Citizenship Development and the Market’s Impact: Examining Democratic Learning in Charter Schools in Two Regions

Abstract

The marketization of U.S. schools has increasingly complicated and even undermined the democratic aims of education, causing many to argue that democratic and market ideologies are fundamentally opposed. This meta-ethnographic study uses conceptual tools from democratic theory and the research on civic education to investigate how leaders in one market-based organization—charter schools—grapple with tensions between the market and democracy in fostering the democratic orientations of their students and parents. Findings reveal that charter leaders primarily facilitate democratic learning opportunities that advance their organizational interests and promote a narrow and more individualistic conceptualization of democracy at the expense of a communitarian, justice-oriented one. The bounded vision of democracy observed in charter school practices suggests that market pressures may drive charters to focus their democratic engagement on the instrumental aims of ensuring their organizational survival in a competitive educational marketplace, despite espoused commitments to broader democratic aims.

Keywords

charter schools market-based reform democratic engagement

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Amrein-Beardsley

(2008). Methodological concerns about the education value-added assessment system. Educational Researcher, 37(2), 65–75. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X08316420

Apple

M. W.

Beane

(2007). The case for democratic schools. In Apple

M. W.

Beane

(Eds.), Democratic schools: Lessons in powerful education (2nd ed., pp. 1–12). Heinemann.

Ayers

Hunt

J. A.

Quinn

(1998). Teaching for social justice: A democracy and education reader. New Press.

Baldridge

B. J.

Beck

Medina

J. C.

Reeves

M. A.

(2017). Toward a new understanding of community-based education: The role of community-based educational spaces in disrupting inequality for minoritized youth. Review of Research in Education, 41(1), 381–402. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16688622

Baquedano-López

Alexander

R. A.

Hernandez

S. J.

(2013). Equity issues in parental and community involvement in schools: What teacher educators need to know. Review of Research in Education, 37(1), 149–182. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X12459718

Becker

H. J.

Nakagawa

Corwin

R. G.

(1997). Parent involvement contracts in California’s charter schools: Strategy for educational improvement or method of exclusion? Teachers College Record, 98, 511–536.

Bennett

W. L.

Wells

Rank

(2009). Young citizens and civic learning: Two paradigms of citizenship in the digital age. Citizenship Studies, 13(2), 105–120. https://doi.org/10.1080/13621020902731116

Ben-Porath

(2013). Deferring virtue: The new management of students and the civic role of schools. Theory and Research in Education, 11(2), 111–128. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477878513485172

Berliner

(2011). Rational responses to high stakes testing: The case of curriculum narrowing and the harm that follows. Cambridge Journal of Education, 41(3), 287–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2011.607151

10.

Booher-Jennings

(2005). Below the bubble: “Educational triage” and the Texas accountability system. American Educational Research Journal, 42(2), 231–268. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312042002231

11.

Bowen

G. A.

(2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27–40.

12.

Budde

(1988). Education by charter: Restructuring school districts: Key to long-term continuing improvement in American education. Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast & Islands.

13.

Bulkley

K. E.

Henig

J. R.

Levin

(Eds.). (2010). Between public and private: Politics, governance, and the new portfolio models for urban school reform. Harvard Education Press.

14.

Buras

(2011). Race, charter schools, and conscious capitalism: On the spatial politics of whiteness as property (and the unconscionable assault on Black New Orleans). Harvard Educational Review, 81(2), 296–331. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.81.2.6l42343qqw360j03

15.

Burch

(2009). Hidden markets: The new education privatization. Routledge.

16.

Butin

D. W.

(2007). Justice-learning: Service-learning as justice-oriented education. Equity & Excellence in Education, 40(2), 177–183. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665680701246492

17.

Chambers

(2003). Deliberative democratic theory. Annual Review of Political Science, 6(1), 307–326. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.6.121901.085538

18.

Chong

(2018). Resource and Remaking: Organizational Mediation of Parent-School Relationships (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0m45z3zx

19.

Chubb

J. E.

Moe

T. M.

(1990). Politics, markets, and America’s schools. Brookings Institution Press.

20.

Creswell

J. W.

(2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4th ed.). Pearson.

21.

Cucchiara

M. B.

Horvat

E. M.

(2009). Perils and promises: Middle-class parental involvement in urban schools. American Educational Research Journal, 46(4), 974–1004. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831209345791

22.

DeBray

Scott

Lubienski

Jabbar

(2014). Intermediary organizations in charter school policy coalitions: Evidence from New Orleans. Educational Policy, 28(2), 175–206. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904813514132

23.

Delanty

(2002). Communitarianism and citizenship. In Isin

E. F.

Turner

B. S.

(Eds.), Handbook of citizenship studies (pp. 161–174). SAGE.

24.

