Sandra Rubin Glass: "Markets & Myths"
Vol. 5 No. 1 Education Policy Analysis Archives
Methods
The methods employed in this investigation were those of the multi-site qualitative case study: interviews from multiple data sources, observations and field notes from a variety of on-site meetings and visits, and analysis of documents (brochures, teacher handbooks, policy manuals, meeting agendas). An intensive study of three secondary schools of each type (public and private) was conducted. Fourteen private school teachers, fifteen public school teachers and their associated principals, heads, and assistants were interviewed at each site. Site Selection
To sharpen the boundaries of this exploration, I focused on the type of private schools known as "independent" schools. There are two analytic advantages to this selection (Powell, 1990, p. 113). First, compared to the full range of private schools, independent schools are less inculcated with denominational religion and, therefore, operate in an environment more like the legal circumstances of public schools. Because they are the most expensive of the private schools, they are chosen by families who can afford any type of school, public or private. The fact that such schools serve primarily high-income families reflects a population that has the financial ability to choose a type of school based on preference provides the second advantage. They are the most privileged private schools, which then served as a guide by which to identify particular public schools which became their comparison group. Public schools located in the most affluent school districts serve a type of high income family similar to those who patronize independent schools. These public schools, therefore, came under consideration for selection for this study. Another criterion for site selection was secondary schools that focus on academics. The selection of private schools was based on their accreditation or application for accreditation by North Central Association as college preparatory (North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, 1990). A focus on academic excellence is the key marketing strategy of these schools as evidenced in brochures describing their mission to prospective clients. Graduation rates and percentages of students applying to college are the best descriptors of academic excellence in the public high schools. The state department of education and the district office of each of the three public secondary schools served as sources for these data. Recommendations by educational specialists were also given consideration. The three private schools selected were located in two cities in the same state in the southwestern United States. A similar process was used to gain access to public secondary schools; however, the initial contact was sometimes made through a district level administrator. The three public schools are located in very different sections of the same city and vary in the length of time they have been in existence. Informant Selection
Interview data were collected from approximately thirty teachers and their associated administrators at each school. The number of informants contacted was guided by the understanding that each participant provides information about the conditions under which they and their colleagues work; therefore, they actually inform the researcher of the actions and beliefs of a few or many more. The line which separates administrator from teacher in the private school is often unclear since many serve in both capacities. In one school selected, it is required that each administrator, except for the head, teach at least one class. It was explained that this requirement kept all administrators in touch with the needs of the students. Coincidentally, the requirement has some financial advantages for the school as well. In these cases, those who were labeled teachers are those whose primary responsibility is teaching. If only one class was taught and the primary responsibility was administration, the individual was considered an administrator. Department chairs in one public secondary school in this study have the equivalent of half-time teaching responsibilities with the remainder of their time being delegated to administrative duties. These individuals were labeled teachers for purposes of this study. In any event, the difference between teachers and administrators in this work proved not to be crucial, since each reported willingly and convincingly on their own actions and beliefs and those of their supervisors or subordinates. Teachers were selected by a purposeful sampling from among those who were considered to be well-situated informants. For the purposes of this study, teachers who qualified for participation were those who had at least five years teaching experience and at least three years experience in their present school. Another criterion was to have a variety of subject areas represented. Each principal or head of school was asked to prepare a roster of full-time teachers from which the sample could be drawn. The interviews were conducted in the spring of the school year and pressures that naturally occur in all schools as they prepare for graduation and final exams precluded any scientific selection of interviewees. The reality of school life meant that principals or heads either asked for volunteers at faculty meetings, through department heads, or asked particular teachers if they would be willing to participate in the study. It is unlikely that a more scientific selection of interviewees would have resulted in any important differences in the outcome. Data Collection
Good research practice obligates the researcher to triangulate, that is, to use multiple methods and data sources to enhance the validity of research findings. Mathison (1988) advised ". . . it is necessary to use multiple methods and sources of data in the execution of a study in order to withstand critique by colleagues" (p. 13). For this reason, multiple methods and sources of data collection were employed. Interview protocols were developed in such a manner that included, but of course was not limited to, questions from the High School and Beyond Survey (Moles, 1988) and Blase's (1991) study of power relationships between principals and teachers. It is the questions from the High School and Beyond (HSB) Administrator and Teacher Survey upon which Chubb and Moe (1991) based their index of teacher and administrator autonomy. An interview protocol was designed (see Table 1)to explore these and related issues and utilized open-ended questions and probes. The purpose was to elicit reflective answers that go further than the type of surface response typically produced by a mailed survey. Table 1
Administrator and Teacher Interview Protocols
Administrator Protocol1. Can you tell me about an incident that happened to you or someone you know in which your work life was influenced or shaped by the .... (then A through L below). For example, staffing decisions, budget allocations, scheduling of classes, how you deal with discipline or behavioral problems, decisions about pursuing advanced degrees, how parent communications are handled?
