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STRATEGIC REPRESENTATION OF SCHOOL MANAGEMENT IN TERMS OF

DEBORAH STONE

A research paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

EDU 5420 Politics in Education (Spring 2012)

Professor Frank Smith, Ph.D.

Of the Division of

ADMINISTRATIVE AND INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP

Of

THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

ST. JOHN’S UNIVERSITY

Oakdale, N.Y.

By

Marisa Forbes, Judy R. Goris-Moroff, Gary Bodenburg

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Table of Contents Chapter Page

I INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………… 3

Purpose of the Study…………………………………………………………………….. 3

Research Problem………………………………………………………………….…… 3

Research Questions……………………………………………………………………... 3

Characteristics of Competing Model …………………………………………………… 4

II REVIEW OF LITERATURE……………………………………………. 6

Definitions…………………………………………………………………………….…. 6

III. METHODOLOGY……………………………………..…………………… 15

Conceptual Framework………………………………………………………….………. 14

IV. FINDINGS…………………………………………………………………. 24

V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS………………………….. 37

Conclusions and Recommendations for Future Research

REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………… 42

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Chapter I

Introduction

The generational cycle of poverty in urban neighborhoods like Harlem is well known:

poor parents raise children with poor resources and abilities, who therefore are unable to rise out

of the restraints of poverty and thus raise their own children with the same problems (Tough,

2011, p.38). Geoffrey Canada posited that poor children in Harlem had countless obstacles to

success that a middle-class child elsewhere in the city did not have: worse schools, worse living

conditions, worse nutrition, and fewer books just to name a few. These obstacles kept them in the

vicious cycle of poverty. New York City school systems entrenched in minority urban areas are

still struggling through a traditional model in which mayoral control controls networks of schools,

administrators, teachers and parents continue to be absent.

It is this staggering reality that has inspired the analysis presented here. This chapter will

include the purpose of the study, statement of the problem, and the significance of the study. The

data contained in this chapter also offers a framework guiding the principles for the analysis of

the four competing models.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to research which model of school systems will be most

productive in a school district. Deborah Stone’s Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision

Making, provides a framework for strategic representation of goals, problems, and solution. The

question that has guided our study is “what are the chief characteristics in competing management

system in urban school reform?”

Statement of the Problem

While there have been many attempts to create effective models of school systems the

four models analyzed are: traditional model, civic capacity model, portfolio management

4    model, and the community based model. One system studied was the civic capacity model, which

is exemplified by the city of El Paso, Texas and its partnerships with the University of Texas at El

Paso. The portfolio management model was discussed by Gyurko and Henig within the New

York City system. The community based model was demonstrated by the Harlem Children’ Zone

and Promise Academy.

Characteristics of Competing Models

Clarence Stone uses the civic capacity model whereby all stakeholders, governmental and

non-governmental, come together to resolve community problems. Civic capacity is further

defined as a collective approach to problem solving and achieving a common goal when forced to

act by facing an out of the ordinary challenge. Civic capacity refers to cross-sector efforts to

address community-wide problems (Smith 2012, notes). This model addresses educational and

civic problems from a community approach.

Katrina Bulkley in Politics, Governance and the New Portfolio Models for Urban School

Reform: Between Public and Private, uses the portfolio management model which has three core

elements found in a PMM: the creation of new schools that operate with increased levels of

autonomy, uses clear and rigorous accountability system based on student and school academic

performance, and when they do not meet the accountability standards they are closed (Bulkley,

2010, p. 6). This model has been initiated fairly recently in the New York City public school

system, and the results on academic achievement of students has not been fully determined

because of the recency of its implementation.

In Paul Tough’s Whatever it Takes, the community is intrinsically involved in the

development and management of their education. Geoffrey Canada’s innovative way to help the

community was creating the Harlem Children’s Zone, a 97 block academic organization focused

on serving the needs of minority, impoverished children in Harlem.

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These models have been used to address the problems of academic achievement of

students. All of these models have unique governance styles, which effectiveness can be

analyzed through Deborah Stone’s political framework.

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Chapter II

Literature Review

In Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making (2002) by Deborah Stone, she

illuminates the concept of society by using the Market and Polis Model. This particular model

discusses the individual vs. the community ideology and the forces that fuel decision making in

the political realm. Stone discusses that the factors involved in controlling the polis are defined as

the goals, problems, and solutions (Stone, 2012). In looking at the classification of Stone’s

framework, figure 1.1 displays the organization of her information in the following way:

When examining these groups, each item influences the goals or, in the case of the

research, the educational system. In an effort to complete this analysis of the traditional education

system, in accordance with the application of Stone’s framework, the definition of the category

topics, goals, problems, solutions, and the respective subtopics, must be identified.

Review of Deborah Stone’s Key Terms and Framework-Policy Paradox:

Goals: a specific objective

Equity: the division of who gets what, when and how

Efficiency: the most output for a given input, identification of alternative courses of

action for achieving objectives.

Security: the essential needs of citizens, obligations and responsibilities of government.

Liberty: the freedom of an individual to act as long as their choices do not harm others

Problems: are portrayed from only one of many points of view.

Symbols: used to dramatize a political point.

Numbers: used to communicate and define issues.

Causes: potential accountability identifies sources and consequences.

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Interests: Multiple viewpoints and groups

Decisions: the choices made to attain the goals

Solutions: ongoing strategies for structuring relationships and coordinating behavior to

achieve collective purposes.

Inducements: Rewards, incentives, sanctions, and punishments to govern people’s

behavior

Facts: used to persuade others.

Rights: Give the power to government, groups or individuals.

Powers: A strategy to shift power.

Paradox: a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality

expresses a possible truth.

Stone begins with her identification of equity or equality under goals. Stone’s political

definition of equity is defined as “who gets what, when, and how” (Stone, 39). For Stone, equity

is the definition of membership and how people will be identified and qualified for a specific

service or expectation.

Stone states that efficiency is achieving the most output for a given input or achieving a

specific level of output for the lowest cost. Stone recognizes that some increases in output are not

worth the cost. The paradox in relation to efficiency can be stated that there is always an equal

and unequal dimension, therefore resulting in an equity and efficiency trade-off. Stone outlines

the three components of this trade-off:

1. Motivation argument; equalizations of incomes, the greater equality through

income redistribution to the poor would lead to less work and lower production;

reduce individual effort.

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2. To maintain equity government must continuously interfere with individual

choices about how to use resources: the more we have a policy of equity, the

larger the government must be.

3. Waste Argument- The administrative machinery of equality represents an actual

loss of valued resources; time could be spent doing other things (Stone, 84).

“Trying to measure efficiency is like trying to pull oneself out of quicksand without a

rope. There is no firm ground” (Stone, 65). Therefore, the paradox exists in the trade-off.

Stone mentions in chapter 4 that security is one of the human needs and plays on the

emotion of sheer survival. Security is noted as “the quest for security-whether economic,

physical, psychological or military-brings a sense of urgency to politics and is one of the enduring

sources of passion in policy controversies” (Stone, 86). Security also allows us the ability to give

us a feeling of superiority with the higher feeling of security. Deborah Stone has developed

theories related to symbolic meanings and control of numbers to alter outcomes, these outcomes

as altered may give us that altered security we have.

Deborah Stone offers her final portion of her goals section as liberty. Liberty, as outlined

by Stone, is separated into four components: Is there harm to others; there is a single criterion

serving as a distinction between behavior that affects other people and behavior that does not;

Liberty is an attribute of individuals, not social roles or groups; Liberty is a lack of interference

with individual action. The paradox of liberty exists when discussing the nature of freedom of

speech. Stone suggests that indeed the burning of the flag, although upheld as a freedom of

expression or speech, is paradoxical in kind. Although harm may not come in a physical sense, it

is present in the mental sense.

