Presentation prepared by Janelle Scott et al.

The Role of Intermediary Organizations in Education Policymaking: Preliminary Findings Co-PIs: Christopher Lubienski, University of Illinois, Janelle Scott, UC Berkeley & Elizabeth DeBray, University of Georgia

The demand for evidence on effective educational policies and interventions has

further invigorated an already vibrant sector of intermediary organizations that seek to

package and promote research on education policies and programs for policymakers, typically around specific market-oriented

policies.

Policy Issue of Interest

•Groups that work between districts, school boards, state and federal government, and schools.

•Can provide start-up funding and sundry curricular and administrative support.

•Examples: ALEC, Urban League, New Schools for New Orleans, National Association of Charter School Authorizers, The Broad Foundation

What Are Intermediary Organizations?

Typology of Organizations

with Intermediary Functions in Educational

Policy Making

•The role of foundations in the intermediary sector

•Advocacy coalitions and research production in New Orleans

•Bibliometric examination of research citations

Preliminary Findings: Three Analyses

•What have been the hallmarks of foundations’ efforts to advance the study of or the adoption of incentivist reforms in education policy?

•Is there evidence of coalitional or networked behavior across foundations and other intermediaries? An echo chamber?

•Is there evidence of research production, promotion, and utilization?

Foundations in Knowledge Production

(1) Constructing data systems such as those necessary for measuring value-added and growth, grants for evaluations and research on these models, and developing state and district assessments.

(2) Funding for education journalism, media, and blogs to translate data and research for the public, and to promote particular researchers/research.

(3) Engaging policymakers, state and district officials, and reformers in conversations via the funding meetings and conferences where participants may exchange ideas about data use.

(4) Funding for IOs: particular concentrations in charter school management networks, advocacy organizations.

Foundations and IOs

Colorado Legislator: Research use in teacher merit pay

So I would say that research was the foundation of the argument that we built. The other two pieces of research that I used a lot, and this is from some of the Gates research and some of the others…So we’ve had a year or so on process on this. And the dominant strain of every conversation has been, “show us a structure that you think works and show us a place that you know it works.” So it’s let’s see what Toledo, Ohio did and let’s see what Houston did with their evaluation system. Let’s look at DC IMPACT, let’s look at what Louisiana’s proposal is, what does TNTP have to say is the best structure? So it’s not as much let’s look at the Phi Delta Kappan for this month and see what’s in it, but it’s all about if you have an idea, you have to show us where that idea’s been tried before and they’ve had results on it.

Colorad0 Legislator, Commenting about ProComp

So we were probably the second funder in for ProComp, so when the Rose Community Foundation started it,

they started to search around for local sources of revenue. We came in and gave them a grant-we were quickly overshadowed by the national foundations,

Broad and those folks. So, we had a real interest in it and initially started working on it. It’s been an

interesting journey because my take is that it’s one of the weakest levers around student achievement out there. And so, is merit pay or pay for performance a good idea? Eh, it’s alright. And I think it has some

value, but not a lot of value.

--Denver-based family foundation

Small and Big Foundations

So whether they’re donors to our new school development effort or whether they support our advocacy or whatever. We have various, we certainly have at any given time, financial support from 6 to 8, maybe, local or national foundations. Sometimes that’s big on one and small here and it’s not...however nice it would be that they would all just write a big check and say, “use this however you choose”, they don’t and it tends to be around specific projects or initiatives and efforts, so there’s some fluctuation in terms of who is doing what and when. But generally speaking, at any given time, we do have a sizable chunk of revenue and relationships with a bunch of different funders.

-- Colorado charter school organization

- Colorado Charter School Organization

Building Institutional Infrastructure