Wayne D. Lewis

The Politics of Accountability Teacher Education Policy

Drawing on Kingdon’s multiple streams framework, this study examines how teacher education policy has gained prominence on the federal decision agenda in recent years.

Educational Policy Implementation Revisited

This article outlines the rationale for this special issue on educational policy implementation and provides an overview of the articles in this issue. In addition to summarizing each article, we point out how the findings from the different contributions complement, challenge, and complicate not only the findings and conclusions from other works in this issue, but also insights articulated by Honig (2006) and Odden (1991). We conclude with a discussion of the implications from these articles for educational policy implementation research.

Structural Location and Reputed Influence in State Reading Policy Issue Networks

Using data about collaborative relationships among 109 reading policy actors from four states, this study investigated the extent to which social capital, operationalized as spanning structural holes, predicted a policy actor’s reputed influence. Regression analysis showed that after controlling for state, centrality, and government entity, having access to structural holes was not related to an actor being perceived as influential in an issue network. Results also indicated that the main effect of being a central actor in a network and the interaction between centrality and a governmental actor were predictors of reputed influence in issue networks.

The Politics of Parent Choice in Public Education

1. Rethinking Public Education 2. What is Choice? 3. The Politics of Charter Schools 4. The Politics of Charter Schools and Choice in North Carolina 5. Busing, Desegregation, and Parent Choice 6. Conclusion

Explaining How Political Actors Gain Strategic Positions: Predictors of Centrality in State Reading Policy Issue Networks.

Using data from interviews with 111 reading policy actors from California, Connecticut, Michigan, and Utah, this study explains how individuals acquire central positions in issue networks. Regression analyses showed that the greater a policy actor’s reputed influence was and the more similar their preferences were to other members in the network, the more central an actor was in a state reading policy network. The findings suggest that reading policy actors were forming relationships with other actors to gain access to influential organizations that have resources that political actors themselves may not possess—irrespective of policy preferences. In addition, the results indicate that central actors in an issue network may indeed hold the minority or majority opinion—marginalization due to divergence is not a given.