Leaders’ experiences in Arizona’s mature education market
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-02-2018-0043 |
| Published date | 11 February 2019 |
| Date | 11 February 2019 |
| Pages | 21-35 |
| Author | Amanda U. Potterton |
| Subject Matter | Education,Administration & policy in education,School administration/policy,Educational administration,Leadership in education |
Leaders’experiences in Arizona’s
mature education market
Amanda U. Potterton
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Abstract
Purpose –In Arizona’s mature, market-based school system, we know little about how school leaders make
meaning of school choice policies and programs on the ground. Using ethnographic methods, the author
asked: How do school leaders in one Arizona district public school and in its surrounding community, which
includes a growing number of high-profile and “high-performing”Education Management Organisation
(EMO) charter schools, make meaning of school choice policies and programs? The paper aims to discuss
these issues.
Design/methodology/approach –The author analysed 18 months of qualitative fieldnotes that the author
collected during participant observations and six semi-structured school leader interviews from both
traditional district public schools in the area (n¼4) and leaders from EMO charter schools (n¼2).
Findings –School leaders’decision-making processes were influenced by competitive pressures. However,
perceptions of these pressures and leadership actions varied widely and were complicated by inclusive and
exclusive social capital influences from stakeholders. District public school leaders felt pressure to package
and sell schools in the marketplace, and charter leaders enjoyed the notion of markets and competition.
Practical implications –As market-based policies and practices become increasingly popular in the USA
and internationally, a study that examines leaders’behaviours and actions in a long-standing school choice
system is timely and relevant.
Originality/value –This study uniquely highlights school leaders’perceptions and actions in a deeply
embedded education market, and provides data about strategies and behaviours as they occurred.
Keywords Educational leadership, Educational policy, Ethnographic methods, Charter schools, School choice,
Education markets
Paper type Research paper
Since her appointment in 2017, President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education, Betsy
DeVos, has advocated for expanding school choice (Klein, 2017). It is important to
understand how school leaders and stakeholders are affected by and act in a school choice
environment, especially as market-based policie s and practices are becomin g an
increasingly prevalent and taken-for-granted part of institutional life in the USA (Klein,
2017). I situate this study in this educational policy environment, where school choice
policies and programs are growing and as they emphasise various private provisions of
public services (Harvey, 2005). I examine how school leaders at both district public schools
and at Education Management Organisation (EMO) charter schools in an Arizona
community made meaning of locally expanding school choice policies and programs.
Whilst popular media and research debates about school choice influence stakeholders’
viewpoints at local, state, national and, in some places, international levels, they rarely
consider how school leaders and other stakeholders actually negotiate this landscape in
local settings, nor do they examine how communities are being shaped by them. Some
debates surrounding school choice systems and, more specifically, charter schools –which
are considered public schools but often co-exist with private groups –are often based in
ideology or political partisanship rather than facts (Belfield and Levin, 2005; Reckhow et al.,
2015), thus avoiding how stakeholders are really being impacted. Therefore, discussing
school choice policies without considering evidence related to intended and unintended local
effects for students, families, teachers, school leaders, schools and communities risks
neglecting important social equity and justice issues and further segregating and isolating
some students and families as they make choices. School leaders, who carry major
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 57 No. 1, 2019
pp. 21-35
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/JEA-02-2018-0043
Received 21 February 2018
Revised 21 June 2018
28 June 2018
17 August 2018
21 August 2018
23 August 2018
24 August 2018
Accepted 31 August 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-8234.htm
21
Arizona’s
mature
education
market
To continue reading
Request your trial