Intermediary Organizations in Charter School Policy Coalitions

Abstract

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.

Education Politics and Policy: Emerging Institutions, Interests, and Ideas

“…Lubienski et al () observe that the increasing application of research evidence in educational policy contexts has opened the door for new IOs to influence policy trajectories: “One way that institutions and sectors deal with shifts in the production and consumption of information is to create new organizations that mediate the process” (p. 137). Scott, Lubienski, DeBray, and Jabbar () examine the activities around school district efforts at reform, analyzing the role of IOs in promoting “incentivist” educational policies, such as merit pay for teachers and charter schools. The authors find that IOs play a critical role in brokering key research findings and policy reports in ways that filter out policies they oppose, while casting their preferred policy options in a positive light.…”

“…In this way, IOs are able to leverage their position of “expertise” within district reform networks in order to influence the policy agenda. Local IOs in New Orleans, for example, have tended to have low research capacity, strong policy preferences for or against charter schools, and have relied on external national coalitions and local networks for policy advice and technical expertise (DeBray, Scott, Lubienski, & Jabbar, ).…”

Public-private partnerships, accountability, and competition: Theory versus reality in the charter schools of Bogotá, Colombia

“…There are similar situations in the United States, where voters directly elect school board members, mayors, or governors (depending on the state context), who then exercise control or influence over charter policy. But as studies have recently noted, internationally and in the United States (e.g., in Louisiana, New Jersey, Washington), networks of think tanks, philanthropists, chambers of commerce, CMOs, education corporations, and policy entrepreneurs, among others, have combined to advance charter school policy in ways that circumvent public accountability, at least in the short term (Au & Ferrare, 2014Ball, 2007Ball, , 2012DeBray, Scott, Lubienski, & Jabbar, 2014;Russakoff, 2015). Consequently, grave concerns must be raised about the "disproportionate power of super wealthy individuals and their related philanthropic organizations relative to public education policy and the democratic decision-making process of individual voters" (Au & Ferrare, 2014, p. 17; see also Bulkley & Burch, 2011).…”

Educational Expertise, Advocacy, and Media Influence

“…Advocacy groups put considerable effort into strategies that advance their agendas, often by assuming the mantle of expertise, and projecting that assumed status into media and policy debates. The media, old and new, serve as an important source for keeping members of the public, including policymakers, informed (DeBray, Scott, Lubienski, & Jabbar, 2014;Henig, 2008); therefore, the media represents an important object of inquiry to enhance our understanding of contemporary research-policy relations.…”