public education in a democratic, multiracial society (Perlstein, 2004; Walker, 2013).
This chapter considers the increasingly popular assertion that education is the last remaining civil right to be secured and that charter schools and school choice policies are the most powerful manifestation of that right, despite the limitations of choice to produce what advocates hope it will. Civil rights enforcement in the post-Obama era is likely to shift even further away from the movement’s ideals of fair and inclusive treatment and the role of the state in enforcing equality for all. In this context, the expansion of school choice policies that further remove the regulatory power of state agencies to ensure equitable practices could stand to make already vulnerable children and families more vulnerable to the whims of market forces. The chapter also examines how school choice supporters, critics, and opponents articulate their visions and preferences for civil rights in the face of an increasingly segregated and unequal public school and societal context.
This chapter considers the increasingly popular assertion that education is the last remaining civil right to be secured and that charter schools and school choice policies are the most powerful manifestation of that right, despite the limitations of choice to produce what advocates hope it will. Civil rights enforcement in the post-Obama era is likely to shift even further away from the movement’s ideals of fair and inclusive treatment and the role of the state in enforcing equality for all. In this context, the expansion of school choice policies that further remove the regulatory power of state agencies to ensure equitable practices could stand to make already vulnerable children and families more vulnerable to the whims of market forces. The chapter also examines how school choice supporters, critics, and opponents articulate their visions and preferences for civil rights in the face of an increasingly segregated and unequal public school and societal context.
Research Interests:
... Their contributions were thoughtful and provocative. Janelle Scott, who was assistant director of the NCSPE (and is now a faculty member at New York University) un-dertook the orchestration of the conference and the editing of the... more
... Their contributions were thoughtful and provocative. Janelle Scott, who was assistant director of the NCSPE (and is now a faculty member at New York University) un-dertook the orchestration of the conference and the editing of the papers for publication. ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Education, Policy, Politics, Education Policy, Charter schools, and 3 moreRace, Privatization, and Districts
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
An increased role for the federal government and philanthropic organizations in education over the last decade, along with a growing demand for evidence by public and private policymakers, has invigorated an already vibrant sector of... more
An increased role for the federal government and philanthropic organizations in education over the last decade, along with a growing demand for evidence by public and private policymakers, has invigorated an already vibrant sector of intermediary organizations that seek to package and promote research on educational policies and programs for policymakers, typically around a specific policy agenda. Educational reforms that promise to incentivize school improvement—charter schools, vouchers, teacher compensation incentives, and student pay-for-performance, for example—are of particular interest to intermediary organizations. This chapter examines how national and local intermediary organizations function to shape evidence on the benefits and drawbacks of incentivist educational reforms through funding, production, and dissemination in New Orleans, Denver, and New York City and at the national level. We find evidence of national-local coalitions through which a variety of evidences—academic, journalistic, anecdotal, think tank, and advocacy oriented—are produced and disseminated. We are also witnessing the ways in which intermediary organizations, through their coalitions, are providing a political function to a host of policy actors and the public writ large.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The “parent trigger” has been promoted as a mechanism to increase parents’ empowerment over their local schools and over their children’s education. While superficially appealing to democratic processes by “letting parents decide,” as... more
The “parent trigger” has been promoted as a mechanism to increase parents’ empowerment over their local schools and over their children’s education. While superficially appealing to democratic processes by “letting parents decide,” as evidenced in the recently released movie Won't Back Down, the emphasis of parent trigger advocates is on mounting a campaign to authorize the transfer of authority over schools from public to private governance. Accordingly, because it outsources school governance to Educational Management Organizations who have no obligation to (and often no physical presence in) the community, the parent trigger ultimately thwarts continued, sustained community and parental involvement.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Maxwell and Donmoyer both argue in this issue of Qualitative Inquiry that narrow definitions of causality in educational research tend to disqualify qualitative research from influence (and funding) among policy makers. They propose a... more
Maxwell and Donmoyer both argue in this issue of Qualitative Inquiry that narrow definitions of causality in educational research tend to disqualify qualitative research from influence (and funding) among policy makers. They propose a process view of causality that would allow qualitative researchers to make causal claims more grounded in the thick description of practice settings. In this article, we build on this notion of process causality, but further argue that unless we also broaden traditional notions of context in qualitative research, we will continue to seek policy solutions primarily at individual, local institutional, and cultural levels. Although qualitative researchers have made progress in acknowledging the intersectionality of race, class, and gender at the cultural level, this intersectionality seldom extends to macro level structures and forces, in part because current notions of causality make such links difficult at low levels of inference. Borrowing on Donmoyer’...
