Disentangling the Personal Agenda: Identity and School Board Members' Perceptions of Problems and Solutions

• In Event: Research on the Superintendency and Leadership: Paper Session

Abstract

In this study, we ask three related questions. First, what are the demographic distributions of school board members across the nation? Second, what are their policy priorities? Lastly, how do the individual characteristics of school board members predict their policy priorities? Data come from a 2009 national survey of school board members containing items covering members’ perceptions of education goals, issue urgency, and important policies. Across all three of these domains, there are many significant differences between people of different subgroups, controlling for other identities as well as district contexts. These results provide many preliminary answers to questions about agenda-setting in local education politics, highlighting the importance of understanding policymakers’ identities in the study of education policy.

Authors

• Richard Blissett, Vanderbilt University - Peabody College

• Thomas L. Alsbury, Seattle Pacific University