Making Tutoring Quasi-Markets in Public Schools: Education Marketization under the No Child Left Behind Act

• In Event: 207 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 20. Educational Policy

Abstract

Neoliberal policy reforms extend competition and regulation of market mechanisms into previously state-sponsored functions, such as public schooling. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requires that underperforming schools create federally financed tutoring markets for low-income students. NCLB Tutoring program exemplifies characteristics of neoliberal education policy through its state-private company hybrid design. This study contributes to critical education policy scholarship by offering an analysis of organizational processes of implementing a federal education marketization mandate. My research questions are: 1) What are the organizational processes of making tutoring quasi-markets? 2) How do public school administrators and tutoring companies conceptualize market-like mechanisms: competition, bias, interference, and informed parent-consumers? I argue that program operators treat market competition as the main organizational focus, which diverts administrative attention and other resources from substantive educational goals. In the public sector, state- and school district-level administrators prioritized competition, while deprioritizing program quality monitoring. In the private sector, for-profit tutoring providers criticized public schools, and supported expanding public schools’ utilization of tutoring company services. My conclusion considers implications of market-based policies on the organization and production of public education.

Author

• Kyla Walters, University of Massachusetts-Amherst