Stone classifies her second group “Problems.” This group, as well, impacts decision

making in the polis. The nature of this category is delineated into five categories. They are

9    Symbols, Numbers, Causes, Interests, and Decisions (133). Symbols are explained as anything

that stands for another. In order for a clear representation of symbols to take place, one would

need to seize the imagination or perceptions of those decoding the symbols. Stone suggests that

metaphors add implication to symbols. For her, this means that ambiguity, the capacity to have

multiple meanings, is not only a feature of symbols, but also represents the paradox as such (138).

The influence of Numbers is the second topic discussed under Stone’s “Problems”

chapter(s). Stone states that numbers can be considered clear as something is either counted or it

is not (Stone, 2012). However, the paradox exists in the form of manipulation. Although

numbers are considered non-ambiguous, they can be influenced to construct reasoning in favor of

their goal. Thus, far more important than the actual number of a measure, is how the measure is

interpreted. For example, using numbers to show middles or averages in relation to a norm and

how those norms are interpreted (Stone, 2012 p. 169).

The third aspect of Stone’s “Problems” is Causes. When a cause is identified, policy

should seek to eliminate it, consequently eliminating the problem. Often recognizing a cause in

the polis is to place burdens or blame on a set of people. Stone determines two frameworks for

interpreting the world; these are natural and social. Natural occurrences are undirected and

unguided; influence has no place (Stone, 2012). Social events are the result of will; this is the

realm of control and intent; coaxing, flattering and bribing (Stone, 2012 p.189). Defining a cause

in the polis is objective and can be considered ambiguous. Ambiguity allows room for challenges

against existing rules, institutions, and interests. The paradox exists in that the cause can

generally assign blame to the problem, yet can also create new political alliances with people who

feel they are being harmed by the same cause (Stone, 2012 p. 209).

Stone indicates that there are two types of Interests; Objective and subjective. Objective

Interests are actions or policies that would serve people best, given the objective effects and

10    consequences of those policies, policies that meet people’s essential human needs. (Stone, 2012 p.

216) These are policies a person would seek out if they had awareness about all discretions and

were uninhibited to choose. Subjective interests are those things that people believe affect them or

actions or policies that effect people and they understand what is effecting them (Stone, 2012 p.

211). The paradox lies in the Interests themselves. For example, war increases inflation but also

employment opportunities; it increases death rates but also birthrates; it destroys a nation’s

productive capacity but stimulates it at the same time (Stone, 2012 p. 212).

The final section of Stone’s framework under Problems is Decisions. Stone outlines

variances between rational decision-making and making decisions in the polis. The notion of

rational decision-making is demonstrated as a sequence of events. The sequence involves:

defining goals, imagining alternative means for attaining them, evaluating the consequences of

taking each course of action, and choosing the alternative most likely to attain the goal (Stone,

233). Decision-making in the polis is relatively different. Political goals are kept ambiguous in

the polis as to allow, “wiggle room” in the future (Stone, 2012 p. 243). This ambiguity allows

goals to function more like moving targets than fixed standards. Ambiguity of goals fosters an

environment where it is difficult to evaluate alternative actions (Stone, 2012 p. 245). The paradox

of Stone’s statements indicates that ambiguity in decision-making allows the policy maker to keep

unwanted alternatives from consideration, creating the illusion that the policy makers’ strategy is

the only feasible or possible one. Alan Greenspan is quoted as saying “I worry incessantly that I

might be too clear…If I say something which you understand fully in this regard, I probably made

a mistake” (Stone, 2012 p. 244).

Solutions are considered the final topic in discussing Policy Paradox. The five components of

solutions are inducements, rules, facts, rights, and powers. Stone divides inducements into three

parts: the inducement giver, receiver and the inducement itself (Stone, 266). They work not

11    through direct force, but by getting people to change their minds. This is stated as the rational

model of inducements. Stone demonstrates the paradox of making inducements in the polis.

There are elements of the polis which create an environment where giving out inducements is

challenging (Stone,2012 p. 274). Negative sanctions are divisive and disruptive to relationships

and therefore to the sense of community (Stone, 2012 p. 274). Positive incentives conversely,

may not function well in the polis because employees elect not to be pitted against one another

(Stone, 2012 p. 275). Another challenging component of inducements in the polis is penalties.

For example, imposing a penalty on someone else often creates costs for the giver. These types of

penalties can create material ramifications as well (Stone, 2012 p. 275). In addition, rewards can

create costs for the giver. This is because bureaucratic rules often make it costly for officials to

apply inducement. Sanctions if they are too drastic can also create costs for the giver (Stone,

2012 p. 276). Therefore, the paradox exists that inducements, although rewarding and provide

benefits, can create costs for others.

Rules are the second component of Stone’s solutions section. Politicians identify rules as

a way to distinguish policies. Rules are used to adjust social behavior as well. Stone classifies

rules in two different ways: Official and Unofficial. Official rules, as used in policy, tend to be

considered laws. Unofficial rules are those that mandate certain types of behavior in accordance

with traditional laws as well as social customs and traditions. Making rules in the polis is not an

easy task. Rules can function both as objects (produce political conflicts) and also act as weapons

within a political conflict. Subsequently, there is a propensity regarding vagueness (Stone, 2012

p. 296). Politicians use ambiguity as a refuge that serves as a paradox.

The third component in the Solutions section of Stone’s book is Facts. Information and

propaganda are discussed in terms of views of persuasion. “Information ‘enlightens’ and

‘liberates’; propaganda ‘benights’ and ‘enslaves.’ ‘Education’ in one view is ‘brainwashing’

12    ‘Learning’ in one is ‘compliance’ in the other.” Facts are presumed to be neutral. Facts are

assumed neither to promote nor persuade interests. Facts, however, do not exist in the polis

independent of interpretive lenses. The same set of facts can be described to show completely

different viewpoints. The challenge, in turn, is to establish when information becomes

propaganda and when education becomes brainwashing.

The fourth component of Stone’s Policy Paradox is the discussion of rights. Legal rights

have been a topic of long-debated discussion in American politics. Social issues have

encompassed politicians during campaigns as well as terms of office; issues that deal with rights

such as gay rights, women’s right to choose, and other basic human rights. Rights are contested

in the polis amongst citizens with conflicting interests. The polis finds a right is a claim backed

by the power of the state and is derived from the government. People can have rights only to

those things they claim and for which the state backs them (Stone, 326). Stone states that the

paradox is evident as the people who hold positions in society with large interests may have more

resources available to them. Official statements of rights are clear, and judges merely apply

formal rules to facts of the cases using logic and reason. This rationality model leaves it to the

judges to interpret formal rules based on their logic and reason (352).

The component of powers is the final topic discussed in the Solutions section of Deborah

Stone’s book. Power deals with the decision-making process and restructurings that profile

them. The idea of these reforms is that better process will wield better policies (Stone, 354).

When restructuring takes place, often times there is a restructuring of power. Power is

reallocated. This may also create a situation where current subordinate interests become

dominant (Stone, 355).

In the polis, changes in restructuring can involve changes in membership in the decision-

making process. Therefore, members can be excluded. Criterions for exclusion can include race,

13    gender, age and property. These exclusions are commonly referred to as voter qualifications. The

idea is that changes in the membership of a decision-making body will improve the outcomes

(Stone, 357). That in itself can be considered paradoxical. The restructuring of power in which a

desired outcome will improve, in fact, removes power from other members of the polis.

