Interest Group Activity in the Context of Common Core Implementation

Supovitz, Jonathan A.; McGuinn, Patrick

doi:10.1177/0895904817719516

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Many critical perspectives, over decades, coalesce on a number of key issues such as the reproductive role that schools play in: ensuring the transmission of dominant ideologies and forms of knowledge and the distribution of skills that ensure that social division and patterns of privilege are maintained (Giroux, 2019 ). Schools in essence function as agencies of social and cultural reproduction (Bourdieu, 1990 ; Lampert, 2016 ; Laureau & Goyette, 2014 ; Reay, 2006 , 2018 ; Reay et al, 2007 , 2011 ) and schooling is a series of preparatory experiences that set many groups of children and young people up for unequal futures (Apple, 2012 ; Supovitz & McGinn, 2019 ; Thomson, 2007 ; Willis, 1977 ). Schools and the process of schooling therein are exposed as institutions that individualize failure and the responsibility for failure (Labaree, 2012 ; Paredes Scribner & Fernández, 2017 ; Reay, 2018 ; Thomson et al, 2012 ; Wrigley, 2012 ).…”

Section: The Problem: Why the Need For New Learning Environments?mentioning

confidence: 99%

New actors and new learning spaces for new times: a framework for schooling that extends beyond the school

Connolly

Murray

Brady

et al. 2022

Learning Environ Res

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Taking the ‘breakdown’ in regular schooling as a result of the Covid pandemic as a catalyst to reimagine education, this article formulates a theoretical framework, using design research, that enables a fundamental reconceptualization and introduction of new actors into the space of schooling, which is a learning environment that traditionally has maintained rigid boundaries. Recommendations are proposed for bridging formal and nonformal education for practitioners and policymakers, bringing together teachers and youth workers to co-construct a learning environment. In creating a prototype for learning that involves a more joined-up and connected paradigm in education, as well as bridging the gap between learning in formal and non-formal contexts, we create a shift towards reimagining and recognising the importance of a holistic view of education by re-evaluating and supporting a broader range of actors who can participate in the education of children and young people.

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Section: The Problem: Why the Need For New Learning Environments?mentioning

confidence: 99%

New actors and new learning spaces for new times: a framework for schooling that extends beyond the school

Connolly

Murray

Brady

et al. 2022

Learning Environ Res

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“…Initially adopted in 2010 by 46 states, the CCSS became increasingly controversial, with several states backing out and replacing or revising the CCSS. Opponents of the CCSS made a range of arguments that critiqued the Standards themselves (e.g., not developmentally appropriate, attended to academic priorities at the expense of social and emotional needs), but primarily attacked the CCSS on cultural and ideological grounds (e.g., federal overreach, data privacy, corporate profiting from a public good; Supovitz & McGuinn, 2017).…”

Section: National Factors Contributing To Opting Out Of New Jersey State Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Integrative Implementation Theory to Understand New Jersey's 2015 Opt-Out Movement

Supovitz

2021

Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education

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Background/Context In the spring of 2015, about 135,000 New Jersey students—almost 20% of the test-eligible children—did not take the state's test. Opposition of this magnitude directly contradicted a central stipulation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which required states to test 95% of their eligible students to receive federal education funding. This article examines what happened in New Jersey in 2015 to produce such a large change in the implementation of state testing policy. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study In this article, I use Richard Matland's integrative policy implementation theory to explain the circumstances that produced such a large change in the enactment of New Jersey testing policy in 2015. More specifically, I focus on two research questions: (1) What were the major national, state, and local factors that contributed to parent and student opt-out decisions in New Jersey in 2015? (2) How does integrative implementation theory help us to understand the different circumstances contributing to the opt-out movement in New Jersey in 2015? Population/Participants/Subjects The article is based upon extensive document review and 33 interviews with New Jersey state policymakers, professional education association representatives, advocacy group leaders, school administrators, teachers, parents, and students. Intervention/Program/Practice: Since the 1990s, testing has become an increasingly important function of state education policy. High-stakes state testing policies were further expanded under the NCLB, which required states to test 95% of their eligible students to receive streams of federal education funding. The opt-out movement across the nation in 2015 was a major departure from this well-established policy. Research Design This study employs qualitative interpretive research to examine how multiple actors at different levels of the New Jersey education system understood and interpreted the 2015 opt-out movement. Using Matland's ambiguity-conflict model of policy implementation I interpret the interactions between the policy design and local implementers’ beliefs and goals. Findings/Results The findings illuminate the shifting national, state, and local factors that contributed to district opt-out rates as well as variation across school levels and districts with different socioeconomic conditions. The combination of increased federal press on states, New Jersey's fast timelines for new standards and assessment adoption even as it ratcheted up accountability, and inconsistent state policy signals all contributed to backlash from teachers, community members, and anti-testing advocates. These factors illuminate many of the changing circumstances in New Jersey that fueled the dramatic opt-out movement in 2015. Conclusions/Recommendations While Matland's integrative implementation model helps to explain the dynamics of the 2015 New Jersey opt-out movement, it does not account for additional contributing factors including changes over time, dynamics at different system levels, and consideration of a broader range of actors beyond policymakers and policy targets. Incorporating these factors can help make integrative implementation theories even more robust.

