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- 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
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...
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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.
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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.
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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 ...
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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
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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.
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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 ...
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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.
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... 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. ...
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Research Interests: Education, Policy, Politics, Education Policy, Charter schools, and 3 moreRace, Privatization, and Districts
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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.
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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.