Market Pressure and Arizona Public School Leaders: “That Package is Like a Brand New Cadillac!”

Abstract

Article Info In the United States, long-standing school choice policies and practices in Arizona have developed into a market-based system of schooling for many residents in the state, especially in the larger cities. In this study, I analyze qualitative data gathered from school leaders and parents in one Arizona district public school who discussed marketing pressures and various notions of accountability and whose perceptions related to rapidly growing school choice reforms and increasing testing demands. I also describe the ways in which many members of the school team (e.g., school administrators, teachers, staff) were affected by everincreasing competitive expectations. By examining market pressures experienced by parents and other stakeholders, we can understand better some consequences of expanding school choice policies and programs on those experiencing educational reforms in local settings.

Parental Accountability, School Choice, and the Invisible Hand of the Market

“…Finally, professional accountability assumes that practitioners are experts in their fields and, thus, can maintain responsible and beneficial self-monitoring and decision-making for the overall success of students and schools. These four models were all indeed present and in various, overlapping ways in Arizona’s school choice market (see Potterton, 2018b). In this study, I extend their typology by documenting a fifth form of accountability, parental accountability, or the pressure that is placed on parents in school systems where one or more forms of school choice are operating simultaneously.…”

“…This study focuses on a subset of interviews from a larger qualitative study that used ethnographic methods (e.g., Potterton, 2018a, 2018b, 2018c, 2019). Interviewees were members within the Southwest Learning Site school (hereafter SLS), 2 which is a district-run public school in the Desert Public School System (DPSS), and its surrounding community.…”

“…This research included checking test scores, visiting schools, meeting with principals, and using their social networks to make decisions (Altenhofen et al, 2016). Yet, less developed in the literature is how market mechanisms specifically influence parents and families in their choices, and how parents struggle through these processes (Billingham, 2015; Fong, 2019; Kimelberg & Billingham, 2013; Posey-Maddox, McDonough, & Cucchiara, 2014; Potterton, 2018b). 1…”

“…In this article, I introduce the concept of parental accountability by examining the ways in which parents understand and cope with what I characterize are pressures fostered by the long-standing public-school choice market in Arizona. Accountability is a foundational concept for school choice reforms (Garn & Cobb, 2008; Potterton, 2018b). Parental accountability refers to the sensemaking, experiences, and consequences that are related to decision-making in a school choice environment, wherein parents’ feelings about their child’s schooling may be intense, emotionally stressful, malleable, cyclical, and ongoing—not static.…”

Sociological Contributions to School Choice Policy and Politics Around the Globe: Introduction to the 2020 PEA Yearbook

“…Cultural and social processes and contexts : These studies have examined the influence of the local socio-cultural contexts in which school choice programs are implemented (Wells, 2009), the relationships between schools and families or regulatory agencies, and the processes and networks through which organizations influence school choice policies (e.g., Ball, 2012; Edwards, DeMatthews, & Hartley, 2017; Edwards, Klees, & Wildish, 2017; Fabricant & Fine, 2012; Lubienski, Brewer, & La Londe, 2015; Nambissan & Ball, 2010; Potterton, 2018a, 2018b, 2018c, 2019; Scott & Villavicencio, 2009; Sucharita, 2014; Taylor, 2001). These organizations include, but are not limited to, non-governmental organizations, charter management organizations, philanthropies, and think tanks.…”