Factors That Influence School Board Policy Making

Abstract

Purpose: This article examines factors that affect school board policy making about student diversity within two southern urban-suburban school districts experiencing changing demographics: Jefferson County Public Schools and the Wake County Public School System. Both districts have a history of voluntary integration efforts, and research shows that racially diverse countywide districts can make integration more feasible. However, as courts constrain mechanisms used in policies to establish/maintain racial integration, it is crucial to examine how school boards make policy decisions while navigating the politics of their communities and competing conceptions surrounding racial diversity. Research Method/Approach: This study employed qualitative case study methods to understand under what circumstances school boards are creating policy, paying particular attention to the local sociopolitical and geographic contexts. Data collected consisted of 37 interviews with school district officials and community stakeholders. Mainstream and specialty media articles, legal documents, and policy documents from the districts or other governmental bodies also helped frame the local contexts. Findings and Lessons Learned: The two districts in our study illustrate political and legal factors that create complex environments to pursue school-level diversity even in districts with a long history of diversity policies. Our study also illustrates the difficult role of the superintendent and school boards in leading diverse communities with different histories and experiences as they navigate the local politics of diversity amid a variety of competing policy goals. We conclude with implications including the importance of remaining vigilant about student diversity efforts and perfecting technical details to minimize politicization about diversity policies.

Interest Convergence and Market-Based School Reform: The Promise and Limits of Using Controlled Choice to Desegregate Schools

“…First, for parents and district officials to support controlled choice interventions they need to have confidence in the quality of the school options available (Orfield & Frankenberg, 2013 ). Second, for controlled choice policies to be sustained, parent, community and district leadership need to be committed to the goal of school desegregation (Diem, et al, 2015 ; Frankenberg, 2018 ). Lastly, districts must eliminate barriers to participation, such as a lack of transportation, for controlled choice to successfully promote greater school desegregation (Koedel, et al, 2009 ).…”

Capacity and Control: Superintendent-School Board Relations in Locally Controlled Districts

“…This is not to say that local control is necessary and beneficial to all communities. From a social justice perspective, local control can be profoundly discriminatory, reinforcing dominant beliefs and marginalizing historically minoritized community members (Diem et al, 2015; Sampson, 2019; Sutherland, 2022; Tieken, 2017; Trujillo, 2013). A major limitation of this research is the homogeneity of participant responses.…”

“…Poor student outcomes and weak school standards have been attributed to ineffective school boards (Hochschild, 2005; Kirst, 2008), prompting state-level systemic reform to centralize organizational governance (Marsh & Wohlstetter, 2013). Some of these reforms were intended to curtail community-driven educational inequities (Diem et al, 2015), as locally enacted education policies can institutionalize oppressive and discriminatory values reflected in the community board (Gutmann, 2001; Tieken, 2017). Yet scholars continue to analyze the limits of and barriers to democratic board representation (Bertrand & Sampson, 2022; Sampson, 2019; Trujillo, 2013).…”

Promoting District-Level Culturally Responsive Practices

“…For instance, Turner and Spain (2020) found that administrators attempted to change inequitable tracking policies as racial disparities in assessment scores and course enrollment persisted. While many of these efforts do not find lasting success due to issues such as differing values and limited resources (Turner & Spain, 2020), researchers continue to find that district leaders have influence over the policymaking and implementation process (Diem et al, 2015). Thus, there is a need for scholarship to explore the ways in which district-level officials can lead and engage specifically with the promotion of CRPs across their schools.…”

“…Thus, we are operating under the assumption that CRPs are not strictly classroom-and-school-based as posited by CRSL but also translated to school-wide and district-wide operations. As scholars have proposed that district leaders can influence policy development and implementation (e.g., Diem et al, 2015), the CRSL framework assisted us in exploring how district-level leaders’ promotion of CRPs across their district, schools, and classrooms.…”