Testing State Attributes' Relationship With State Policy Networks of Curricular Resources

• In Event: 35.077 - MTCC Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: 35.077-5 - Understanding Education Politics and Policy Networks With Social Network Analysis

Abstract

Research on Common Core State Standards (CCSS) development suggests that policy entrepreneurs believed common standards could enable the creation and sharing of high quality curricular resources across state lines (Kornhaber, Griffith, & Tyler, 2014), thereby improving the quality of classroom instruction. However, in between common standards and improved classroom practices are state education agencies (SEAs), as SEAs gather, endorse, and sometimes create resources to support state standards and build instructional capacity among local actors (Massell, 1998).

When many states adopted the CCSS in 2010, states took distinct approaches to supporting standards implementation through the resources they provided. Our prior research investigated the extent to which states were sharing resources with each other, the organizations to which states most commonly turned, and the types of resources states were providing for secondary English/language arts (ELA). We found a small group of central actors to which five or more states linked and more practical resources from states winning Race to the Top funds (Authors, 2016). We view the network of connections between states and organizations as a policy network influencing instructional reform. However, the factors leading states to link to particular organizations or other states, as well as to provide a greater proportion of practical resources, are unclear.

To surface the reasons that states are taking particular approaches to the resources they provide, we conduct a mixed methods study, analyzing data from in-depth interviews with 18 state education agency ELA coordinators together with social network data on the connections between states and organizations.

Our research questions are (1) according to state coordinators, why have states taken particular approaches to resource selection and dissemination? and (2) to what extent do state attributes like governing party, Race to the Top status, and degree of local control predict states providing materials from common organizations and higher proportions of practical resources? We use the Quadratic Assignment Procedure regression feature within UCINET (Borgatti, Everett, & Freeman, 2002) to compare matrices representing connections between states and organizations to those representing state attributes. We use qualitative analysis to categorize ELA coordinators’ resource selection and dissemination strategies, as well as state attributes they mention as influencing the types of resources they have provided (Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña, 2014).

Preliminary findings indicate that little variance was explained by the variables included in the model; we draw on findings from our interviews to illustrate why this is the case. Secondary ELA coordinators found state websites cumbersome and difficult to edit; thus, they often turned to unofficial sites that could be more easily edited. Coordinators also suggested that other factors, like participation in professional networks, influenced their resource selection.

This study refines studies of policy networks in education by examining not only how organizational actors are connected, but also assessing the variables predicting these connections. By including qualitative data from interviews with key stakeholders, this paper speaks to both macro-level variables influencing policy networks at the national level and the micro-level motivation of individual actors influential in creating these networks.

Authors

• Serena Jean Salloum, Ball State University

• Emily Hodge, Montclair State University

• Susanna Latham Benko, Ball State University