Douglas E. Mitchell

The Context of State-Level Policy Formation

To identify the relative power and influence of various state education policy groups, data were collected by elite interviewing as part of a larger study by the authors. This article displays the variation among six states in the ranking of policy groups. The relative rankings show how the configurations of power differ among the states. Using the qualitative data, the article provides short analyses of the policy processes that explain these differences. History, recent political battles, and the action styles of policy actors are part of the context that explains the differences (e.g., showing how teachers’ associations may rank first in one state and twelfth in another). The research explores further the qualitative data to search for policy actors’ sense of the rules that must be followed to gain and maintain power in the cultural state policymaking. The article introduces the theory of assumptive worlds; the common action principles understood by all state policy actors and learned from their socialization in the culture of politics. It concludes by showing how assumptive worlds build cohesion, translate values, and are barometers of change.

Competency Based Education: Organizational Issues and Implications

tangle, this diversity seems to embrace two major themes. One involves using competencies of various kinds as the new focus of schooling activities and graduation criteria. The other concerns the processes by which education is expected to become competency based. This paper represents a first step in clarifying some of the organizational issues related to these two themes. The range of competency (i.e. outcome) expectations reflected in current state policies brings to light two major notions discussed by Spady. One is the distinction between competencies and capacities, and the other is the concept of liferole. In the context of his analysis, the term competency refers exclusively to the ability to perform successfully in the patterned activities which constitute adult life-roles. The term capacity identifies the more discrete skills and capabilities that underlie a competency. When combined and utilized (often in complex ways in life-role contexts), these capacities serve as the enablers or building blocks on which competencies rest. Outcome expectations stated in capacity terms rest on the assumption that students will be able to manage successfully both the integration of individual capacities and the transfer of those ca-

HOME SCHOOLING AS A SOCIAL MOVEMENT: IDENTIFYING THE DETERMINANTS OF HOMESCHOOLERS' PERCEPTIONS*

ABSTRACT This article seeks to estimate the extent to which home schooling parents perceive themselves as social movement participants and to identify the factors contributing to such beliefs. The impact of collective action frames, feelings of efficacy, social network ties, and home schooling motivations are considered. Regression models are employed in an analysis of original survey data from an organized group of Southern California homeschoolers. Home schooling motivations are most salient in determining whether one interprets their activities as part of a larger movement. Social network tie indicators are largely unimportant in the models. The findings highlight the important role of organizational affiliation and integration. Homeschoolers without affiliations and those who are less integrated into their support organizations are not likely to feel as if they are part of a larger movement. Organizational integration—specifically attitudinal affinity—also appears to make home schooling parents become more narrowly focused upon their own children rather than the welfare of all children. Implications for future home schooling and social movement research are discussed.

Culture and Education Policy: Analyzing Values in State Policy Systems.

Reference to values in education policy studies is commonplace, but close analysis is never done. This article provides behavioral definitions of four basic values—quality, equity, efficiency, choice—that render them amenable to quantitative analysis. The concept of culture is offered to explain policy behavior, specifically the meritocratic, egalitarian, and democratic cultures within our national culture. These value definitions are applied—via content analysis—to state education codes in Illinois and Wisconsin to demonstrate how policy choices are moved by different cultures. The results also demonstrate evidence for Elazar’s “political culture” concept. The conflict and complementarity inherent in these values are also discussed.

The Politics and Practice of Alternative Teacher Certification.

Purpose: Alternative routes to teacher certification, such as California’s Intern Program, have increasingly gained support in the past decade. A significant and growing percentage of all new teachers, close to 30% in California, now enter classrooms through alternative paths and are considered highly qualified under No Child Left Behind. This research examines program designs and market strategies resulting from the subsidies provided to public and private intern programs in California. Research Design: This research is a conceptual analysis of qualitative data from 11 case studies. Findings: Intern programs are created by combining financial subsidies and regulations. An economic theory of subsidized and regulated service provision explains variations in program design and implementation. California’s policy framework produces four distinct intern program designs that depend on program operators’ response to two questions: (a) whether priority goes to serving school districts seeking teachers or to candidates seeking preferred training opportunities and (b) whether programs build on traditional teacher training or seek to substantially alter the nature of credential training. Case data indicate that answering these questions depends on whether public or private teaching colleges and universities, local school districts and county offices of education, or elite research universities are operating the programs. Conclusions: Four distinct training program designs have emerged from the intersection of California regulations and subsidies with the priorities, capacities, and interests of training providers. This study provides guidance regarding what can be expected to happen when service providers adapt state goals, regulations, and subsidies to local conditions to develop training programs.

The Contributions of School Desegregation to Housing Integration: Case Studies in Two Large Urban Areas

This article examines a half century of housing and school segregation data in two large California school districts. Based on a review of both the methods and the substantive data available tracking the relationship between school and housing integration, the study reported here shows that very substantial school-level integration in these two districts was followed by equally substantial housing desegregation. The study relies on Theil’s H as the most appropriate measure of social segregation because this measure can be used to study the integration of multiple groups and can be decomposed to document where the most severe isolation of particular subgroups is occurring.

Teaching Reform and Union Reform.

The first option is to make no explicit changes in the statutes concerning labor relations. Those who would follow this path view labor relations as an inherently developmental activity that responds to changes in the environment or culture of education. Under this conception, the purpose of labor statutes and administrative machinery is to allow the parties to develop and specify their own relationship. Once the basic labor statutes are in place, drastic revision merely disturbs the process of mutual accommodation and ad-

How School District Policy Influences Grade Level Retention in Elementary Schools

Research evidence indicates that retention, requiring students to repeat a grade level, fails to raise achievement or enhance social and personal adjustment. Moreover, it does not produce homogeneous classes, may be discriminatory, and is linked to dropping out. Retention continues, however, supported by public belief and sanctioned by district policy. A sample of district retention policies were rated according to two overarching dimensions: (a) the amount of effort required to implement, and (b) the extent to which objective criteria govern retention decisions. Differences along these dimensions are hypothesized to influence district retention rates. Results support use of this framework for comparing retention policies and retention rates when district size is taken into account. Larger districts retain more students, adopt more comprehensive retention policies, and provide a different policy context for implementation than smaller districts. Identified policy dimensions influence retention rates in opposite ways in large and small districts. We suggest that district cultural beliefs and organizational structures for student mobility contribute to these differences. Policy, rather than directly controlling staff behavior, may provide “signals” that are interpreted through organizational belief systems. Thus, adoption of identical district policy may lead to different staff behavior in different school district contexts.

Incumbent School Board Member Defeat Reconsidered: New Evidence for its Political Meaning

This study reviews research on the defeat of incumbent school board members and presents new election data on 104 Southern California school districts. The findings confirm that incumbent defeat is episodic, but they challenge previous research regarding its nature and origins.

School Restructuring: The Superintendent's View

The restructuring of school organizations is a prominent theme in the educational reform movement, but the meaning of the term remains ambiguous. To clarify its meaning, local school district superintendents and key executives were asked how they interpret various approaches to school restructuring. Superintendent thinking and evaluation of eight distinctive approaches to restructuring were elicited through semistructured interviews. The viewpoints expressed offer contrasting assessments that are shaped by tensions between the saliency and explicitness of the issue, interest in performance improvement versus public confidence development, and concern for accountability versus a desire to enhance professional staff engagement. Contextual factors influencing strategic thinking included newness to the superintendency and perceived mandates for action. Policy implications for the future of restructuring are explored.