Deborah Stone’s Policy Paradox provides her analysis of the relationship between Goals,

Problems, and Solutions. In order to demonstrate this relationship, Figure 1.2 is a graphic

representation of the book:

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CHART II

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Chapter III

Methodology

Introduction

There were four competing management systems that were analyzed in this research

study: Traditional model, Civic Capacity, Community Based Organization Utility, and the

Portfolio Management Model. Each model was evaluated through close reading and the use of

Deborah Stone’s policy framework. Close reading of the text was used to determine the main

characteristics of each model in terms of their overall goals, difficulties accompanying each

model, and potential solutions presented to combat any real or perceived difficulties.

Research Method

A qualitative research method was used to synthesize the themes in the separate school

system models. The type of analysis is known as thematic analysis. The themes applied are from

Deborah Stone’s framework, which was used to interpret the different characteristics of school

management systems. Using goals, problems and solutions, data was synthesized in order to

further understand the traits of a traditional school model, civic capacity model, community

development model, portfolio management model.

Figure 1, the product matrix was used to further understand the case studies examined.

Author(s) Competing Policy Models

What are the Chief Characteristics of the model?

D Stone: Goals What goals does the model implicitly/explicitly seek?

D Stone: Problem What/how presented?

D Stone Solution What resolution offered?

I. NYC Traditional System

UFT Union/ Parent/ Taxpayer Coalition

2. Clarence Stone

Community Development: Civic Capacity

See Chart I

16     4 cases,

not NYC 3 Tough/ Canada

Community Development: Community-Based Organization

4. Bulkley/ Henig/ Levin

Portfolio Management Model: NYC case

Figure  1

Data Analysis

Four cases were analyzed: The traditional system, the Civic Capacity Model, the Portfolio

Management Model, and a Community/Corporate Based model.

Traditional education refers to established customs and ways of systems found in schools

that the community has deemed appropriate. Traditional schools are funded by the government

and the community and have a superintendent, board of education, and parental involvement with

the objective of following the state standards. Clarence Stone’s Civic Capacity Model was

seen in El Paso, Texas whereby the community had the capacity to self govern and solve the

community problems with education. Geoffrey Canada’s, Harlem Children’s Zone, was a

community based program that was implemented for the benefit and advancement of the society.

Bulkley,Henig, and Levin’s: The Portfolio Management Model (PPM) is a work in

progress in New York City. Bulkley describes the PPM as an investment portfolio that sets

schools with high quality education and serves the diverse needs of the district’s children. He

further describes a successful PPM as having a “central office managing a portfolio of schools

seeks diversification in the schools, so as not to put all its eggs into one instructional basket, and

tries to add and shed those that are not.” (Henig, 2010 p7). Deborah Stone’s framework was used

for the thematic analysis and assessment of the four case studies. Stone’s principals which are

17    goals, problems and solutions. In order for us to make a thematic analysis each case was studied

separately and themes most frequently presented was placed into the product matrix.

Chapter IV

Results

The four competing systems of management were evaluated using Stone’s policy

framework. Relevant quotes were extracted from the texts to analyze and present distinct

components of the different management models. The analysis is presented below in figures 2-5.

Traditional Education System

Author(s) Competing Policy Models

What are the Chief Characteristics of the model?

D Stone: Goals What goals does the model implicitly/explicitly seek?

D Stone: Problem What/how presented?

D Stone Solution What resolution offered?

I. Traditional Educational System

UFT Union/ Parent/ Taxpayer Coalition

• Teacher Unions

• Attendance through residency location

• Funded through tax payers and government

• Parent Organizations

• School Boards • Central

Admin • Superintenden

ts and bureaucracy

• Some contracting for non-instructional services

• Core curriculum

• Standardized testing

• Certification/licensing

EQUITY-All compulsory aged students are entitled to FAPE (in LRE for SPED). EFFICIENCY-Up to 13 years of assigned instruction; entrance birthdate, grade levels by age, assembly line/ factory model. 10-month school year; 6-hour day in accordance with CBA. SECURITY-Students will have free/reduced lunch when qualified. Nurse for healthcare, transportation to and from. Instrumental need. (93) LIBERTY-Government helps disadvantaged; increases their liberty to realize their goals.

NUMBERS-Cost of expenditures; budgets, salaries, benefits, funds for curriculum & resources, AYP. SYMBOLS-Ambiguity; no firm concept of responsibility of the school. CAUSES-Legitimize certain actors as fixers of the problem giving them new authority, power, and resources. Poor students, bad teachers, poor leadership. INTERESTS-PTO, TAXPACT, BOE, Central Admin, Building Admin, Union, Community Organization (Elks, Kiwanis, etc.), State/Federal government.

POWERS-School Boards have the (elected) authority. INDUCEMENTS/INCENTIVES- New APPR, AYP, RTTT and Common Core (funding), Tenure, vouchers (263). RULES-District policies, employment laws, educational law, commissioner regulations, codes of conduct (students/teachers/admin), CBA/contracts, attendance, discipline. FACTS- Critical thinking, one size fits all, report cards, NYS report card, BEDS data. RIGHTS-Compulsory Ed., Special Ed., procedural rights, translations, due process.

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DECISIONS-Superintendent & BOE are key decision-makers.

Figure  2

Civic Capacity Model

Author(s) Competing Policy Models

What are the Chief Characteristics of the model?

D Stone: Goals What goals does the model implicitly/explicitly seek?

D Stone: Problem What/how presented?

D Stone Solution What resolution offered?

2. Clarence Stone

Community Development: Civic Capacity 4 Cases not NYC

Civic Capacity is addressing major community issues to assist the well-being of the overall community. The whole community is the Polis versus individual interests. This also ties into the continuing conflict with the Status Quo.

Efficiency: The Goals within this model are efficiency because we want to obtain the most out of our educational system by creating civic capacity. Equity: Another goal is equity because within the polis there is clear evidence of wealth distinction. The major goal is the provision of consistent levels of equality within this educational system.

Welfare: The lack of civic capacity diminishes the role of community members in designing school reform to promote positive learning environments. Symbols: The use of symbolic devices such as low income, low performance versus affluent and high achievement restricts community strength through the perpetuation of low expectations and standards. Numbers: The use of numbers is to assert that it is identifiable with clear boundaries. Certain numbers of students are automatically categorized by income, test scores,

Rights It is a substantive right that all students are entitled to receive equal education. It also implies a necessity for a 2nd. Party to provide the right holder with the entitlement. Power has to be represented through school reform policies.

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etc… Figure  3

Portfolio Management Model

Author(s) Competing Policy Models

What are the Chief Characteristics of the model?

D Stone: Goals What goals does the model implicitly/explicitly seek?

D Stone: Problem What/how presented?

D Stone Solution What resolution offered?

