The study of educational politics and policy through a critical frame allows for a more nuanced, holistic understanding of the complexities associated with education policy, from creation through implementation to evaluation. The contributions to this special issue of Educational Policy illustrate the work of critical education policy scholars engaged in research focused at the federal, state, and local levels. In this introductory article, we introduce basic elements of critical policy analysis (CPA), including fundamental ontological and epistemological claims and their implications for investigating educational policy. From this foundation, we preview the articles included in this collection, highlighting their frameworks, methods, and focus.
Purpose: The purpose of this article is to examine how and why Latinx school board members address educational equity, both in general and as related to English learners (ELs). Research Method: This study used a qualitative multiple case study design to examine the leadership of six Latinx school board members representing three different school districts in the U.S. Mountain West region. Data included semi-structured interviews and archival materials. Findings: This study emphasizes the counter-stories of these Latinx school board members, pointing to how family, identity, and encounters with inequities often informed their efforts in addressing equity. Findings also illustrate how most of these board members employed strategies of embracing or avoiding representation, coalition-building, and public advocacy or political neutrality toward equity, with limited and inconsistent results for ELs. Finally, these Latinx school board members often experienced backlash from colleagues and voters that coincided with their efforts. Conclusion: These findings signify that Latinx school board members are often among the most committed on school boards to improving educational equity for ELs and other underserved populations. Moreover, their leadership provides unique and significant representation for these communities that lead to interesting possibilities. Yet Latinx school board members experience several internal and external challenges that make it nearly impossible for them to sufficiently expand educational opportunities for the aforementioned populations.
States’ increasing involvement in educational policy making can play a significant role in how school districts provide equitable educational opportunities. Guided by critical policy analysis, the purpose of this article is to examine state-level policy pertaining to English learners (ELs) from district-level perspectives. Based on interview and archival data from a multiple case study of three metropolitan school districts in different states, district-level perspectives illustrate how these state-level policies were symbolic, restrictive, or exclusionary toward ELs. The results also demonstrate ways that districts advocated, engaged, resisted, and navigated state-level policies and politics. Based on these findings, I argue that state-level policies and related politics can compromise school districts’ ability to provide ELs with adequate educational opportunities.
The purpose of this inquiry is to consider how the U.S. Department of Education's Promise Neighborhoods (PNs) program can improve persistently low-achieving urban schools by making their "neighborhoods whole again" through community capacity building for education reform. As the "first federal initiative to put education at the center of comprehensive efforts to fight poverty in urban and rural areas," we frame our inquiry according to PNs' intent to build capacity in high-needs communities in ways that provide high-quality educational and systematic support for children and families. We begin with an overview of PN, followed by a discussion of community capacity for urban school reform. Next, using descriptive case study methods, we present the case of the Las Vegas Promise Neighborhood Initiative to illustrate the ways in which a low-capacity community in the American West engaged in community capacity building activities to improve selected urban schools, albeit unsuccessful in its ability to secure federal grant funds. We then deliver our analysis of this local initiative according to Chaskin's framework for building community capacity and consider lessons
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