Subtle Webs: How Nonprofits Transformed Data, Dropping Out, and US School Districts

• In Event: 20866 - Organizational Activism and Change

Abstract

How does organizational change happen in a decentralized system like US education? This paper argues that this happens neither through top-down policy mandates nor through bottom-up teacher social movements, but through the often invisible infrastructure of “outside” research, philanthropic, and nonprofit organizations. Using the case of dropout prediction systems in Chicago, Philadelphia, and NYC, I illustrate how local organizations are able to spread and scale changes through macro-level shifts in paradigms, meso-level alliances of organizations, and micro-level changes in school routines. Moreover, I document a spatial dynamic for changes to happen as urban districts become proofs of concepts, as organizations are interconnected across various areas, and as national agencies are able to support these initiatives. This presentation offers a rare view of what happens before policies and practices get into schools, and how local organizations can have national consequences.

Author

• Jose Eos Trinidad, University of California-Berkeley