4. Bulkley/ Henig/ Levin

Portfolio Management Model: NYC case

Mayoral Control Chancellor appoint community superintend-ent Performance e based rather than compliance based (testing) • Reform Based on corporate values • Autonomous s schools – principal has greater control over budget and staffing • Principal responsible for performance

Equity: 1. proficiency reading and math is the common goal (Bulkley, 37); Liberty: What harms to individuals should trigger government restraints on liberty (Stone, 120). 1. making government supreme (Bulkley, 28); 2. within an array of institutions intended to protect both democratic accountability and individual civil rights (Bulkley, 29);

Interests: Rhetorical Characteristics of Political Contests (Stone, 228) 1. “Each of these has found the strong support of different constituencies over the past 20 years” (Bulkley, 9) Decisions Decision Analysis (Stone, 238) 1. “single elected official” (Bulkley, 10) Numbers: Deliberate effort to stimulate creation of a natural community...in order to demonstrate common interests. (Stone, 174) 1. New Orleans-60% of students attend charter schools (Bulkley, 4); Symbols-Metaphor (Stone, 228) 1. Renaissance 2010; empowered schools with greater autonomy than district run schools (Bulkley, 4); Symbols-Synecdoches (Bulkley, 137)

Power: Changing the Size of Decision-Making Units; strategies to empower certain people over others (Stone, 369); Changing the Distribution of Power (Stone, 374) 1. “shift decision- making responsibility away from locally elected school boards and toward a disparate range of alternative venues, including private markets, higher levels of governments and mayoral control.” (Bulkley, 9) Inducement: Negative sanctions are divisive and disruptive (Stone, 274) Inducements in the Polis (282) 1. with the threat of closing under-performing schools or making dramatic transformation in those schools at the core of that accountability (Bulkley, 5); 2. closure of schools and/or end of partnerships for the management of schools when they do not meet accountability standards (Bulkley, 3. Teaching Fellows Program in NYC (Bulkley, 4. Race to the Top to provide incentives to for states and districts to

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1. not put all instructional eggs in one basket (Bulkley, 7); 2. tries to add to the portfolio those that are producing substantial benefits and shed those that are not; investment portfolio (Bulkley, 7) Symbols: 1. PMM is better understood as a contracting regime (Bulkley, 28); 2. metaphor of the consumer-driven market model integrates education policy ideas into the broader ideological battle (Bulkley, 31). 3. The stern twins of competition and accountability are imagined able sniff out and destroy influences based on partisanship, patronage, and political self-interest...(Bulkley, 52) Interests: 1. outcome of complex interactions involving voters, candidates political parties, and interest groups, competing, collaborating, and negotiating within an array of institutions (Bulkley, 29); 2. Henig argues that the decision to go PMM contracting or regime should be made selectively based on the nature of service, economic, social context and the reality of government capacity (Bulkley,

expand reliance on charters, contracting and turnarounds (Bulkley, 10); 5. market-based can shift incentives for change thereby increasing efficiency (Bulkley, 12); 6. contract schools create strong incentives for school staff to assess their own performance (Bulkley, 14); Powers- Changing the membership (Stone, 356) “a strategy for shrinking the size and power of local public sector bureaucracies” (Bulkley, 28) Inducements: 1. structure rewards and sanctions (Bulkley, 34) Rules: Precise Rules 1. define performance, define tasks, enforce contracts (Bulkley, 34); 2. frame problems and solutions as functions instead of places (Bulkley, 51) Powers: 1. shifting from top down, district managed and highly uniform educational delivery in favor of contract like arrangements in which schools are granted increased budgetary and programmatic discretion in exchange for being held accountable for the outcomes they produce (Bulkley, 28); 2. government coalitions=diminished role and influence of traditional core (Bulkley, 45); 3. larger roles for government and a shift

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30) 2. advocates of PMM who state that decisions regarding schools will not be taken out of politics but will reallocate access and influence with groups with competing views of what public education should entail (Bulkley, 30); 3. Government contracts out in other policy arenas-public education slower because of teacher unions and bureaucracies to protect their jobs (Bulkley, 34). Decisions: Decision Analysis-Tradeoffs: structuring problems where there is a great deal of uncertainty of the consequences of actions or where there are tradeoffs between different consequences of the same action 1. School autonomy is at times is in conflict with system-wide obligations... 2. Should the chancellor actively work to support schools or merely responsible to close failing schools...(Bulkley, 112) 3. The formal sctucture of mayoral control... eliminated points of friction. (Bulkley, 113) Interests: 1. ...shift of attention

from local school boards, more likely a contracting model in schools, elected officials have to worry less about pleasing the teacher unions, general purpose governments have alliances with foundations, management consultants, financial institutions, and corporations, mayoral and state control (Bulkley 45). Power: 1. Shift from a centrally run system to a portfolio of fifteen hundred autonomous schools, accountable to the chancellor and mayor through the city’s data management systems and supported by public and private services providers competing for customers, is a major institutional change. (Bulkley, 108) 2. Schools autonomy within the city’s portfolio model has its limits particularly when it runs counter to the mayor’s prerogative (Bulkley, 108) 3. Klein placed parent coordinators in every school who worked at the principal’s direction not as parent advocates, their legal authority was limited, “not every issue should be put up for a plebiscite.” (Bulkley, 97). June 2003-deal brokered to end political and legal challenges to the reforms (Bulkley, 97) Facts: Rational Decision-Making (Stone, 323) 1. Research on PMM’s needs to attend to at least 5 levels of analysis within and across cities-the city as a civic unit, central office, school

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by parents and community groups from the system to the individual school...one that centers more on foundations, new providers, national for-profits, and national non-profits groups, mayors, and governors, and less on unions, parents, and local school boards, and bureaucracies (Bulkley, 328) 2. Government policy funds PMM’s (Bulkley, 329) Influences vs. Decisions -Electoral Cycles -Philanthropic Community -Financial Community -U.S. Economy (Bulkley, 330)

operators, individual schools, and students-while keeping a close eye on a sixth (national/state context for reform). (Bulkley, 337) 2. Increasingly important that such potentially significant changes in the institutional structure of public education be noted and studied carefully. (Bulkley, 340)

Figure  4

Author(s) Competing Policy Models

What are the Chief Character-istics of the model?

D Stone: Goals What goals does the model implicitly/explicitly seek?

D Stone: Problem What/how presented?

D Stone Solution What resolution offered?

3 Tough/ Canada

Community Development/ Community-Based Organization Utility

Community Development: Community-Based Organization

EQUITY The basis of Stone’s theory of equity rests on distribution, which gets what, when, and how. Canada’s goal is to give poverty stricken people the ability to become middle class citizens by providing educational opportunities. This is especially inherent within Canada’s statement concerning who gets what when, “if you’re born poor you stay poor, and we have to even that out, we have got to give kids a chance.” EQUITY As in chapter one, chapter two again rests on Stone’s ideas of equity. Canada discusses the goal of equity through the Civil Rights Act which was intended

NUMBERS Stone’s theory proposes that problems are measured and discussed through the use of figures to show the extent of given policy problem. The entire chapter discusses the problem of poverty and its direct relation to poor education through a constant use of numbers to define the problem. For example, poverty levels are based on figures (income) as well as the many figures used to represent their lower than average testing scores. For example,” 60% of the district is below the poverty line, and They look

POWER The impulse to restructure authority in order to solve problems is inherent in chapter one as Canada explains Bloomberg’s decision to restructure the city’s education bureaucracy. In an effort to raise scores Bloomberg centralized power concerning education under the mayor’s control. Additionally, Canada seeks to provide a solution by creating a “power-sharing system” that would include parents,

