The purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) for education delivery, attainment, attitude, behavior and attendance. Partnership success factors are identified, and transferable lessons extracted. Barriers to the success of the partnership are explored and suggestions for improvement are made.
In this paper, the authors seek to
identify the managerial implications of public-private
partnerships (PPPs) in education, and the broader
organizational context (strategic alliances) within
which they are a special case. They go on to examine
PPPs that have been recently created and are currently
operating in England. One noteworthy observation
is that PPPs appear to be indistinguishable from
the larger set of strategic alliances in fields other
than education, and their recent arrival in education
reflects its evolution towards a multi-sector, alliance-oriented
field.
The involvement of the private sector
in education engages a political debate about its
role in what has traditionally been seen as a public
service domain. This involvement is an example of
a move from traditional public administration to
a new public management, often characterized as managerialism.
While the policy debates about the nature and purpose
of education provision are important, this mini special
issue looks at research on the ground in terms of
current practice. It evaluates what has happened
and whether a framework for analysis can emerge for
examining the impact of public-private partnerships.
The popularity and prevalence of public-private
partnerships for problem-solving has been well documented
in prior research. While there is widespread agreement
that all partnerships are not the same, the partnership
hierarchies offered by past research assume that
some alliances are somehow "better" than others.
This article offers a new typology based on findings
from our research on partnerships in education in
which we conducted a national study of charter schools
in the United States. We found that partnerships
can be differentiated based on how they are initiated,
what services are provided, the form of the partnership,
and the depth of organizational involvement.
Charter schools that have partnered
with nonprofit, for-profit, and public organizations
have leveraged a wealth of human, financial, and
organizational resources to help the schools improve.
The authors suggest that all schools can learn from
the charter schools' experience. The results of their
study revealed that partnerships helped charter schools
overcome obstacles and achieve their goals by enriching
curriculum offerings, broadening teaching experience,
and helping at-risk students stay in school.
Among educational reformers and policy
makers, there is an increased understanding that
problems in education cannot easily be divided into
pieces and addressed in isolation from each other.
Educators are increasingly reaching beyond their
school and district boundaries and seeking support
through networks. As studies of Networked Learning
Communities (NCL's) continue, we are able to create
an increasingly refined picture of how networks become
organized for success. We become aware of the extent
to which the unique culture within NLC's is giving
rise to a kind of creative operationalism, whereby
successful networks eventually share similar structures
and processes, which complement rather than detract
from, or compromise, their flexibility and looseness.
The for-profit education industry in
the United States is evolving and growing in response
to an array of market forces that do not apply uniformly
across firms or market segments, and variations in
performance reflect variations in policy environments.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the forces
shaping the domestic and international growth of
U.S. for-profit education businesses within a context
of competing (public and private, non-profit) education
providers, market conditions, consumer preferences,
and the regulatory/policy environment. The paper
begins with a brief overview of the primary drivers
that are shaping the education industry along with
a simple taxonomy of the major market segments and
categories of goods and services, but focuses most
of its attention on two arguments. First, the relative
growth of individual firms is heavily influenced
by the education environment in which they operate.
Data for this argument are drawn from firms serving
largely the U.S. compulsory (K-12) education market.
Second, "internationalization" of U.S. education
businesses is more accurately portrayed as evolutionary,
incremental, and "continuous", rather than revolutionary,
dramatic, or significantly discontinuous. Data for
this argument are drawn from firms serving initially
the U.S. tertiary (postsecondary) education market.
The paper concludes by suggesting that "marketization" and "internationalization" in
the U.S. education industry are, in effect, "two
sides of the same coin."
The popularity and prevalence of strategic
alliances for problem solving has been well documented
in research on the corporate sector and public policy.
However, there has been limited work to date on building
a comprehensive theory about the evolutionary process
of alliances. The purpose of this article is to synthesize
current research on alliance development in order
to develop a model of strategic alliance evolution.
The theoretical model is built with ideas from prior
research as well as findings from our own recent
research on alliances in education. We conducted
a national study of strategic alliances in charter
schools focused on uncovering the process of evolution
including how alliances are initiated, operated,
and evaluatedand the various internal and external
factors that influence alliance development and progress.
Our findings offer a model of strategic alliance
evolution and provide direction for future research.
