Kara S. Finnigan

Do Accountability Policy Sanctions Influence Teacher Motivation? Lessons From Chicago’s Low-Performing Schools:

The federal No Child Left Behind Act and previous performance-based accountability policies are based on a theoretical assumption that sanctions will motivate school staff to perform at higher levels and focus attention on student outcomes. Using data from Chicago, this article draws on expectancy and incentive theories to examine whether motivation levels changed as a result of accountability policies and the policy mechanisms that affected teacher motivation. Through a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, the authors found that the value teachers placed on their professional status and their goals for students focused and increased their effort, but low morale had the potential to undercut the sustainability of teachers’ responses.

The Ebb and Flow of Social Network Ties Between District Leaders Under High-Stakes Accountability

Recent scholarship suggests the importance of school district offices in supporting reform. These studies provide strategies for building relations between central offices and sites in order to improve change efforts. However, what is frequently overlooked is that organizational reform efforts are socially constructed. Therefore, examining the underlying reform-related social networks may provide insight into how relational structures support or constrain efforts at reform. This longitudinal case study draws upon social network analysis and interviews to examine the reform-related knowledge, advice, and innovation network structures of central office and site leaders in a district facing sanction for underperformance and engaging a districtwide reform. Findings indicate that over time, the networks increased the number of superficial interactions, and more frequent exchanges remained unchanged, resulting in a centralized network structure.

Increasing access to specialty care: A pilot, randomized controlled trial of telemedicine for Parkinson's disease†

We conducted a randomized, controlled pilot trial to evaluate the feasibility of providing subspecialty care via telemedicine for patients with Parkinsons disease residing in a remote community located ∼130 miles from an academic movement disorders clinic. Study participants were randomized to receive telemedicine care with a movement disorder specialist at the University of Rochester or to receive their usual care. Participants in the telemedicine group received three telemedicine visits over six months. Feasibility, as measured by the completion of telemedicine visits, was the primary outcome measure. Secondary measures were quality of life, patient satisfaction, and clinical outcomes. Ten participants residing in the community were randomized to receive telemedicine care (n = 6) or their usual care (n = 4). Four nursing home patients were assigned to telemedicine. Those receiving telemedicine completed 97% (29 of 30) of their telemedicine visits as scheduled. At the studys conclusion, 13 of 14 study participants opted to receive specialty care via telemedicine. Compared with usual care, those randomized to telemedicine had significant improvements in quality of life (3.4 point improvement vs. 10.3 point worsening on the Parkinsons Disease Questionnaire 39; P = 0.04) and motor performance (0.3 point improvement vs. 6.5 point worsening on the Unified Parkinsons Disease Rating Scale, motor subscale; P = 0.03). Relative to baseline, nursing home patients experienced trends toward improvement in quality of life and patient satisfaction. Providing subspecialty care via telemedicine for individuals with Parkinsons disease living remotely is feasible.

Mind the Gap: Organizational Learning and Improvement in an Underperforming Urban System.

Drawing on the theoretical lens of organizational learning, and utilizing the methodological approaches of social network and case-study analyses, our exploratory study examines whether schools under sanction exhibit the necessary processes, relationships, and social climates that support organizational learning and improvement. We also investigated the degree to which length of time under sanction affects the processes, relationships, and social climates of schools as well as the extent to which the relationships and climate of the larger district facilitate or hinder improvement in schools under sanction. Results indicate sparse ties within these schools, suggesting limited connectedness of staff with greater connectivity in the school that was newly placed on sanction. We also found school climates that did not support the type of collaboration necessary to bring about organizational learning and improvement. Finally, we found that a negative social climate and weak underlying relationships between district leaders inhibited the flow of ideas and practices district-wide, especially to these low-performing schools. These findings have important implications for school and district improvement under high-stakes accountability policies.

Charter School Autonomy The Mismatch Between Theory and Practice

In theory, the charter school concept is based on a trade-off or exchange: greater autonomy for increased accountability. Although charter schools have been operating for more than 10 years, little is known about charter school autonomy in practice. This mixed-methods study used survey and case study data to examine the degree of autonomy of charter schools across the country and the factors limiting school autonomy. The findings indicate that many charter schools do not have high levels of autonomy, with schools least likely to have control over budgetary decisions. In addition, school autonomy is influenced by state laws, relationships with authorizers, and partnerships with educational management organizations and community-based organizations. Finally, the levels of autonomy in some schools were dynamic, with schools experiencing less autonomy over time.

Principal Leadership and Teacher Motivation under High-Stakes Accountability Policies

This article examines principal leadership and teacher motivation in schools under accountability sanctions. The conceptual framework is grounded in research on expectancy theory and transformational leadership. The study involves a survey of Chicago teachers and indicates that principal instructional leadership and support for change are associated with teacher expectancy. In addition, teacher experience, advanced education, and race, as well as the schools performance level, are associated with teacher expectancy. Finally, teacher expectancy is associated with a schools ability to move off of probation status. These findings have important implications in the current policy context.

Systemwide Reform in Districts under Pressure: The Role of Social Networks in Defining, Acquiring, Using, and Diffusing Research Evidence.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the way in which low‐performing schools and their district define, acquire, use, and diffuse research‐based evidence.Design/methodology/approach – The mixed methods case study builds upon the prior research on research evidence and social networks, drawing on social network analyses, survey data and interview data to examine how educators in low‐performing schools and across the district use evidence (including which types and for what purposes), as well as the relationship between network structure and evidence use for school improvement.Findings – Educators had narrow definitions of, and skepticism about, evidence, which limited its acquisition and use for school improvement. The authors found a lack of diffusion of evidence within schools and districtwide as a result of sparse connections among and between educators. Evidence was used in an instrumental, yet superficial, manner leading to weak interpretation of evidence and resulting in limited understa...

Principal Leadership in Low-Performing Schools A Closer Look Through the Eyes of Teachers

This qualitative study of teachers in three low-performing elementary schools in Chicago reveals that transformational leadership behaviors were important to teacher motivation, affecting whether they believed that they could improve student performance as the accountability policy required. The findings suggest that principal leadership is critical to turning around low-performing schools. Implications include developing policies to hire principals with proven track records and increasing the capacity of current principals to ensure that they are able to support and motivate teachers in low-performing schools.

The Effects of Organizational Context on Teacher Expectancy

This study examines factors affecting teacher expectancy through hierarchical linear modeling of data from two large-scale surveys of teachers working in schools with highstakes accountability programs. Teacher perceptions of program fairness, student performance feedback, lack of goal conflict, and principal support, as well as school level and reward history, were found to be significant predictors of teacher expectancy.

Misalignment and Perverse Incentives Examining the Politics of District Leaders as Brokers in the Use of Research Evidence

In the current accountability policy context, access to and use of research evidence are central to district and school improvement. Our study examines the network of relations between central office administrators and principals using a political lens to consider the ways in which the underlying politics in a district may call into question some of the assumptions around evidence use and change under accountability policy sanctions. Results indicate that relational ties regarding evidence use (data use in this case) are sparse in comparison with other work-related networks. Second, we find a misalignment between what one would expect based on district data use initiatives, formal lines of authority, and communication patterns and the underlying informal social interactions of the leaders around the use of data. We discuss the implications of this research for district improvement and the use of evidence in the current policy context.