23    

to demonstrate the inequality of educational resources between the races. This chapter rests on resources and the distribution of them. For example, affirmative action is discussed as way to even the playing field by distributing resources in a way that provides equality among the races. Canada also discusses equity by explaining how resources are distributed between the classes and how that distribution causes an uneven gap between the rich and poor which he purports keeps the rich, rich and the poor, poor. EQUITY Based upon the belief that early childhood development would lead to better prepared students Canada sought to provide services that help to change the parenting styles of the poor. Baby College is a program that helped to provide information and services to residents to Harlem. The goal was to provide equity in the form of knowledgeable parental practices, and is supported by remarks concerning class differences and disadvantages inherent with them. EQUITY Goal is to provide equitable social mobility for all races. Tough speaks of the divide between the races and the us vs. them mentality using Canada’s upbringing in Jim Crow South as reference. Other examples of inequities include the fact that single mothers couldn’t live in the projects because they were for married people only. Furthermore, the stipulation that the development of human resources have been concentrated in the middle class provides further structural inequities Canada seeks to fix. The poor cannot afford resources such as educational toys and books. EQUITY Despite the grim news pertaining to the English and Math Assessment scores, Canada and his Administrators however were prepared to proceed with the promise they

at their test scores to see how many prison cells will be needed.” NUMBERS Canada strategically represents the problem of poverty and lack of educational resources through the use of numbers. He defines the problems of poverty stricken areas through the use of percentages which explain life expectancy, homicide rates, gun violence, single parent homes, and poverty levels. Canada compares these issues using numbers to make correlations in order to define the problem. He also uses numbers such as test scores and income levels to compare resources between the races. For example, “Children of families on welfare had vocabularies of about 525 words where as children of professional families had a vocabulary of about 1,100 words.” Numbers were also used to define the difference in parenting styles between poverty and middle class families. CAUSES This chapter is dominated by strategic representations which delineate the problem through use of research based on proposed causes of poverty. Canada bases his idea of Baby College on causes of poverty such as parenting styles, single parent households, foster care children, child/substance abuse and lack of incentives. Stories are provided throughout that indicate parenting styles and enrichment can lead to better prospects for their children which in turn elevates various causes of poverty. These causes are backed up by use of numbers in the form of research. NUMBERS Both Tough and Canada define the problem of

principals, and teachers. School boards and charter schools provide examples of additional methods in which to restructure authority in order to solve problems. INDUCEMENTS Canada defines the solution by expressing the need for inducements as well as the effect the lack of incentives has on poverty stricken areas. Canada feels that the use of inducements is the best possible way to bring about change and that the lack of inducements over the years has created the problem at hand. In order to motivate people to change their behavior Canada feels they must be given information in which to understand their current situation with the inducement being a sound education and a brighter future. Research concerning child encouragement, experience with amount and kinds of language, as well as attitudes towards life provide the underpinnings that allow the poverty stricken polis to gain a middle class life-style. INDUCEMENT The main purpose of Baby College is provide a better home environment for poor children through use of inducements. Throughout the program inducements such as free breakfast, lunch, various services, and 25 dollar checks are used to help change the behavior of the poor in order to provide for a better future. Consequently,

24    

made that “each student entering sixth grade would graduate from high school with a successful academic record, meaning that they would be at the very least, on grade level in Math and English”. pg. 133 Canada’s fundamental belief behind this promise was that if all students in Harlem are provided with an equal opportunity of education then they would be able to obtain a college degree and more importantly position themselves in career jobs that would not only benefit themselves personally but their society as well. LIBERTY & EQUITY Not wanting to succumb to the external and internal pressures, Canada maintained his liberty where he convinced his funders for an additional opportunity to operate his school with the fundamental belief that “ the only way to save large numbers of poor children in a neighborhood like Harlem was to give them all a high-quality education, even the least prepared, beginning at a very young age, and to do it in the context of a broader transformation of the entire community.” pg. 163 EQUITY & SECURITY The overall behavioral culture amongst the students in Harlem Children Zone needed stricter enforcement. It was now Glen Pinder’s responsibility to set into place a universal policy that students had to abide by for the provision of a more secure learning environment that all participate in. EQUITY From the James Heckman’s study “that a child learns early on make it easier for him to master more complex skills as he grows up.” (pg. 193), Canada made significant modifications to HCZ’s lottery system in efforts to sustain his conveyor belt system that clearly aligns to Heckman’s study in early-childhood initiative. If Canada is successful with this system, then his vision for an equal and

through use of numbers. For example, poverty rates as well as comparisons between test scores and incomes use numbers to show the extent of the problem. These numbers are also used to represent certain causes for intellectually unprepared students. Likelihood of race and social mobility are also given in the form of numbers. NUMBERS Canada and his administrators are well aware the success of their school and more importantly their student’s academic success depended solely on their collectively ability for them to increase the passing percentages on the yearly citywide math and reading examinations. Overall, these low performing numbers are the exact issues that need drastic improvement. CAUSES, INTERESTS & DECISIONS Druckenmiller strongly believed that Harlem Children’s Zone should give up control to KIPP because they were highly successful in achieving better academic performance both in the classroom and on the citywide Math and Reading examinations. Internally, Grey’s fundamental belief for which not all these students could succeed reached its’ pinnacle. Overall, a certain number of these students labeled the “Bad Apples” brought with them too much emotional issues that prevented her staff from effectively educating these individuals. NUMBERS Despite the abundant “spreadsheets, looking for patterns, targeting students for extra help, identifying specific areas that tutors should focus on.” pg. 184, Kate Shoemaker quickly

inducements in form of penalties such as child removal or ACS involvement seek to discourage poor practices. RULES The solution is to change the cultural context of poor neighborhood by providing high-quality programs. In an effort to improve social mobility between the classes Canada plans to surround the community with values and priorities that support education and sound parental practices. Canada’s solution is defined by the rules which he believes have kept the poor from gaining social mobility such as public assistance, welfare, or work rules. RULES Even though Canada’s vision was to provide all Harlem’s children with equal opportunity to education, he was well aware the overall continuation of his school relied on the success of his students’ improvement within these citywide examinations. With this, he set in place the primary rule that his administrators and staff were to put in place quality educational programs and time for which these students would focus on preparing for these examinations. POWER With an emphasis to maintain control of his organization while trying to implement new ideas to help sustain his vision, Canada replaced Grey with Mr. Glen Pinder. With the replacements

25    

quality education for all Harlem maybe achievable. LIBERTY & EQUITY Positive liberty in having active support to gain education. This is seen in this chapter through the focus on standardized test scores, and the effort to have minority scores look like those of students from more affluent districts. “McKessey knew that if the third grade fell short of Canada’s ideal by a few points-if they pulled in merely Scarsdale-level numbers, let’s say-he wouldn’t be fired; he might even get a parade.” EQUITY Student’s feelings of inequity “Now that I’m taking it more seriously, they’re going to kick us all out.” he said. “I just don’t think it’s fair. I’ve worked too hard to be getting kicked out school.” Efforts on Canada’s part to make the school and environment to equalize the playing field for the students in the school. “The changes, he wrote,” would permit us the opportunity to focus our efforts on making the middle school the best possible environment for a child to be educated.” Who deserves to receive the right to a good education? “We are getting rid of the riffraff so we can move forward.” EQUITY Distributive process is seen to be unfair. Membership into Harlem Children Zone programs is selective. Who should receive benefits from these services? Can everyone be helped? “Why did Victor Jr. get to be one of the potentially lucky ones, while a baby born into similar circumstances in Detroit or Oakland or Camden, New Jersey, still had so little chance of faring well?”

identified there “seemed to be more emotional or psychological issues than they were academic or intellectual.” pg. 185 DECISIONS The complex issues the HCZ middle school administrators and staff were experiencing with these students is evident where, “the longer you wait to intervene with poor children, the harder your job is going to be.” (pg. 196) SYMBOLS Canada questions how he can have his students do the absolute best. “What that article didn’t say is that if you shoot the cannonball fast enough, it will actually escape earth’s gravity-and go into orbit The question is what it takes to achieve escape velocity.” Stories of change. “Perfectly educated fifth graders wouldn’t change Harlem; it was more likely, in fact, that Harlem would change those perfectly educated fifth-graders, and for the worse.” NUMBERS “Although those numbers in isolation might seem like a clear cause for concern, they were mostly ignored or misunderstood, buring as they were in a bewildering mound of data.” MISUNDERSTANDING NUMBERS “Stan Drunkenmiller said to the board that from what he could tell, it looked like the math scores at the elementary school had gone up in the first year. In fact, they had fallen.” SYMBOLS You can’t change everything at once. Have to deal with situations on a step by step basis.