Demaine

Entwistle

(2016). Beyond communitarianism: Citizenship, politics and education. Springer.

25.

Dewey

(1916). Democracy and education. Macmillan.

26.

DiMartino

Jessen

S. B.

(2016). School brand management: The policies, practices, and perceptions of branding and marketing in New York City’s public high schools. Urban Education, 51, 447–475. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085914543112

27.

DiMartino

Scott

(2013). Private sector contracting and democratic accountability. Educational Policy, 27(2), 307–333. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904812465117

28.

DuBois

W. E. B.

(1903). Penguin classics: The souls of black folk. Penguin Books.

29.

Duggan

(2003). The twilight of equality? Neoliberalism, cultural politics, and the attack on democracy. Beacon Press.

30.

Dumas

Anderson

G. L.

(2014). Qualitative research as policy knowledge: Framing policy problems and transforming education from the ground up. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 22(11). https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v22n11.2014

31.

Emerson

R. M.

Fretz

R. I.

Shaw

L. L.

(1995). Writing ethnographic fieldnotes. The University of Chicago Press.

32.

Engel

(2000). The struggle for control of public education: Market ideology vs. democratic values. Temple University Press.

33.

Fuller

(2010). Palace revolt in Los Angeles? Education Next, 10(4), 20–28.

34.

Golann

J. W.

(2015). The paradox of success at a no-excuses school. Sociology of Education, 88(2), 103–119. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040714567866

35.

Goldhaber

D. D.

(1999). School choice: An examination of the empirical evidence on achievement, parental decision making, and equity. Educational Researcher, 28(9), 16–25.

36.

Goodman

J. F.

(2013). Charter management organizations and the regulated environment: Is it worth the price? Educational Researcher, 42(2), 89–96. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X12470856

37.

Gutmann

(1993). Democracy & democratic education. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 12(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01235468

38.

Gutmann

(1999). Democratic education (2nd ed.). Princeton University Press.

39.

Hamlin

(2017). Parental involvement in high choice deindustrialized cities: A comparison of charter and public schools in Detroit. Urban Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085917697201

40.

Hernández

L. E.

(2017). Managing the brand: Racial politics, strategic messaging, and coalition-building efforts of charter management organizations (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2wr7q0wt

41.

Hinde

E. R.

(2008). Civic education in the NCLB era: The contested mission of schools. Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 2(1), 74–86. https://doi.org/10.3776/joci.2008.v2n1p74-86

42.

Hirsch

E. D.

(1987). Cultural literacy: What every American needs to know. Vintage Books.

43.

Jabbar

Wilson

T. S.

(2018). What is diverse enough? How “intentionally diverse” charter schools recruit and retain students. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 26(165). https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.26.3883

44.

Johnson

R. B.

(1997). Examining the validity structure of qualitative research. Education, 118(2), 282–292.

45.

Kahne

J. E.

Sporte

S. E.

(2008). Developing citizens: The impact of civic learning opportunities on students’ commitment to civic participation. American Educational Research Journal, 45(3), 738–766. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831208316951

46.

Knight Abowitz

Karaba

. (2010). Charter schooling and democratic justice. Educational Policy, 24(3), 534–558. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904809335109

47.

Kolb

S. M.

(2012). Grounded theory and the constant comparative method: Valid research strategies for educators. Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies, 3, 83–86. http://reference.sabinet.co.za/sa_epublication_article/sl_jeteraps_v3_n1_a14

48.

Kwon

S. A.

(2013). Uncivil youth: Race, activism, and affirmative governmentality. Duke University Press.

49.

Labaree

D. F.

(1997). Public goods, private goods: The American struggle over educational goals. American Educational Research Journal, 34(1), 39–81.

50.

Lickona

(1993). The return of character education. Educational Leadership, 51(3), 6–11.

51.

Lipman

(2011). The new political economy of urban education: Neoliberalism, race, and the right to the city. Routledge.

52.

Lubienski

Weitzel

P. C.

(Eds.). (2010). The charter school experiment: Expectations, evidence, and implications. Harvard Education Press.

53.

Meier

Wood

(2004). Many children left behind: How the No Child Left Behind Act is damaging our children and our schools. Beacon Press.

54.

Miles

M. B.

Huberman

A. M.

Saldaña

(2014). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (3rd ed.). SAGE.

55.

Mintrom

(2003). Market organizations and deliberative democracy choice and voice in public service delivery. Administration & Society, 35(1), 52–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399702250346

56.

Miron

Gulosino

(2013). Profiles of for-profit and nonprofit education management organizations: Fourteenth edition—2011-2012. http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/emo-profiles-11-12.pdf

57.

Morel

(2018). Takeover: Race, Education, and American Democracy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

58.

Morrell

(2015). Critical literacy and urban youth: Pedagogies of access, dissent, and liberation. Routledge.