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“…They found that both the overall sentiment, and that of opinion leaders, was overwhelmingly negative toward the CCSS. Supovitz and McGuinn (2017) conducted interviews with 19 education advocacy groups that supported the CCSS in late 2013 and early 2014 and analyzed their communication strategies. They found that their web-based media strategies focused on toolkits and guides with only a thin social media presence, "based on a mistaken belief that Common Core supporters felt that information campaigns would be enough to clarify the benefits of the standards" (p. 24).…”

Section: Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An emerging body of research has also begun exploring advocacy organizations' use of social media (Bortree & Seltzer, 2009;Edwards & Hoefer, 2010;Greenberg & MacAulay, 2009;Supovitz & McGuinn, 2017;Supovitz et al, 2018). Because social media is more personalized, messages can be targeted, potentially broadening advocacy participation (Bennett, 2012).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Psychology of Homophily: The Collective Sentiments of Education Advocacy Groups

Supovitz

Kolouch

Daly

2020

Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education

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Background/Context As a major area of civic decision making, public education is a central arena for advocacy groups seeking to influence policy debates. An emerging body of research examines advocates’ use of social media. While debates about policy can be thought of as a clash of large ideas contained within frames, cognitive linguists note that framing strategies are activated by the particular words that advocates choose to convey their positions. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study examined the vociferous debate surrounding the Common Core State Standards on Twitter during the height of state adoption in 2014 and 2015. Combining social network analysis and natural language processing techniques, we first identified the organically forming factions within the Common Core debate on Twitter and then captured the collective psychological sentiments of these factions. Research Design The study employed quantitative statistical comparisons of the frequency of words used by members of different factions around the Common Core on Twitter that are associated in prior research with four psychological characteristics: mood, motivation, conviction, and thinking style. Data Collection and Analysis Data were downloaded from Twitter from November 2014 to October 2015 using at least one of three hashtags: #commoncore, #ccss, or #stopcommoncore. The resulting data set consisted of more than 500,000 tweets and retweets from more than 100,000 distinct actors. We then ran a community detection algorithm to identify the structural subcommunities, or factions. To measure the four psychological characteristics, we adapted Pennebaker and colleagues’ Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count libraries. We then connected the individual tweet authors to their faction based on the results of the social network analysis community detection algorithm. Using these groups, and the standardized results for each psychological characteristic/dimension, we performed a series of analyses of variance with Bonferroni corrections to test for differences in the psychological characteristics among the factions. Findings/Results For each of the four psychological characteristics, we found different patterns among the different factions. Educators opposed to the Common Core had the highest level of drive motivation, use of sad words, and use of words associated with a narrative thinking style. Opponents of the Common Core from outside education exhibited an affiliative drive motivation, a narrative thinking style, high levels of anger words, and low levels of conviction in their choice of language. Supporters of the Common Core used words that represented a more analytic thinking style, stronger levels of conviction, and words associated with a higher level of achievement orientation. Conclusions/Recommendations Individuals on Twitter, mostly strangers to each other, band together to form fluid communities as they share positions on particular issues. On Twitter, these bonds are formed by behavioral choices to follow, retweet, and mention others. This study reveals how like-minded individuals create a collective sentiment through their specific choice of words to express their views. By analyzing the underlying psychological characteristics associated with language, we show the distinct pooled psychologies of activists as they engaged together in political activity in an effort to influence the political environment.

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Interest Group Activity in the Context of Common Core Implementation

Cited by 8 publications

References 29 publications

New actors and new learning spaces for new times: a framework for schooling that extends beyond the school

New actors and new learning spaces for new times: a framework for schooling that extends beyond the school

Using Integrative Implementation Theory to Understand New Jersey's 2015 Opt-Out Movement

The Social Psychology of Homophily: The Collective Sentiments of Education Advocacy Groups

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