A. superintendent
B. department chair
C. school board
D. state or federal programs or regulations
E. North Central or AIS (Association of Independent Schools)
F. legal or judicial judgments
G. parents
H. professional organization with which you identify; teacher's association
I. inservice training or your own continued education
J. students
K. colleagues
L. colleges
2. Describe the degree of control and discretion you are able to exercise over each of the following activities:
A. establishing curriculum;
B. determining instructional methods used in the classroom;
C. allocating funds;
D. hiring new, full-time teachers.3. My research is directed at a current debate in education. It is claimed (by Chubb & Moe) that:
A). Private school teachers have greater autonomy to innovate, adapt curriculum and teaching to meet the needs of their students, and that in doing so they are primarily influenced by the students and the parents and not by school bureaucracy.What do you think of this? (Probe: For example, suggest he or she compare Private school X and Public school Y in respect to the above question. Or ask the interviewee to imagine Public school Y and Private school X being the same size, then how would teacher autonomy differ between them, if it would at all.)Whereas:
B). Public school teachers are subjected to a variety of influences and pressures that restrict their autonomy in meeting students' needs; among these influences are:
1.) state and federal regulations;
2.) unions;
3.) court orders or the threat of litigation;
4.) organizational rules called "bureaucracy."Teacher Protocol1. Can you tell me about an incident that happened to you or someone you know in which your work life was influenced or shaped by the .... (then A through L)? For example, your selection of curriculum materials, what you teach or how you teach, how you group students, how you deal with discipline or behavioral problems, how your classes are scheduled, decisions about pursuing advanced degrees, how parent communications are handled?
A. superintendent2. Can you describe, out of your own experience or that of someone you know directly, a creative attempt made to improve the classroom, teaching methods, the curriculum, or student achievement that was thwarted or substantially altered by any of these (A-G in Question 1) sources of influence?
B. department chair
C. state or federal programs or regulations
D. school board
E. North Central or AIS (Association of Independent Schools)
F. legal or judicial judgments
G. parents
H. professional organization with which you identify; teachers association
I. inservice training or your own continued education
J. students
K. colleagues
L. colleges
3. Can you describe for me a failed attempt by any of these sources to influence you that you resisted? (repeat A-G to remind participant of categories to consider) What are the ways that you have been able to work around those influences?
4. What does it mean to you when people talk about bureaucratic constraints on teachers?
Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed. Substantive field notes were maintained and reviewed at the end of each on-site visit and interview. All interviews were conducted by the author. Documents that were examined included Teacher's Handbook or Policy Guide, marketing brochures, school board and faculty meeting minutes, government regulations, and other printed matter deemed relevant to this study. Data Analysis
Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim with dialog attributed to each speaker. Data derived from these extensive interviews, field notes, and documentation were reviewed for recurring themes utilizing the constant comparative method (Glaser, 1978; Bogdan & Biklen, 1982). Transcripts of the interviews were read repeatedly in a search for quotations that transcended the idiosyncrasies of individual circumstances and thus suggested a theme or idea about autonomy. It proved useful during the process to create charts as an aid to data reduction and analysis. Data display (Miles & Huberman, 1984; Wolcott, 1990) allows for the sorting and categorization of data in a way that seemingly discrete data may be linked in previously unrecognized ways. A grid was devised by which to organize and identify objects of influence on teachers and principals and the source of those influences. Developing themes were labeled and evidence was categorized accordingly. Then, quotations were extracted from transcripts and collected into files, with each file representing a distinct idea or theme. Quotations in files retained identifying codes that linked the quotation to its source interview. These "theme files" or categories were then read, edited and organized into a core set of ideas about teacher and principal autonomy. The core set of ideas was then reorganized by coalescing, splitting or eliminating themes until a satisfactory framework for reporting the findings was obtained. The interpretation of categories became the basis for formulating a framework for conceptualizing the differences that may or may not exist between principals' and teachers' sense of autonomy and control in private and public school settings. The conceptual framework was used to describe the ways in which public and private school teachers and principals share a perception of autonomy, where they are different, and how they experience constraints on their autonomy. In this study, the analysis of data and the reporting of interpretations are uniquely tied together. Below under Findings, each quotation that illustrates a concept of the interpretative framework is hyperlinked to the transcript of the interview in which it appears. By clicking on the icon beside each quotation, the reader can move to the quotation in the context of the full interview from which it was extracted. This feature of presentation of findings allows a check on the interpretation by the reader. In addition, the full text of all interviews is available to anyone who wishes to reanalyze the original data.