Elizabeth DeBray

Intermediary Organizations in Charter School Policy Coalitions Evidence From New Orleans

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 was agreement across both coalitions that there is a lack of a credible and non-partisan research group studying the reforms, that is, one that produces data analyses that are not merely descriptive. The authors map preliminary findings about how intermediary organizations are connected to national groups, as well as how research is shared within coalitions.

The Politics of Research Production, Promotion, and Utilization in Educational Policy

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.

The Intermediary Function in Evidence Production, Promotion, and Utilization: The Case of Educational Incentives

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.

A Comprehensive High School and a Shift in New York State Policy: A Study of Early Implementation

The article is about the early phase of implementation of a New York state testing policy in two academic departments in an urban, comprehensive high school. It describes and analyzes a high schools failure to construct a coherent internal accountability system when encountering an external high-stakes testing policy. Drawing on interviews with teachers and administrators conducted over a period of one year, the article explores two aspects of the schools implementation of the state policy: what actions were being undertaken in these two departments; and the perceptions and understandings of the teachers and administrators within the organization. The organizational consequences of changing the stakes for graduation for a high school serving almost all disadvantaged students are discussed.

How Policymakers Define ‘Evidence’: The Politics of Research Use in New Orleans

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, typically passed to policymakers via an echo chamber of intermediary organizations, personal contacts or key partners. Connecting supply to demand, the authors find that intermediary organizations broker research and evidence to advance their policy agendas, and that they serve as de facto policymakers in New Orleans.

The New Politics of Diversity Lessons From a Federal Technical Assistance Grant

In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education distributed

A Narrow Path Through the Broad Middle: Mapping Institutional Considerations for ESEA Reauthorization

2,500,000 via a competitive grant program, the Technical Assistance for Student Assignment Plans, to 11 school districts. The grants and their local effects provide an opportunity to examine the new politics of diversity in public education. Participants cited a wide range of conceptions of diversity, most of which were race-neutral. Some districts enacted policies deemphasizing their original diversity goals. Even in Technical Assistance for Student Assignment Plans (TASAP) districts, whose leaders presumably value diversity, diversity was not always a compelling goal when competing with priorities such as fiscal austerity, school improvement, and neighborhood school demands. Future federal efforts to increase students’ exposure to diverse peers should recognize that local conditions might create contrary political pressures for local policymakers.

Richard Mills and the New York State Board of Regents, 1995-2001 Parts A & B

This article uses an institutional framework to analyze the political context of the next reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The authors analyze three relevant factors in the institutional environment: the role of traditional party politics, including theories of divided versus unified party government; the entrance of new players, both interest groups and think tanks, into the education policy arena; and stresses on the traditional coalition that historically supported education reform. The authors compare DW-Nominate ratings for the 107th Congress (which passed the No Child Left Behind Act) and the 111th Congress (which concluded in 2010) to measure the ideology of members of the education committees and the Congress as a whole. Although both education committees have witnessed aggregate shifts in a more conservative direction, the authors argue that the 112th Congress, which convenes for the first time in January 2011, is unlikely to pass President Obamas centrist education agenda, as a majority-Republican House, ideological divisions within each political party, and the politics of an upcoming presidential election are factors that militate against a bills enactment before 2012.

Urban Regimes, Intermediary Organization Networks, and Research Use: Patterns Across Three School Districts

In 1995, New York State Education Commissioner Richard Mills and the Board of Regents changed the state’s testing policy in favor of a challenging, high-stakes testing accountability system. The case describes Mill’s leadership over the next six years in the face of significant opposition from parents, alternative schools, vocational educators, and bilingual advocates. The case portrays Mills’ effectiveness as an apologist of the policy to the public and his ability to survive politically. It documents his justification of placing stakes on students as the means to persuade state institutions, including the governor and the legislature, to provide greater financial support for education.

How Policymakers Define ‘Evidence’

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.