Educational Policy RSS feed -- OnlineFirst Articles

The Evolution of New Teacher Induction Policy: Support, Specificity, and Autonomy

Bartlett, L., Johnson, L. S. — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:42:13 PDT

This article analyzes the findings from a three-state study of teacher induction policy. It looks within and across Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin to explore the landscape and experience of teacher induction. Although the orientation and conception of each state's policy is similar, the states represent three different structural approaches to induction policy. Based on interviews with state-level and urban district respondents and a review of relevant documents, this article explores the evolution of state-level induction policy and finds that states need to strike a balance between specificity and autonomy in crafting policy that supports effective and equitable induction policy.

How Instructional Coaches Support Data-Driven Decision Making: Policy Implementation and Effects in Florida Middle Schools

Marsh, J. A., McCombs, J. S., Martorell, F. — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:21:46 PDT

This article examines the convergence of two popular school improvement policies: instructional coaching and data-driven decision making (DDDM). Drawing on a mixed methods study of a statewide reading coach program in Florida middle schools, the article examines how coaches support DDDM and how this support relates to student and teacher outcomes. Authors find that although the majority of coaches spent time helping teachers analyze student data to guide instruction, data support was one among many coach activities. Estimates from models indicate that data analysis support, nevertheless, has a significant association with both perceived improvements in teaching and higher student achievement.

Interest Groups and Governmental Institutions: The Politics of State Funding of Public Higher Education

Tandberg, D. — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:39:12 PDT

In attempting to explain state support of public higher education, this study develops a theory-driven, comprehensive conceptualization of the state political system within a larger theoretical framework that consists of state economic and demographic factors and higher education system attributes. Furthermore, although the higher education policy and finance literature has largely ignored the impact of interest groups on state policy and state support of higher education, they play a central role in the model presented here. The inclusion of politics in the explanatory model results in a more robust and pragmatically useful model.

Capital, Power and the Struggle Over Teacher Certification

Tamir, E. — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:39:13 PDT

This article employs Bourdieu’s concept of capital to understand how state officials and teacher educators in New Jersey used three different forms of capital—economic, social, and cultural—in their struggle to shape the undergraduate teacher preparation and the first state sponsored alternative route program to teacher certification. Based on analysis of state archive documents and other primary sources, I describe how state officials successfully exploited their access to cultural and economic capital to establish a legitimate and credible educational policy and to marginalize teacher educators who were forced to rely, almost entirely, on their cultural capital. I conclude that as a result of this struggle, the field of educational policy in New Jersey during the 1980s experienced a shift of power, with the state gaining more power to implement its vision of educational policy (one that relied on neoliberal and neo-conservative ideas and that supported teachers with broader subject matter knowledge and leaner pedagogic training).

Teacher Learning Opportunities in a Shifting Policy Environment for Instruction

Kaufman, J. H., Stein, M. K. — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:39:13 PDT

We bring together education research on factors shaping teacher learning with institutional research on policy shifts and conflicts to explore an instructional policy shift in one school district. Specifically, we compare mathematics teacher learning opportunities in three elementary schools over a three-year period during which a district policy shift toward English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction diverted attention from mathematics curriculum reform efforts. Findings demonstrate that while the policy shift led to significant decreases in mathematics teacher learning opportunities across the district and in two of the case study schools, mathematics teacher learning opportunities were sustained in one case study school due to two school-level strategies: a common, articulated vision for mathematics instruction and a high number of mathematics-focused teachers in the school. Together, these two strategies supported the creation of coherence between mathematics and ESL policies in the school, which encouraged the maintenance of mathematics teacher learning opportunities.

Merit Aid in North Carolina: A Case Study of a "Nonevent"

Ness, E. C., Mistretta, M. A. — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:37:54 PDT

Since the adoption of Georgia’s HOPE (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) scholarship program, seven additional Southeastern states have adopted similar merit-based financial aid programs, most of which are also funded by state lotteries. This study examines why North Carolina after adopting a state lottery in 2005 did not allocate its proceeds for a merit scholarship program. This in-depth case study considers the explanatory power of a revised multiple streams model and the integrated diffusion model by analyzing data collected through elite interviews and archival documents. The study findings suggest that internal determinants, such as North Carolina’s educational and economic context, trumped regional diffusion trends and that the multiple stream model’s "black box" influences, such as political tactics and gamesmanship, provide the most conceptually compelling explanation for why merit aid became a "nonevent" in North Carolina. Indeed, by considering decisions and nondecisions, researchers may capture a broader array of state-level characteristics that influence policy adoption.

Scientific Paradigms and Falsification: Kuhn, Popper, and Problems in Education Research

Hyslop-Margison, E. J. — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:37:54 PDT

By examining the respective contributions of Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn to the philosophy of science, the author highlights some prevailing problems in this article with the methods of so-called scientific research in education. The author enumerates a number of reasons why such research, in spite of its limited tangible return, continues to gain institutional momentum in colleges and faculties of education Furthermore, the author argues that the various identified problems, when considered collectively, effectively reduce many claims emerging from scientifically designed education research to the realm of logically invalid hypotheses and questionable circumstantial evidence insulated from academic criticism by various professional and institutional interests.

A 50-State Strategy to Achieve School Finance Adequacy

Odden, A. R., Picus, L. O., Goetz, M. E. — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:55:01 PDT

This article estimates the costs of school finance adequacy in each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. by applying the recommendations from an evidence- based model to the student characteristics of each individual state. Using two different prices, (a) the national average teacher salaries adjusted by a comparable wage index and (b) individual state teacher salaries, the authors estimate per pupil costs of adequacy. Results suggest that in 30 states additional resources are needed to reach the funding level for the evidence-based model. The findings do not make adjustments for diseconomies resulting from large numbers of small schools or districts or other state preferences for educational services that could lead to individual state variations from the authors’ findings..