of certain key senior administrators and teachers, Canada must now regroup. RULES & INDUCEMENTS - With the promotion of Mr. Chris Finn to Dean of Students, Glen Pinder was successfully able to incorporate specific rules within the school that involved the teachers as well which further help transformed the halls and classrooms of Harlem Children Zone into a legitimate learning environment. INDUCEMENTS For the conveyor belt system to become successful, it was self-evident to Canada that parents needed to become more involved within their children’s education, especially in the earliest developmental years. “So their belief was that parents - even those who had never graduated from high school - would be more likely to respond to encouragement to change their behavior if they understood that the changes they were being urged were rooted in solid research.” (pg. 200) POWERS Decentralization of power in McKessey’s school. “He had faith in his team, and almost unlimited resources to draw on. Why couldn’t they get every single student to grade level?” POWERS Power is determined by the decision-makers and by those who present the fact. “He felt they had put

26    

“The person who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” Stories of change were told the parents and now they have been faced with disappointment. “What are you going to do about that?” NUMBERS Emphasis placed on numbers and their meanings. Canada also withheld information (FACTS) from parents that could have helped them make a better decision. “I really thought we were going to do much better...If I had honestly thought that we weren’t going to do better, and then I would have said something much earlier.” SYMBOLS Metaphor-contamination of neighborhood—“The philosophy behind the project is simple,” Obama explained. “If poverty is a disease that infects an entire community in the form of unemployment and violence, failing schools and broken homes, then we can’t just treat those symptoms in isolation. We have to heal that entire community.”

their trust in him and he had failed.” “He had identified nine constituents whose reactions he thought it was important to consider including students, parents, staff, funders, and the city department of education.” RIGHTS Should students have a substantive right to receiving an education? “We are getting rid of the riffraff so we can move forward.” Spoken by Pinder. RIGHTS Positive substantive right—right to education “I think it would give Americans a belief again that not only can you do something, but we should do something—that there’s self-interest involved in helping these kids. In the end, it’s going to make American a stronger country.”

Figure  5  

27    

Traditional School System

The New York City public school system is presented as the traditional model of

management. In this model, decision-making is highly bureaucratic where parent organizations,

school boards, and superintendents play significant roles (Bulkey & Henig, 2010). Additionally,

one of the most integral voices of this particular system is that of the teacher’s union. The United

Federation of Teachers (UFT) plays a major role in this highly bureaucratic model through

collective bargaining. In a traditional system, there is no market influence. Stakeholders outside

of the school environment, (parents, business, and other community members) have a voice but

no direct input in decision-making. In recent years, stakeholders have expressed dissatisfaction

with student outcomes. This outcry has led to an increased impetus for the implementation of

new management models that would be established to further enhance student outcomes on a

national scale.

Portfolio Management Model

The Portfolio Management Model (PMM) is considered one way of potentially redeeming

the school system to address poor student performance. The model has been adopted nationwide

in various urban areas; however we focus on the adaptation of the portfolio management model in

New York City.

28    Policy Paradox Framework and the Traditional School System Model

Stone’s Policy Paradox framework enlightens us to the competing goals that exist within

the traditional public school system. The debate and criticism over the traditional school system

brings out goals that are directly aligned with those mentioned by Deborah Stone in Policy

Paradox. A key goal of the educational school system is equity. In recent years, there have been

federal and state mandates put in place through the establishment of the No Child Left Behind Act

(NCLB), which intends to give schools and districts in need of financial support, enough

assistance to create a level playing field for all students within the public school system. NCLB

mandated nationwide tests in both mathematics and reading on the elementary level, in a wide-

reaching attempt for every student to reach proficiency in those subjects by 2014. If this lofty

goal was not achieved, schools would face a series of escalating sanctions, ultimately resulting in

more harm than good for the students present in these situations. Hence, it becomes evident that

the traditional school system is writhe with longstanding bureaucracy that forms a shield around

political decision-making and change to penetrate. There is a lack of efficiency within the

traditional school system, as “there are many different and autonomous schools competing for

limited district resources” (Henig & Bulkey, 2010 p. xi). This competition leads to increased

difficulty in the fight for equity within the educational system.

Consequently, the fight for equity within the traditional school system is defeated by the

inequities found within it, allowing some schools to acquire more resources than others. The

problem of numbers is seen all too often. Schools that need help, but score poorly, for example on

standardized tests, are denied additionally resources, or funds are taken away. This inequity is

drastically seen through the performance gap within the New York City school districts, in which

some schools are able to perform well and have even risen to the level of “empowered schools,”

and still others have been riddled with constant levels of underperformance. Additionally, the

29    influence of charter, performance, and private schools further add to inequity levels, in which,

“the political and financial support of national politicians…has also aided reforms with the broad

contours of a PMM” (Henig & Bulkey, 2010 p. 21). The traditional system seems to demonstrate

a liberty-equality tradeoff, in which by giving all students the freedom to have an education, there

are some students who receive less than the best quality education, which in turn is viewed as

inequitable. In Stone’s framework, combating this issue may require an unmanipulated view of

the facts, in which researchers and political actors use the information from schools, along with

test scores and demographics, to determine areas of need and determine the precise areas where

schools would need the most support.

Among the other goals associated with the traditional school system is security, which is

closely aligned with the objectives espoused in Stone’s Policy Paradox framework. In the

traditional school system, unions play an essential role in collective bargaining and therefore in

the balancing of power between districts, school leaders, and other stakeholders within the school

system. The teachers’ union, particularly the United Federation of Teachers of New York City, is

seen as being very powerful. The increased power of the teacher’s union sometimes counters top-

down decision making in the school system, allowing the voice of the teachers to be heard (Henig

& Bulkey, 2010 p. 9). In spite of this pushback, there are still problems found within this system.

Four competing management systems were evaluated using Stone’s Policy Paradox

framework. Relevant quotes were extracted from the texts, then used to analyze and present

distinct components of the different management models.

30    Traditional School System

The New York City public school system was analyzed as the traditional model of

governance. In this model, decision-making is highly bureaucratic where parent organizations,

school boards, and superintendents play a crucial role in decision making (Bulkley, Henig, &

Levin, 2010). Additionally, the teacher’s union contributes significantly in this highly

bureaucratic model. Despite this influence, there have been marked inequities within this

traditional system, particularly the disparate results in student achievement. Low performing

schools under this system have continued to stably perform at a low rate. The poor performance

of these schools has brought local, state, and national concerns, which has spurred the

implementation and push for the Portfolio Management Model (PMM).

The Portfolio Management Model (PMM)

The second system analyzed was the Portfolio Management Model (PMM), which is

considered one way of potentially redeeming the current school system in a vast attempt to

address poor student performance. This model is composed of three strategies for educational

reform: differentiation of schools, market based reform, and standards based reform (Bulkley,

Henig, & Levin, 2010).

These three components implemented through the Portfolio Management Model (PMM)

have been established in the New York City public school system under Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

In order to implement this system, the Mayor transitioned from a system of failed

decentralization of schools, to a far more centralized system, in order to weaken the previously

held bureaucratic model. The goal post-decentralization is to have a strongly autonomous

decentralized system, which “moves important resources and authority to more protected venues”

31    (Bulkley et. al., 2010). By doing this, the Portfolio Management Model would accomplish the

goal of having schools function independently.