Research Interests:
Purpose: In this essay, we examine the racial politics of education in the six decades after Brown. We consider the state of educational policy in an era in which market reform advocates often invoke the spirit of the Brown decision even... more
Purpose: In this essay, we examine the racial politics of education in the six decades after Brown. We consider the state of educational policy in an era in which market reform advocates often invoke the spirit of the Brown decision even as the Supreme Court has largely vacated the legal framework provided by Brown to desegregate schools. Background: Educational policy post- Brown has focused largely on expanding market reforms such as school choice, high-stakes testing, and federal and state accountability mechanisms in lieu of the radical shifts in the distribution of educational opportunities for which Brown called. Setting: We discuss these market-oriented trends in San Francisco and Philadelphia. Findings: While many of these interventions have contributed to the growing racial, linguistic, and socioeconomic segregation in public education, efforts to realize more just and democratic schooling persist in these same urban school districts. Conclusion: We conclude with a call to ...
Research Interests:
Public officials are increasingly contracting with the private sector for a range of educational services. With much of the focus on private sector accountability on cost-effectiveness and student performance, less attention has been... more
Public officials are increasingly contracting with the private sector for a range of educational services. With much of the focus on private sector accountability on cost-effectiveness and student performance, less attention has been given to shifts in democratic accountability. Drawing on data from the state of New York, one of the most active contracting contexts, the authors examine how contracting poses challenges to democratic accountability and provide suggestions for how policy makers engaging with private sector providers might better attend to the broader public purposes of schooling.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Background/Context Parent trigger policies have become a popular option in the education reform toolbox, giving parents the potential ability to induce substantial structural changes at their local public school. This reform approach... more
Background/Context Parent trigger policies have become a popular option in the education reform toolbox, giving parents the potential ability to induce substantial structural changes at their local public school. This reform approach emerged in California during the Great Recession, and has since proliferated to a number of states, spurred on by policy advocates, philanthropic funders, and associated reform organizations. These state-level policies allow a majority of parents at low-performing schools to petition to force school transformation through conversion to charter school status, replacement of school leadership and/or staff, or other corrective actions expected to improve outcomes at the school. Purpose This analysis considers the emergence, evidentiary basis, and potential of parent trigger policies. In particular, we focus on the policy, political and social circumstances in which parent trigger legislation emerged in California, the efficacy of the school improvement lev...
Research Interests:
A growing body of research investigates how intermediary organizations (IOs) and their networks navigate, promote, and produce evidence on social media. To date, scholars have underexplored blogs, an important milieu in which IOs produce... more
A growing body of research investigates how intermediary organizations (IOs) and their networks navigate, promote, and produce evidence on social media. To date, scholars have underexplored blogs, an important milieu in which IOs produce and disseminate information. In this analysis, we broaden the emerging scholarship on evidence brokering by examining how IOs and individual and independent bloggers broker knowledge via education policy blogs on charter schools and related education policy. Although blogging can potentially enhance knowledge production and dissemination, our findings demonstrate that bloggers often promote research evidence of uneven quality and scientific rigor.
Research Interests: Business, Urban Education, Politics, Social Media, Education Policy, and 8 morePolitics Of Education, Philanthropy, Critical sociology and politics of education, Uses of research and analysis by public policy advocacy organizations, School Choice, Education Systems, Advocacy, and Politics of Education
In this article, we advance a conceptual framework for the study of Teach For America (TFA) as a political and social movement with implicit and explicit ideological and political underpinnings. We argue that the second branch of TFA’s... more
In this article, we advance a conceptual framework for the study of Teach For America (TFA) as a political and social movement with implicit and explicit ideological and political underpinnings. We argue that the second branch of TFA’s mission statement, which maintains that TFA’s greatest point of influence in public education is not in classrooms, but in its facilitation of entry into leadership positions aimed at reshaping public schooling, can be better understood in terms of the organization’s: a) infusion of “policy entrepreneurs” into educational policymaking processes; b) cultivation of powerful networks of elite interests; c) promotion of “corporate” models of managerial leadership; and, d) racial and social class identities of its corps members that facilitate entry into leadership and policy networks. Our framework is informed by the extant research literature on TFA, interview data from more than 150 alumni and corps members, and our observations of TFA’s 20th Anniversar...
