Abstract
The increasingly common practice of engaging consulting firms to assist states with educational policy agendas requires an analysis of the role these consultants play in what is positioned as a democratic decision-making process. In this study, we examine the discourse of a state-level advisory committee formed to develop a new teacher evaluation policy under Race to the Top. We used discourse analysis methods to analyze audio recordings of 11 meetings of this committee. We identified two patterns of consultant talk as it related to committee decision making: making decisions through validation and deferring and redirecting decisions, and we describe their implications.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Educational Policy |
| Volume | 29 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 1 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Administrative Principles
- Advisory Committees
- Behavior Patterns
- Consultants
- Decision Making
- Discourse Analysis
- Educational Change
- Educational Policy
- Elementary School Students
- Emergent Literacy
- Meetings
- Participative Decision Making
- Policy Formation
- Qualitative Research
- Reading Fluency
- Reading Tests
- State Policy
- Video Technology
Disciplines
- Business Administration, Management, and Operations
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research
- Public Relations and Advertising
- Education Policy
- Sociology