Harlem Children Zone (HCZ): Community Based Organization Utility

The Harlem Children Zone was the third governance model analyzed in this study.

Through the book, we meet Geoffrey Canada, whose fight for educational equity transcended to

the community in underdeveloped areas. Through the development of independent programs and

charter schools, he aimed at addressing the failings of the educational system in these urban areas.

His desire to implement a community approach was seen through trying to bring on board family

members to address the overarching problem of educational insufficiency in the Harlem area. His

plan included using the “conveyor belt model” to follow and support students through their

educational careers (Tough, 2008).

Civic Capacity: Clarence Stone

The Civic Capacity model established by Clarence Stone focuses on establishing

educational equity through addressing the weak academic performance of students. The model

seeks to enhance student performance by integrating different members of both the school and

community at large. The idea of Civic Capacity is outlined in El Paso, Texas, in which educators,

parents, students, government officials, and business owners worked together in an attempt to

ameliorate the problem of poor educational achievement. Due to the low wage conditions of this

area, the educators in the district sought partners from outside organizations to target the low

academic performance of students. In doing this, they were able to garner support and create

initiatives to tackle the problem of low academic performance. The collaborative has been formed

32    through this initiative, which also works with higher educational institutions to gain support and

partnerships in their effort to achieve continued success in the educational sphere.

Findings

The analysis of quotes from the aforementioned models reveals important conclusions

related to Stone’s Policy Paradox framework. All four models reveal the important goal of equity

within the school system, as all, to some degree are fighting for improved academic performance

amongst children within typically underperforming school systems. Each competing model aims

to do this in various ways.

In the traditional school system, there have been standards based reform initiatives,

purposefully implemented in an attempt to lessen the gap in academic performance within New

York City schools. As we already know, a key goal of the educational school system is equity.

In recent years, there have been federal and state mandates set in place through the establishment

of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which intends to give schools and districts in need of

financial support, enough assistance to create a level playing field for all students within the

public school system. NCLB mandated nationwide tests in both mathematics and reading on the

elementary level, in a wide-reaching attempt for every student to reach proficiency in those

subjects by 2014. If this lofty goal was not achieved, schools would face a series of escalating

sanctions, ultimately resulting in more harm than good for the students engaged. Hence, it

becomes evident that the traditional school system is writhe with longstanding bureaucracy that

33    forms a shield around political decision-making and potential change. There is a lack of

efficiency within the traditional school system, as “there are many different and autonomous

schools competing for limited district resources” (Henig & Bulkey, 2010 p. xi). This competition

leads to increased difficulty in the fight for equity within the educational system. Consequently,

the fight for equity within the traditional school system is defeated by the inequities found within

it, allowing some schools to acquire more resources than others.

The problem of numbers is seen all too often. Schools that need help, but score poorly, for

example on standardized tests, are often denied additionally resources. In some cases, schools are

further penalized by having funds taken away from their already dwindling budgets. This inequity

is drastically seen through the performance gap within the New York City school districts, in

which some schools are able to perform well and have even risen to the level of “empowered

schools,” and still others have been riddled with constant levels of underperformance.

Additionally, the influence of charter, performance, and private schools further add to inequity

levels, in which, “the political and financial support of national politicians…has also aided

reforms with the broad contours of a PMM” (Henig & Bulkey, 2010 p. 21). The traditional system

seems to demonstrate a liberty-equality trade-off, in which by giving all students the freedom to

have an education, there are some students who receive less than the best quality education, a

reality that is clearly inequitable. In Stone’s framework, combating this issue may require an

unadulterated view of the facts, in which researchers and political actors use the information from

schools, along with test scores and demographics, to determine areas of need and determine the

precise areas where schools would need the most support.

34    

Another problem found within the traditional system is the presence of influential interest

groups that dominate the conversation. Each player within the school system claims membership

to a particular interest group, and often speaks on their behalf. These interests groups have “a

stake in the issue and are affected by it” and as a result can be very powerful in advancing a

particular agenda. “Their skills and cooperation can be critical determinants of an

administration’s success…they can muster disproportionate political weight…”(pg. 44) There lies

power in numbers and when unions mobilize they tend to have significant influence. In

traditional systems, the union is central to the proper functioning of the schools. However, under

the portfolio management model, the strength of the union is compromised which ultimately leads

to greater decentralization of power within the school system.

More recently, through the implementation of the Portfolio Management Model (PMM),

we see a battle for equity through the push for students to achieve higher academic performance.

As a foundational goal, the PMM has declared the pursuit of “clear academic expectations for all

students; including high expectations for all students regardless of background; alignment or

increased coherence of key elements of the system with the standards...” (Bulkley et al., 2010 pg.

16). Though the aim of this model is to promote equity through higher levels of student

achievement, it accomplishes this by utilizing a “market mechanism designed to increase

competition within public education” (Bulkley et al. p. 5, 2010). This goal of equity is also

influenced by interest groups.

Interest groups may be viewed as a problem in the implementation of the new Portfolio

Management Model. Teachers’ Unions, in particular, were vocal in their dissent against the

establishment of this model. In order to thwart the impact of the teachers’ union, “the

Bloomberg-Klein team launched a series of reforms that were grounded in management theories,

35    articulated in corporate values and metaphors, informed by their interpretation of failures locally

and in other cities, and planned by teams of external consultants” (Bulkley et al. p. 93, 2010).

This mobilization effort aimed to first weaken the conventional traditional system through

centralization, and then build up autonomous schools and districts through PMM. There were,

however, several problems to the implementation of the Portfolio Management Model.

According to Stone’s framework, there are problems that can arise when trying to

implement political goals. With the implementation of the Portfolio Management Model (PMM),

Bloomberg and his administration utilized stories to influence the masses. Stories and metaphors

are used as symbolic devices to sway the minds of the populace. Through careful textual

analysis, it was found that Mayor Bloomberg’s administration used the story of illusory change to

convince parents and members of the community that the new PMM initiative would be in the

best interest of students. They used numbers to convey the strength of PMM through the

performance of charter schools; however, many critics “argued that student achievement

outcomes were narrowly defined, substantively misleading and artfully manipulated” (Bulkley et

al., p. 92, 2010). Additionally, metaphors were also used to increase the community’s ethos and

support of PMM. Bloomberg in his speech on Martin Luther King Jr. day conveyed the changes

that would be made to the education system as “reforms that were clothed in a civil rights garb ”

(Tough, 2008). The value system was somewhat skewed through this perception and the goals of

equity sidestepped as there was increased focus placed on implementing the program than on

creating an equitable playing field for all students.

It is also evident that the Harlem Children Zone had equity at the core of its structure.

Geoffrey Canada, the head of the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) endeavored to find ways to

greatly enhance academic and social achievement to counterbalance an inequitable start to much

36    of the minority population in Harlem. The Harlem Children’s Zone started out as a community

based organization which strives to unite parents and educators alike with an effort to effect

educational change. The overall goal of the program was to use a strong educational foundation

in established charter schools and community programs to “contaminate” the neighboring

environment or in other words engender heavy influence and positive change by the students

involved.