Research Interests:
The increasing involvement of philanthropists in education policy has contributed to the emergence of a dynamic sector of intermediary organizations (IOs), entities that serve a number of functions in school reform, including advocacy,... more
The increasing involvement of philanthropists in education policy has contributed to the emergence of a dynamic sector of intermediary organizations (IOs), entities that serve a number of functions in school reform, including advocacy, consultation, policy design, alternative teacher and leadership preparation, and research. In recent years, many IOs have converged into coalitions that are pushing for incentivist educational policies like “parent trigger” laws, charter schools, vouchers, and teacher merit pay or sanctions often tied to value added metrics of teacher performance. This article draws on data from a mixed-methods, multiyear study of research use and dissemination. In this article, we examine the role of foundations in a broader advocacy coalition in Denver, Colorado, a key site for various incentivist reforms, including teacher pay-for-performance and charter schools. We find that IOs and their affiliated networks broker the production and use of research evidence, ofte...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This article develops a framework for investigating research use, using an “advocacy coalition framework” and the concepts of a “supply side” (mainly organizations) and “demand side” (policymakers). Drawing on interview data and documents... more
This article develops a framework for investigating research use, using an “advocacy coalition framework” and the concepts of a “supply side” (mainly organizations) and “demand side” (policymakers). Drawing on interview data and documents from New Orleans about the charter school reforms that have developed there since 2005, the authors examine (a) the role of intermediaries in producing information and research syntheses for local, state, and/or federal policymakers; (b) the extent of policymakers’ demand for such research and information; and (c) the extent to which local and national coalitions of organizations appear to be influential in research use. The article concludes that there are two coalitions in New Orleans that differ in their interpretations of charter school performance, equity, and access; that there is overall very low research capacity within the intermediary sector; and that there is little evidence of demand from state policymakers for research findings. There ...
Research Interests:
... 2009-2010. by Alex Molnar, Gary Miron, Jessica Urschel. December 9, 2010. Getting Teacher Assessment Right: What Policymakers Can Learn From Research. by Patricia H. Hinchey. December 7, 2010. Effectively Embedded ...
Research Interests:
Nearly ten years after Katrina and the implementation of a host of new and radical education reforms in New Orleans, there remains little evidence about whether the changes have improved school performance. Despite this lack of evidence,... more
Nearly ten years after Katrina and the implementation of a host of new and radical education reforms in New Orleans, there remains little evidence about whether the changes have improved school performance. Despite this lack of evidence, the New Orleans model is held up as a reform success, and is being adopted by other cities. In this article the authors ask how policymakers in New Orleans and at the state level define, access and interpret research or evidence on the reforms, and how, if at all, such evidence informs their decision-making. They interviewed key district and state policymakers, as well as representatives from dozens of intermediary organizations in the area, who, they argue, are also shapers of policy. On the demand side, they found that policymakers primarily used personal anecdotes to justify their position and explain the success of reforms, and they relied on blogs or non-peer-reviewed sources for background information. Peer-reviewed research was seldom used, t...
