Historical Trends in Educational Decentralization in the United States and Developing Countries: A Periodization and Comparison in the Post-WWII Context

Edwards, D. Brent; DeMatthews, Davis E.

doi:10.14507/epaa.v22n40.2014

Cited by 25 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 179 publications

(95 reference statements)

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“…Conversely, in community control or local empowerment decentralization models, community groups make decisions for schools and are thus accountable to the community, not just boards of education or central office administration (Ornstein, 1983;Wohlstetter & McCurdy, 1991). Local empowerment models are more likely to occur when stakeholders outside of the district push to decentralize, while administrative decentralization tends to occur when those inside the district push for reform (Edwards & DeMatthews, 2014;Wohlstetter & McCurdy, 1991). Wissler and Ortiz (1988) also characterize school decentralization by the actors involved in the process.…”

Section: The Evolution Of School District Decentralizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reorganizing a countywide school district: A critical analysis of politics and policy development toward decentralization

Diem¹,

Sampson²,

Browning³

2018

EPAA

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Policymakers and educational leaders continue to use school district decentralization as a reform effort that attempts to shift power and authority from central office administration to school-level leadership. In 2015, the Nevada Legislature passed legislation to restructure the Clark County School District (CCSD), the state’s largest school district, with the intent of breaking it up into smaller districts but instead evolving to decentralization. In this article, we use case study methods to explore the events leading up to the reorganization of CCSD. We take a critical perspective on Kingdon’s multiple streams framework to analyze the reorganization efforts, focusing specifically on how Nevada’s political context provided a window of opportunity for the reorganization to occur. We also examine the extent to which equitable educational opportunity was a factor in these efforts. Our analysis of the reorganization of CCSD contributes to a wider understanding of state-level policy development and politics within contemporary educational contexts. In this case, we find that state-level policymakers successfully leveraged the opportunity to enact the power and authority necessary to significantly and rapidly impact the structure of one of the largest school districts in the United States.

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Section: The Evolution Of School District Decentralizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reorganizing a countywide school district: A critical analysis of politics and policy development toward decentralization

Diem¹,

Sampson²,

Browning³

2018

EPAA

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“…Accordingly, research on foundations' advocacy has so far primarily focused on large investors that are able to pursue their policy-making goals (Kornhaber, Barkauskas, & Griffith, 2016). Scholars have identified that such engagements lead to the promotion of particular policies such as school reforms like charter school expansion (Boyask, 2016;Edwards Jr. & DeMatthews, 2014;Scott, 2009;Woods, Woods, & Gunter, 2007) and teacher training such as Teach for All / Teach for America (Gautreaux & Delgado, 2016;LaLonde, Brewer, & Lubienski, 2015;Scott, Trujillo, & Rivera, 2016).…”

Section: Critical Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives On Philanthrmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Educational reforms constantly affect the roles played not only by principals, teachers, administrators, and parents, but also by chairpersons of community organizations. Internationally, an observed shift in policy focus towards increased autonomy of schools through decentralization (simultaneously with introductions of national curricula and assessments) (Edwards Jr. & DeMatthews, 2014;Keddie, 2014;Lubienski, 2014) has drawn particular attention to school personnel and their roles in education. However, following the argumentation of Díaz-Gibson, Zaragoza, Daly, Mayayo, andRomaní (2017, p. 1040) such a reductionist approach "does not consider the interdependencies that exist between schools, districts, and the larger communities in which they reside."…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Roles of local foundations in German community-based initiatives: Devolving criticism of philanthropy to the local?