59.

National Center for Educational Statistics. (2018). Public Charter School Enrollment. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgb.asp

60.

Newmann

F. M.

(1975). Education for citizen action: Challenge for secondary curriculum. McCutchan Publishing Corporation.

61.

Noblit

Hare

R. D.

(1988). Meta-ethnography: Synthesizing qualitative studies (1st ed.). SAGE.

62.

Patton

M. Q.

(2014). Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice (4th ed.). SAGE.

63.

Piazza

(2017). Neo-democracy in educational policy-making: A critical case study of neoliberal reform in Massachusetts. Journal of Education Policy, 32(2), 211–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2016.1258592

64.

Posey-Maddox

(2014). When middle-class parents choose urban schools. https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo17508026.html

65.

Purcell

(2007). City-Regions, Neoliberal Globalization and Democracy: A Research Agenda. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 31(1), 197–206. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2007.00714.x

66.

Ravitch

(2010). The death and life of the great American school system: How testing and choice are undermining education. Basic Books.

67.

Rofes

E. E.

Stulberg

L. M.

(2004). The emancipatory promise of charter schools: Toward a progressive politics of school choice. State University of New York Press.

68.

Rogers

Lubienski

Scott

Welner

(2015). Examining the parent trigger as a strategy for school reform and parental engagement. Teachers College Record, 117, 060305.

69.

Rowe

E. E.

Lubienski

(2017). Shopping for schools or shopping for peers: Public schools and catchment area segregation. Journal of Education Policy, 32(3), 340–356. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2016.1263363

70.

Scott

J. T.

(2011). Market-driven education reform and the racial politics of advocacy. Peabody Journal of Education, 86(5), 580–599. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2011.616445

71.

Scott

J. T.

(2013). School choice and the empowerment imperative. Peabody Journal of Education, 88(1), 60–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2013.752635

72.

Scott

J. T.

Fruchter

(2009). Community resistance to privatization: The case of New York City. In Fisher

(Ed.), The people shall rule: ACORN, community organizing, and the struggle for economic justice (pp. 180–205). Vanderbilt University Press.

73.

Scott

J. T.

Holme

J. J.

(2016). The political economy of market-based educational policies: Race and reform in urban school districts, 1915 to 2016. Review of Research in Education, 40(1), 250–297. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16681001

74.

Shapiro

Brown

(2018, February 21). The state of civics education. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2018/02/21/446857/state-civics-education/

75.

Smith

Wohlstetter

Kuzin

C. A.

Pedro

K. D.

(2011). Parent involvement in urban charter schools: New strategies for increasing participation. The School Community Journal, 21(1), 71–94.

76.

Smith

(2001). The democratic potential of charter schools. Peter Lang.

77.

Trujillo

T. M.

(2013). The politics of district instructional policy formation: Compromising equity and rigor. Educational Policy, 27(3), 531–559. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904812454000

78.

Tyack

D. B.

(1974). The one best system: A history of American urban education. Harvard University Press.

79.

Verba

Schlozman

K. L.

Brady

H. E.

(1995). Voice and equality: Civic voluntarism in American politics. Harvard University Press.

80.

Waitoller

F. R.

Super

(2017). School choice or the politics of desperation? Black and Latinx parents of students with dis/abilities selecting charter schools in Chicago. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 25(55). https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.25.2636

81.

Warren

M. R.

(2011). Building a political constituency for urban school reform. Urban Education, 46(3), 484–512. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085910377441

82.

Warren

M. R.

Goodman

(2018). Lift us up, don’t push us out! Voices from the front lines of the educational justice movement. Beacon Press.

83.

Wells

A. S.

Grutzik

Carnochan

Slayton

Vasudeva

(1999). Underlying policy assumptions of charter school reform: The multiple meanings of a movement. Teachers College Record, 100(3), 513–535.

84.

Wells

A. S.

Slayton

Scott

(2002). Defining democracy in the neoliberal age: Charter school reform and educational consumption. American Educational Research Journal, 39(2), 337–361. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312039002337

85.

Westheimer

(2008). No child left thinking: Democracy at-risk in American schools. Colleagues, 3(2), 8.

86.

Westheimer

Kahne

(2004). What kind of citizen? The politics of educating for democracy. American Educational Research Journal, 41(2), 237–269. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312041002237

87.

Wilson

T. S.

(2016). Contesting the public school: Reconsidering charter schools as counterpublics. American Educational Research Journal, 53(4), 919–952. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216658972

88.

Woodson

C. G.

(1933). The mis-education of the Negro. Tribeca Books.

89.

Wong

K. K.

Shen

F. X.

(2003). Measuring the effectiveness of city and state takeover as a school reform strategy. Peabody Journal of Education, 78(4), 89–119. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327930PJE7804_06