Research Interests:
The rise in the influence of and spending by educational philanthropists and foundations over the past two decades, especially in the area of market-based reforms, such as charter schools, vouchers, and merit pay, is evident across the... more
The rise in the influence of and spending by educational philanthropists and foundations over the past two decades, especially in the area of market-based reforms, such as charter schools, vouchers, and merit pay, is evident across the United States. Largely due to philanthropic investments, relatively new educational intermediary organizations (IOs) have also been growing in size, scope, and influence. These new IOs have sought to implement market-based reforms in key urban school districts, frequently based on ideological stances and/or evidence of their efficacy. As yet, researchers have not conceptualized the unique position of foundations in the landscape of intermediary organizations, market-based reforms, and evidence production and utilization. Drawing from a 3-year (2011-2014) study of IOs, research utilization, and policymaking in the case of “incentivist” reforms, we find that foundations are uniquely situated in the reform landscape as a central actor, at the “hub” of in...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Recent advances in conceptualizing structures of influence in education policymaking have emphasized the role of nongovernmental actors working in networks to promote their agendas. These useful insights have allowed researchers to... more
Recent advances in conceptualizing structures of influence in education policymaking have emphasized the role of nongovernmental actors working in networks to promote their agendas. These useful insights have allowed researchers to consider the evolution from “government” to “governance” in education policymaking, broadening the analytical scope for scholars to understand patterns of power and influence. However, the scholarly quest to map these actors and networks often neglects the political contexts in which these networks operate. We have found, however, from our multiyear (2011–2014), cross-case study of research use in education policymaking that analysis of the political and policy landscape is critical for developing a useful theoretical understanding of how these networks are formed, structured, and operate, and how evidence on educational policies is produced, promoted, and utilized within and across networks.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... Susan Nogan, an NEA staff member working on school choice issues said:Members of the coalition share information on bills that have been intro-duced or are being drafted, evaluate the threat level, and develop a coordinated advocacy... more
... Susan Nogan, an NEA staff member working on school choice issues said:Members of the coalition share information on bills that have been intro-duced or are being drafted, evaluate the threat level, and develop a coordinated advocacy effort (S. Nogan, personal ...
This article develops a framework for investigating research use, using an “advocacy coalition framework” and the concepts of a “supply side” (mainly organizations) and “demand side” (policymakers). Drawing on interview data and documents... more
This article develops a framework for investigating research use, using an “advocacy coalition framework” and the concepts of a “supply side” (mainly organizations) and “demand side” (policymakers). Drawing on interview data and documents from New Orleans about the charter school reforms that have developed there since 2005, the authors examine (a) the role of intermediaries in producing information and research syntheses for local, state, and/or federal policymakers; (b) the extent of policymakers’ demand for such research and information; and (c) the extent to which local and national coalitions of organizations appear to be influential in research use. The article concludes that there are two coalitions in New Orleans that differ in their interpretations of charter school performance, equity, and access; that there is overall very low research capacity within the intermediary sector; and that there is little evidence of demand from state policymakers for research findings. There ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT Researchers have noted with concern the often weak link between research evidence and policymaking, particularly in some areas such as education. In this introductory essay-dedicated to the late Carol Weiss-we consider this issue... more
ABSTRACT Researchers have noted with concern the often weak link between research evidence and policymaking, particularly in some areas such as education. In this introductory essay-dedicated to the late Carol Weiss-we consider this issue first by reflecting on how changing historical conditions can shape institutional demands on and for research production, promotion, and use. This leads to the questions: How can institutions use evidence on different policy options? How do policymakers and other information consumers sort through competing claims? Are new processes and institutions emerging to shape research use? In view of the current calls from public policymakers in the government and private policymakers in philanthropies for rigorous research on the effectiveness of policy interventions, we compare the relative role of research use in education policy to other issues, such as climate science, and highlight the growing role of intermediate actors as they shape research use. And we consider some common characteristics of these policy issues that may contribute to misuse or disuse, as well as to greater consideration of research. We offer an overview of the understanding of research use in education and point to the need to explore new theoretical frameworks and methodologies. The essay ends with an overview of the papers in the issue.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
An increased role for the federal government and philanthropic organizations in education over the last decade, along with a growing demand for evidence by public and private policymakers, has invigorated an already vibrant sector of... more
An increased role for the federal government and philanthropic organizations in education over the last decade, along with a growing demand for evidence by public and private policymakers, has invigorated an already vibrant sector of intermediary organizations that seek to package and promote research on educational policies and programs for policymakers, typically around a specific policy agenda. Educational reforms that promise to incentivize school improvement—charter schools, vouchers, teacher compensation incentives, and student pay-for-performance, for example—are of particular interest to intermediary organizations. This chapter examines how national and local intermediary organizations function to shape evidence on the benefits and drawbacks of incentivist educational reforms through funding, production, and dissemination in New Orleans, Denver, and New York City and at the national level. We find evidence of national-local coalitions through which a variety of evidences—academic, journalistic, anecdotal, think tank, and advocacy oriented—are produced and disseminated. We are also witnessing the ways in which intermediary organizations, through their coalitions, are providing a political function to a host of policy actors and the public writ large.