More Heat Than Light: An Organizational Analysis of New Graduate Schools of Education

• In Event: Exploring Strategies to Address Needs in the Teaching Workforce

Abstract

This organizational analysis examines a historic shift in the way that teachers are being prepared to teach in public schools at new graduate schools of education (nGSEs). nGSEs are stand-alone graduate schools that offer initial teacher preparation and licensure and are state certified to grant master’s degrees in education. The objective is to construct an organizational analysis of a new population of organizations, nGSEs. By conducting a comprehensive nationwide analysis, this paper will (1) shed light on the organizational characteristics of nGSEs, highlighting what sets them apart from traditional schools of education, and (2) analyze how the emergence of nGSEs is inextricably linked to the marketization of public education and the influence of well-funded and well-heard reformers in the private sector.

Authors

• Reid Jewett Smith, Boston College

• Marisa Olivo, Boston College