Nonprofits Partnering With Postsecondary Institutions to Increase Low-Income Student Access

Kezar, A., Lester, J., Yang, H. — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:55:00 PDT

This article reports on a three year case study and interview project of a federal initiative to help low income students access college called individual development accounts (IDA). The study focused on partnership development between community agencies that offer IDAs and postsecondary institutions, examining challenges and facilitators. A set of challenges are identified as well as strategies for overcoming the obstacles. The results also suggest underlying reasons for challenges: (a) postsecondary institutions being hesitant to partner with community agencies that they perceive as having limited assets and prestige (essentially disempowered) and (b) community agencies lacking familiarity with the higher education environment.

Dissent From Within: How Educational Insiders Use Protest to Create Policy Change

Grossman, F. D. — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:55:00 PDT

This article utilizes social movement theory to analyze policy change created by site-based educators. The author uses a qualitative case study to examine how an organization comprised of teachers and administrators in New York State used protest to protect a waiver, which exempted students in their schools from having to pass statewide graduation exams. The author finds that the educators’ ability to mobilize resources and to strategically frame their struggle in a manner that resonated with policymakers allowed the educator activists to capitalize on emerging controversies surrounding the state’s assessment system and create policy change. This article provides a framework to understand how marginalized actors within systems of schooling organize to create change. Such a framework is becoming increasingly relevant as educators attempt to create space for local practice in the current top-down policy environment.

Exploring the Relationship Between Prior Career Experience and Instructional Quality Among Mathematics and Science Teachers in Alternative Teacher Certification Programs

Scribner, J. P., Akiba, M. — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:55:00 PDT

This mixed-method evaluation study examines relationships between the nature and characteristics of teachers’ prior experiences and teachers’ practice of standards-based instruction as a measure of instructional quality among alternatively certified mathematics and science teachers. The study found that career length, number of prior careers, and career relevance to subject area were not related to instructional quality. However, teachers with prior career experiences that were education-related practiced standards-based instruction to a greater degree than teachers with no education-relevant career experience. Implications of these findings for policy makers and practitioners are discussed.

Responsibility and School Governance

Allen, A., Mintrom, M. — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:02:00 PDT

The concept of responsibility is highly relevant to the organization of public schooling. Through public schools, adult citizens allow for the formal nurture and training of children to become full citizens, able to participate in our shared social, economic, and political life. With growing awareness of the importance of effective schooling to individual and collective well-being, wide-scale attempts have recently been made to reform school governance in the United States and internationally. The authors show how use of a responsibility framework can generate important insights into such reform efforts and their effects. Scholars and practitioners have done well incorporating accountability into the language of policy and practice. Little has been said about responsibility. The authors address this omission and apply their framework to interpret two distinctive reform strategies: (a) efforts to strengthen mayoral control over urban schools and (b) the creation of charter schools.

Class Size Reduction in Practice: Investigating the Influence of the Elementary School Principal

Burch, P., Theoharis, G., Rauscher, E. — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:02:00 PDT

Class size reduction (CSR) has emerged as a very popular, if not highly controversial, policy approach for reducing the achievement gap. This article reports on findings from an implementation study of class size reduction policy in Wisconsin entitled the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE). Drawing on case studies of nine schools, we identify school principals as critical and overlooked influences in the implementation of class size reduction policies. Principals’ influence proved central in three challenge areas: the use of space, serving the needs of diverse learners and building teacher capacity. By comparing the patterns of practice across schools, we have identified school leadership practices and dispositions for CSR that appear related to improving achievement levels.

Survey Measures of Classroom Instruction: Comparing Student and Teacher Reports

Desimone, L., Smith, T., Frisvold, D. — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:01:59 PDT

This analysis contributes to efforts to improve the use and understanding of survey data in education policy research by asking: How different are student and teacher reports of classroom instruction? Do student, class, or teacher characteristics account for any of the differences? Using National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) data, we compare the responses of middle-school students and their teachers to the same questions about mathematics instruction. We found low correlations and small significant mean differences between student and teacher reports; we also found that student reports are sensitive to key student and class variables, most notably to individual and class achievement, student race/ethnicity, income, parent education, and motivation. Implications for using student survey data in policy research are discussed.

Charter Schooling and Democratic Justice

Knight Abowitz, K., Karaba, R. — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:13:11 PDT

As the mixed achievements of charter schools come under more intense political inspection, the conceptual underpinnings of current charter school reform remain largely unexamined. This article focuses on one moral-political concept centrally related to school reform and policy, the concept of justice. Using examples from the state of Ohio, the authors sketch two contrary concepts of justice, tracing their logical trajectory to varied empirical consequences as these relate to charter schooling policy. They contrast these two theories of justice as "libertarian justice" and "democratic justice." There is ample evidence to suggest that a libertarian sense of justice has pervasively shaped charter policies and minimal evidence to suggest the influence of a democratic sense of justice, based on principles of both recognition and redistribution. The full democratic potential of charter schooling reform cannot be achieved without a democratic conception of justice driving its policies and goals.

Use of the Means/Ends Test to Evaluate Public School Dress-Code Policies

Workman, J. E., Studak, C. M. — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 13:16:05 PDT

The purpose of this article is to explain how a means/ends test can be adapted for the school environment. Public school officials can use a means/ends test to document an analysis of whether dress-code policies will be effective in diminishing risks to the health, safety, or morality of the school population. Elements of policy evaluation--ends, means, and relations--and four main sources of information--authority, statistical or observational analysis, deduction, and sensitivity analysis--were used to illustrate how to analyze dress-code policies. Five components of good policy analysis--validity, usefulness, feasibility, originality, and importance--framed an evaluation of this approach.