PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND SCHOOL CHOICE POLICY
Overview
CEPEG faculty are directly informing local and national conversations on public-private partnerships and choice. In an era in which private sector involvement in public education is growing, Center members are studying and leading change in the area of government outsourcing of instructional services, virtual schools and choice, and public-private partnerships. . The premise of our work is that issues of access, inclusion and equity are central considerations and outcomes in education reforms that blend public and private sector resources. In order to assess the benefits of public – private partnerships and choice, policy makers need access to rigorous evidence that helps government, for-profit and not-for-profit entities coordinate efforts to maximize outcomes for students. Co-Director Patricia Burch has studied implementation and impact of after school vouchers for historically disadvantaged populations, the role of teacher learning communities in charter schools, and returns on school leaders’ investment in on-line learning. Burch has also organized and led networks of district and school administrators working on issues of equity in public-private partnerships and guided private sector organizations in strengthening access and quality of the curriculum, instruction and data sold to schools. Co-Director Robles serves as a board member on Alliance for a Better Community, Campaign for College Opportunity and the Alliance College Ready Charter School organization, the largest charter organization in Los Angeles County.
A list of recent publications and projects is available below.
After-school Programming
Burch, P., Good, A. & Heinrich, C. (2016). Improving Access to, Quality, and the Effectiveness of Digital Tutoring in K–12 Education, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 38(1), 65-87. Published online July, 2015.
Burch, P. & Heinrich, C. (2012). Policy and Program Recommendations for Redesigning Supplemental Educational Services. SESIQ2. http://sesiq2.wceruw.org/documents/SESIQ2%20recommendations%20brief.pdf
Good, A., Burch, P., Stewart, M., Acosta, R., & Heinrich, C. (2014). Instruction Matters: Lessons from a Mixed Method Evaluation of Out-of-School Time Tutoring Under No Child Left Behind, Teachers College Record. Teachers College Record, 116(3).
Heinrich, C., Burch, P. Good, A. Acosta, R. Cheng, H, Dillender, M, Kirshbaum, C, Nisar, H & Stewart, M. (2014) Improving the Implementation and Effectiveness of Out of School Time Tutoring. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 3(2) 471-494.
Charter Schools
Bingham, A. J. & Burch, P. (2017). Navigating Middle of the Road Reforms Through Collaborative Community, Democracy & Education 25(2), 1-10.
Burch, P., Smith, J. & Stewart, M. (2014, June 19). NEPC Review of the report Expanding The Education Universe: A fifty-state strategy for course choice, by the Brookings Institution. Retrieved from http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-expanding-the-education-universe.
Burch, P., Stewart, M., & Smith, J. (2013, November). NEPC Review of the report School Choice and School Performance in the New York City Public Schools, by the Brookings Institution. Retrieved from http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-school-choice-nyc-brookings.
Privatization
Bulkley, K.E. & Burch, P. (2011). The changing nature of private engagement in public education: For- profit and nonprofit organizations and educational reform, Peabody Journal of Education, 86(3), 236-251.
Burch, P., & Good, A. (2014). Equal Scrutiny: Privatization and Accountability in Digital Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Burch, P. (2009). Hidden Markets: The New Education Privatization. New York: Routledge. The Critical Social Thought Series.
Vendor/District Collaboration
Burch, P. (2014). The Role of Vendors in the Implementation of CCSS: A First Look, Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 11(1), 37-40.
Burch, P. & Good, A. (2015). The Conversation Before the Contract: A Framework for Dialogue Between School Districts and Digital Education Providers, Phi Delta Kappan, 96(5), 35-39.
Charter Schools
The New “One Best System”? Urban Governance and Educational Practice in the Portfolio Management Model. Spencer Foundation. Co-Principal Investigator Julie Marsh (with Katharine Strunk, Katy Bulkley, Doug Harris), 2016 – 2018. This study examines the changing school district governance and practices in Los Angeles, Denver, and New Orleans. The purpose of the study is to examine ties between the portfolio management model (PMM) infrastructure and practices of system-level actors, educational management organizations such as charter management organizations (CMOs), and schools, and the key intermediate outcomes these ties are intended to generate. Principal and teacher surveys, system-level interviews, school-level case studies, and administrative data are used to investigate how these systems enact the five core PMM mechanisms (autonomy, performance accountability, parental choice, human capital management, capacity building) and what factors and conditions shape the structures and practices implemented at all levels, as well as the outcomes associated with these efforts.
Evaluation of the LAUSD Investing in Innovation (i3) Grant to Support the Public School Choice Initiative. Investing in Innovation Fund, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), U. S. Department of Education. Co-Principal Investigator Julie Marsh (with Katharine Strunk), 2010 – 2015. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the U.S. Department of Education set aside funding to support the design, validation and scale-up of innovations in education. The Los Angeles Unified School District won one of the i3 grants to support the design of the district’s Public School Choice Initiative. The Public School Choice Initiative (PSCI), which is unique to Los Angeles, is a competitive process that allows teams of internal and external stakeholders—including educators, administrators, community members and organizations, charter school operators, non-profit organizations, and labor partners—the opportunity to operate designated “focus” schools (the bottom one percent of low- performing LAUSD public schools), or newly established “relief” schools (new campuses built to ease overcrowding). CEPEG researchers are part of the district’s i3 team and are responsible for evaluating the implementation and outcomes of activities related to the Public School Choice Initiative.
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