Market-Like Competition and School Leader Strategy in New Orleans

• In Event: 72.065 - Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: 72.065-8 - Thinking Anew About School Choice and Competition: Multiple Perspectives and Emerging Avenues for Research

Abstract

Purpose

A compelling and widespread aim of charter school policy is to improve all schools through competition (Wohlstetter, Smith, & Farrell, 2013). The expansion of choice is thus intended to be a “tide that lifts all boats” (Hoxby, 2002). However, there is very little research documenting the process of market competition, and how it might lead to more efficient outcomes in schools. In particular, we do not understand the strategic actions of school leaders who work in a competitive environment. This paper examines whether school leaders recognize market pressures and the strategies they employ in response.

Theoretical Perspective

To understand the mechanisms of competition, I examine education markets-in-practice rather than markets-in-theory (Gewirtz, Ball, & Bowe, 1995). Existing perspectives have assumed that school leaders are able to recognize competition and have the capacity to respond to it in productive ways. In practice, school leaders choose from a typology of responses to competitive pressure, ranging from academic changes to promotional/marketing activities (Woods, Bagley, & Glatter, 1998), based in part on their market positions, backgrounds, and perceptions of competition. However, existing research has downplayed these social and cognitive dimensions of actors in education markets, which have implications for how competition occurs.
Further, prior work that examines the effects of competition, measured using proxies such as geographic density or loss of market share, has primarily used quantitative methods (e.g., Bettinger, 2005; Hoxby, 2002; Ni, 2009; Zimmer & Buddin, 2005), and has focused almost exclusively on student achievement as an outcome. This research has rarely examined the mechanisms by which competition might improve outcomes, or other possible outcomes that are important to capture, such as enhanced efficiency (Arsen & Ni, 2012) or increased stratification of students (Frankenberg, Seigel-Hawley, & Wang, 2010; Hsieh & Urquiola, 2003), strategies which can be initially uncovered using qualitative analysis.

Research Questions, Data, and Method

I use qualitative case study, including interviews, observations, and document analysis in a stratified sample of 30 schools in New Orleans. In 2012–2013, over 84% of students in New Orleans attended charter schools, making it an ideal site to explore competition. Specifically, I ask: How do school leaders behave within a competitive environment? What actions do principals identify as engaging in competitive behavior (e.g., marketing, improving instruction)? In what ways do these strategies vary across types of schools, and how are they related to the school’s position in the local marketplace?

Results and Significance

School leaders used a number of strategies in response to competition. While some reported academic and operational strategies, as policymakers’ theory of action would suggest, school leaders also responded in unforeseen ways, by, for example, finding a niche in the market, adding extracurricular programs, and marketing. Few adopted substantive changes and most focused instead on marketing and recruitment or other more superficial practices. In some cases, school leaders engaged in illicit screening and selection of students, practices which have important implications for equity.

Author

• Huriya Jabbar, The University of Texas - Austin