Navigating Middle-of-the-Road Reforms Through Collaborative Community

• In Event: 14.045 - Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: 14.045-6 - Markets and Accountability: Critical Examinations of Business Principles in Success Measures in Educational Policy and Practice

Abstract

The current wave of educational reform is complex and situated in both instrumental rationality and democratic engagement. The educational policy landscape is one based in marketization and accountability coupled with a renewed emphasis on local autonomy, deliberation, and community – middle of the road reforms. In this climate, schools are challenged to develop organizational forms that can support collaboration and community engagement, alongside the bureaucratic and accountability-driven reforms that demand more oversight, transparency, and demonstrable results. We begin to map the emerging contradictions and opportunities that these trends present for practitioners. We also call for theoretical perspectives that examine collaboration as a response to instrumental rationality with the aim of better understanding the complex institutional pressures schools must navigate.

Authors

• Andrea J. Bingham, University of Colorado - Colorado Springs

• Patricia Burch, University of Southern California