Through textual analysis of Whatever it Takes, there were problems faced by this

initiative in acquiring equity for the students involved in the program, and for the neighborhood

children in general. One such problem involved the focus on numbers, which overshadowed the

starting goals of the program. While numbers could be used to help the district through test

scores and increased funding, it could also be used to determine which funds to cut in certain

programs. Textual analysis has yielded the increased pressure to have high standardized test

scores, directly correlated with the level of funding. Poor test results from the middle school

students led Drunkenmiller, a chief corporate funder, to encourage Geoffrey Canada to adapt a

corporate model of governance and thus, close the middle school to focus on the elementary

levels, where he may be more successful with his conveyor belt model of learning. This push

transitioned the Harlem Children Zone from a community based organization to a more corporate

model. This model embraced a newfound focus on test results, more so than any other form of

learning in the school system. Yet, academic performance still struggled throughout the charter

program, despite this emphasis placed on test scores, the countless hours spent in school and

preparing for tests, and the private funds invested in the program (Tough, 2008). All three of these

models of governance (Traditional school system, Portfolio Management Model and

37    Community/Corporate based model) have been tested but cease to yield the results needed to have

impact on the educational system and student performance as a whole.

Clarence Stone’s model of Civic Capacity found in El Paso, Texas, also has student

achievement and equity at the core of its model. Central to the model is standards based reforms,

which “includes the principle that all children can achieve at a high level with appropriate

learning opportunities.” This model adopted a framework of collective involvement of all

stakeholders, which includes creating and forming new relationships to impact the schools and

community as a whole. Overcoming the potential conflicts that could have been formed amongst

interest group was one problem to this governance model, which did not end up working in other

arenas, (i.e. Philadelphia or Boston), partly because of discordance amongst different interest

groups in achieving their successive goals. In the El Paso model, various interest groups were

able to come together, and share powers through decentralization to develop community based

reform aimed at improving the school system.

Conclusion (Marisa Forbes)

This study used content analysis to analyze four governance models (traditional school

system model, the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ), the Portfolio Management Model (PMM) and

Civic Capacity in El Paso) using Stone’s Policy Paradox framework. The analysis revealed that

Clarence Stone’s model of Civic Capacity was most effective in achieving the goals of equity and

creating a unified environment to development civic and educational change.

38    

The overarching goal of all the governance models presented was that of equity. Despite

having a unified goal, there were problems faced in each system that acted as roadblocks to

achieving sustainable change. In the traditional system, difficulties arose through the problem of

bureaucracy in the school system and an unwillingness to change. Such imbalance of power

further enforced the inequities found within the school system. The Portfolio Management Model

uses “differentiation of schools, market based reform and standards based reform,” to increase

academic achievement among students (Henig et al., 2008). This governance model has not

proven successful partly because of the fight for power that still exists within the public school

system. Additionally, the political actors’ focus on defending the PMM model interfered with

achieving equity within the school system. Problems with numbers and symbols prevented equity

from being achieved in the school system. Despite the implementation of the PMM there have

been no definitive results showing the impact of such a model on the overall public school

system. The Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) had great intentions of achieving equity for the

youth in Harlem through charter school and other programs to assist students socially and

academically. However, with pressures from outside entities, particularly funding partners, as

well as the increased focus on numbers, the HCZ movement was not able to show any significant

improvement in student achievement until the year it decided to close its doors to improve it’s

model. With that said, the community-corporate model showed somewhat of a contradiction in

that the ideal behind it were not achieved because of the interference from outside corporate

entities.

The most successful model proved to be the civic capacity model. In this model, all

community members were able to work together to achieve equity with little to no conflict.

Unlike the other models discussed, there were several problems including conflicts between

39    interest groups which stunted the models from achieving the cooperative framework that was seen

in the civic capacity model. Though there were many different models presented, the civic

capacity models displays the most effectiveness as far as a balanced system of power, in which

decisions can be made that are in the best interest of students.

40    

Chapter V

Conclusion and Recommendations (Judy Goris-Moroff)

Stone’s theory of political structure was used to analyze varying models of school systems

and their capacity to improve urban educational environments. Applying Stone’s framework to

urban districts we saw that the Civic Capacity model was the most effective governance system.

In evaluating the remaining frameworks several shortcomings with regard to efficacy were

illuminated. Among these problems were how to ensure equity, increase all student’s

achievement while keeping costs and efficiency under control. Each of the models reviewed

presented different approaches to resolving these issues. The New York City or traditional model

is based on bureaucracy. This leads to the continuation of “haves” and “have-nots” based upon

socio economic factors. Canada attempted to expel individuals out of the system by use of a

lottery, hoping that this would reverse the lack of equity and achievement in New York City.

Unfortunately such an approach proved ineffective and large amounts of money were spent with

very few results. New York City continues to use the Portfolio Management Model “PMM”

which has equity as its primary goal, but this has largely been a failure and has led to only

superficial changes to the system as a whole.

Unlike New York City, El Paso, Texas was able to establish a comprehensive program.

The community united stakeholders outside of the traditional bureaucracy. Church leaders,

business leaders, organization leaders and other stakeholders collaborated in an effort to change

education and the economy.

Our research reemphasizes the notion that urban school districts in large part all face the

same issues; it is how they respond to those issues that differentiate the successful communities

from the ones that continue to decline. The community inclusive models, where all stakeholders

come together with educators and the government tend to succeed, while bureaucratic models,

41    which exclude stakeholders, tend to fail. Full capacity relies on all stakeholders and is based

upon the basic American principle of democracy, allowing everyone an opportunity to be engaged

in the process. When people are included, civil responsibility is attained and everyone has a stake

in the outcome of the process. Involving the entire community helps to ensure that we will not

lose focus on the overarching goal of student achievement. In doing so, we can elevate

educational leadership from simply a political struggle over values and ideas to a constructive

dialogue, culminating in an effective solution for those who are most at risk.

 

Conclusion and Recommendations (G. Bodenburg)

Deborah Stone’s political framework was used to provide textual analysis of four types of

educational systems. The Traditional Educational System (urban/NYC) model was used as well

as Clarence Stone’s Civic Capacity, Tough’s, Community-Based Model, and Bulkley, Henig, and

Levin’s Portfolio Management Model. Through this research, it was shown that indeed the Civic

Capacity was the most successful in developing a sound educational system. In this model, all

community members are the Polis and are considered stakeholders. Therefore, all needs of the

community can be addressed instead of needs of certain interest groups or individual interests.

Although the Traditional Educational System has gravitated toward a bureaucratic model in

which self-interests maintain power and dictate equity, this system is generally based on

community involvement. Generally, this model is dictated through socio-economic status and

influence. Geoffrey Canada, in his attempt to maintain fairness and equity, used a lottery system

in which students were chosen at random to participate in his program. The model exposed that

unloading large amounts of money from private investors proved ineffective as Canada ultimately

had to close the middle school due to poor results.

42     The Traditional Educational school systems (NYC) along with suburban school systems,

respectfully, rely on Board of Education members or Chancellors to dictate policy and act upon

what they feel is best for their communities. There is very little community involvement in which

those decision-makers truly engage themselves in what the community wants. The research

shows that educational systems that do not include the community as a whole and include all

stakeholders in the decision-making process tend to fall short of their goals. Those bureaucratic

models rely on self-interest and do not address community issues. The research also shows, as in

El Paso, Texas, that including all the community stakeholders, such as business owners, religious

leaders, and educational leaders, proved positively that when all interest groups come together

and have a voice, these systems will be beneficial to students and community members.

The days of dictatorial leadership should be an element of the past. Educational leaders

are visionaries that must challenge the current educational models and extend their leadership

power in to the community. When asserting these basic democratic rights, the educational

community is empowering families while maintaining accountability for their children’s

education and the communities they reside in. Teachers and educational leaders in other parts of

the world are revered and held in the highest regards in their communities. Developing a system

in which all community stakeholders are involved and accountable, will bring that reverence back

to the profession.

43    

References

Buckley, K. E., Henig, J.R., Henry H.M. (2010) Between Public and Private. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press

Stone, D. (2012) Policy Paradox. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc

Tough, P. (2008) Whatever It Takes. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company