Beyond Economics: Using Sociological Lenses to Explore Market Forces in Education

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

In the past several decades, there has been a growth in the number and scale of market-based reforms in public education. Research examining such reforms has primarily used economic frameworks, perhaps unsurprisingly, given that economic principles typically undergird such policies. However, such analyses often disregard that schools are highly institutionalized organizations, supported by strong norms, values, and taken-for-granted assumptions, which can result in practices that are not necessarily most efficient or effective, or that are unresponsive to market pressures. Indeed, there has been a recent increase in research on market-based reforms that uses social and institutional approaches. This session presents several papers, both conceptual and empirical, that each exemplify the potential for sociological and organizational approaches to inform education policy.

Sub Unit

• Division L - Educational Policies and Politics / Division L - Section 4: School Choice and Market Reforms

Chair

• Scott Davies, University of Toronto - OISE

Papers

• Unpacking the Panacea: Exploring How Field-Level Pressures and Inhabited Actors Influence the Course of Competition - Maxwell Yurkofsky, Harvard University

• Between Structure and Agency: Contextualizing School Leaders' Strategic Responses to Market Pressures - Huriya Jabbar, The University of Texas - Austin

• Catholic Schools and Charter Schools: Competition, Co-Optation, and Confusion - Carol Ann MacGregor, Loyola University New Orleans

• Logics of Reform: Portfolio Management in Philadelphia - Rand Quinn, University of Pennsylvania

Discussant

• Patricia Burch, University of Southern California