Koranyi

Kolleck

2018

EPAA

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This article explores perceptions of local philanthropic foundations situated in community-based initiative (CBI) policies that aim to achieve educational goals through the establishment of collaborative connections between schools and multiple local actors. Although roles of philanthropy in public education are controversial, scholars have yet to rigorously consider the specific local context of CBIs. We aim to help fill this research gap by investigating the main collective orientations that underlie actions of local foundations in German CBIs. Based on semi-structured interviews with chairpersons in a south German municipality, we examine patterns of experience and attitude through application of the documentary method. The reconstructed collective orientations allow for the identification of four primary roles of philanthropy in CBIs. Notably, the addition of an advocacy role relocates a phenomenon that was previously identified as a disruptive element at a (supra -)national level. These roles suggest potential for philanthropy to engage in local education Education Policy Analysis Archives Vol. 26 No. 139 2 policy-making. As such, they pose pressing questions that need to be addressed by public authorities and regulators. Las fundaciones locales en iniciativas comunitarias basadas en Alemania: ¿Devolviendo críticas a la filantropía para el lugar?Resumen: Este artículo explora las percepciones de fundaciones filantrópicas locales situadas en políticas de iniciativa comunitaria (CBI) que buscan alcanzar objetivos educativos a través del establecimiento de conexiones colaborativas entre escuelas y múltiples actores locales. Aunque los papeles de filantropía en la educación pública son controvertidos, los estudiosos todavía necesitan considerar rigurosamente el contexto local específico de los CBI. Nuestro objetivo es ayudar a llenar esa brecha de investigación, investigando las principales orientaciones colectivas que fundamentan las acciones de las fundaciones locales en los CBIs alemanes. Con base en entrevistas semiestructuradas con presidentes de un municipio del sur de Alemania, examinamos patrones de experiencia y actitud a través de la aplicación del método documental. Las orientaciones colectivas reconstruidas permiten la identificación de cuatro papeles principales de la filantropía en los CBI. Por supuesto, el aumento de un papel de abogacía se refiere a un fenómeno que fue anteriormente identificado como un elemento disruptivo en un nivel (supra) nacional. Estas funciones sugieren potencial para que la filantropía se involucra en la formulación de políticas educativas locales. Como tal, plantean cuestiones urgentes que necesitan ser abordadas por las autoridades públicas y reguladores. Palabras-clave: fundaciones filantrópicas; funciones institucionales; educación comunitaria; desarrollo comunitario; política administrativa Das fundações locais em iniciativas comunitárias baseadas na Alemanha: Devolvendo críticas à filantropia para o local?Resumo: Este artigo explora as percepções de fundações filant...

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“…Por su parte, los representantes del Banco Mundial que estaban trabajando en este programa, lo percibieron como una oportunidad aún más grande, tanto para hacerse de renombre, como para desarrollar una política que podría ser útil para su organización más adelante, a saber, una política que podría ser vendida como una buena práctica para otros países. En este punto, es necesario resaltar la tremenda popularidad de la descentralización como tema dentro de la industria del desarrollo internacional durante los años noventa (Edwards & DeMatthews, 2014), así como también la predominancia del Banco Mundial durante este tiempo con relación a otros organismos multilaterales, especialmente en el sector de la educación (Mundy, 1998).…”

Section: Estudios Educo: Una Visión Críticaunclassified

“…Es decir, mientras este tipo de estudios alrededor de EDUCO ha ofrecido la justificación para que los países experimenten con la descentralización a nivel de la comunidad, en la práctica, estos estudios han servido como una coraza política para introducir las políticas de descentralización que requieren, ya sea oficial o extraoficialmente, que los miembros de la comunidad: (a) realicen donaciones a la escuela, (b) ayuden con la construcción y reparación de la infraestructura de la escuela (edificios, letrinas, etc. ), (c) contribuyan a la administración de la escuela (por ejemplo, a través del monitoreo de los maestros y el director) y (d) participen en tareas administrativas o suplementarias (por ejemplo, el desarrollo de planes de mejoramiento en la escuela o la provisión de refrigerios para los estudiantes) (Edwards & DeMatthews, 2014).…”

Section: Implicaciones Internacionalesunclassified

El programa EDUCO, las evaluaciones de impacto, y la economía política de la reforma educativa global

Edwards

Urquilla²

2016

EPAA

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During the 1990s and 2000s, a policy known as Education with Community Participation (EDUCO) not only became the cornerstone of education reform in El Salvador but also became a global education policy, one which is known for decentralizing to rural families the responsibility for hiring and firing teachers. As is shown in this paper, its rise to fame was not only a product of the particular political-economic context in which it was borne, but was also a product of the impact evaluations produced by the World Bank, which served as the evidence base through which this and other international institutions could legitimately promote the neoliberal model of community involvement represented by EDUCO. Problematically, however, a reappraisal of these impact evaluations reveals, first, that their findings and conclusions around significant effects were not warranted and, second, that the entire impact evaluation enterprise is fundamentally flawed due to the financial-political-intellectual complex out of which these studies emerged and back into which they fed as they were used to advocate for market-oriented policy solutions around the world. Thus, in addition to explaining the reform dynamics that gave rise to EDUCO, this paper (a) systematically reviews the findings and limitations of each of the six impact studies that constitute the international knowledge base around this policy, (b) reconsiders what we can reasonably claim to know about EDUCO, (c) reflects on the national and international implications of the critical review presented here, and (d) remarks on the shortcomings of—and the alternatives to—impact evaluations as a means to produce policy-relevant findings.

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Historical Trends in Educational Decentralization in the United States and Developing Countries: A Periodization and Comparison in the Post-WWII Context

Cited by 25 publications

References 179 publications

Reorganizing a countywide school district: A critical analysis of politics and policy development toward decentralization

Reorganizing a countywide school district: A critical analysis of politics and policy development toward decentralization

Roles of local foundations in German community-based initiatives: Devolving criticism of philanthropy to the local?

El programa EDUCO, las evaluaciones de impacto, y la economía política de la reforma educativa global

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