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Leaders’ experiences in Arizona’s mature education market

Amanda U. Potterton (University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA)

Journal of Educational Administration

ISSN: 0957-8234

Article publication date: 4 January 2019

299

Abstract

Purpose

In Arizona’s mature, market-based school system, we know little about how school leaders make meaning of school choice policies and programs on the ground. Using ethnographic methods, the author asked: How do school leaders in one Arizona district public school and in its surrounding community, which includes a growing number of high-profile and “high-performing” Education Management Organisation (EMO) charter schools, make meaning of school choice policies and programs? The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The author analysed 18 months of qualitative fieldnotes that the author collected during participant observations and six semi-structured school leader interviews from both traditional district public schools in the area (n=4) and leaders from EMO charter schools (n=2).

Findings

School leaders’ decision-making processes were influenced by competitive pressures. However, perceptions of these pressures and leadership actions varied widely and were complicated by inclusive and exclusive social capital influences from stakeholders. District public school leaders felt pressure to package and sell schools in the marketplace, and charter leaders enjoyed the notion of markets and competition.

Practical implications

As market-based policies and practices become increasingly popular in the USA and internationally, a study that examines leaders’ behaviours and actions in a long-standing school choice system is timely and relevant.

Originality/value

This study uniquely highlights school leaders’ perceptions and actions in a deeply embedded education market, and provides data about strategies and behaviours as they occurred.

Keywords

Citation

Potterton, A.U. (2019), "Leaders’ experiences in Arizona’s mature education market", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 57 No. 1, pp. 21-35. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-02-2018-0043

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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