Researchers from the Center on Educational
Governance interviewed nearly 150 people involved
with forming and managing charter schools. These
schools had chosen to enter into partnerships with
nonprofit, for-profit and public organizations to
help establish and operate the schools. This guidebook
represents their experiences and offers a variety
of lessons learned about how to form and sustain
mutually beneficial partnerships. The eight key lessons
taken from the interviews with leaders from these
charter schools and their partners can help charter
schools decide if a partnership is beneficial to
them.
The types of organizations charter
schools elect to partner with vary widely but commonly
include universities, museums, local businesses,
and government agencies. These partners provide a
variety of financial, human, physical, and organizational
resources. Associations with established partners
can also lend needed credibility to bolster the charter
application, attract students, and broaden community
support for the school.
All these partnerships progress through
a series of stages, from initiation, to partnership
development and, finally, an evaluation phase. Depending
on the results, the partnership may continue as is
or be modified to improve its outcomes. The lessons
in this guidebook describe successful progress through
this entire process.
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This article explores cross-sectoral
alliances as mechanisms for enhancing service delivery
in public education. We assess the extent to which
the three economic sectors - nonprofit, for-profit,
and public - are involved in partnerships with charter
schools and identify the benefits that charter schools
receive from partnering with other organizations.
The study utilized a qualitative approach: Data collection
involved interviews with charter school experts in
37 states. We found that organizations from each
of the three economic sectors were involved in alliances
with charter schools, and alliances offered a range
of financial (e.g., facilities, salaries), political
(e.g., legitimacy, credibility), and organizational
(e.g., curriculum, management) benefits. Our findings
from this exploratory study suggest that cross-sectoral
alliances have the potential to enhance the capacity
of charter schools to deliver high quality educational
services. Three hypotheses generated from the findings
are also offered to guide future research on charter
school alliances.
This article draws on research examining
how charter schools form partnerships to build capacity
and improve the delivery of educational services.
The study identifies six lessons learned from the
development of successful partnerships: 1) Weigh
the benefits and cost of partnership; 2) Choose your
partner well; 3) Clearly define the partnership;
4) Create structures for participation; 5) Focus
on leadership; and 6) Evaluate the partnership’s
progress. The authors conclude that strong
partnerships are needed to improve the quality of
public education and that lessons learned from charter
schools can serve as useful models for other public
schools.
In this exploratory study, the authors
examine the recent emergence of cross-sectoral alliances – organizations
voluntarily working together to solve issues of mutual
concern – in K-12 education. The article utilizes
an economic approach to interagency collaboration
and focuses on alliances in charter schools. The
authors seek to: 1) analyze the extent to which charter
school legislation encourages or discourages alliances;
2) examine the types of organizations that form alliances
with charter schools and the range of contributions
they provide; and 3) assess the various incentives
that lead charter schools and other organizations
to form alliances. Implications of the findings for
educational practice and policy as well as future
research are discussed.
Because public-sector agencies often
lack the capacity to provide social services in effective
and efficient ways, this brief explores how some
public organizations are leveraging resources by
developing partnerships with nonprofit, for-profit
and other public organizations. The authors investigated
the existence of provisions in state charter school
laws that facilitate or inhibit the schools’ ability
to partner with organizations across economic sectors.
The emergence of charter schools across the nation
offers one example of the growing trend to enhance
the capacity of public institutions with outside
resources. With the need to obtain their own resources
and expertise, many charter schools have used their
autonomy to create partnerships with social service
agencies, churches and community groups. These partnerships
provide a host of essential goods and services – curriculum
and instruction, facilities, administrative support
and funding – as well as intangible benefits
such as increased publicity, enhanced reputation,
help with getting charter applications approved and
expertise.
This article draws on CEG's research
on leaders in urban partnerships. The authors suggest
that the ability of partners to collaborate on school
improvement efforts and build collective capacity
is dependent on the presence of four distinct leadership
roles: the champion, the architect, the information
broker, and the boundary spanner.
This paper introduces the concept of "educational
multisectorism" among the private not-for-profit,
private for profit, and public/government sectors.
Multisectorism leverages the opportunities presented
by the contrasting economic and "social" advantages
(and disadvantages) of educational organizations
operating in the three sectors, as viewed through
the analytical prism of comparative advantage. The
underlying principle of multisectorism is the belief
that drawing on the resources and strengths of all
three sectors can be of significant benefit to the
pursuit of educational reform.
Davies,
B., & Hentschke, G. (2003). Public/Private Partnerships
in Education ~ Their Nature and Contribution to Educational
Provision and Improvement. National College of School
Leadership. United Kingdom.
The growing involvement of the private
sector in education in the last few years has been
commented upon but often misinterpreted as privatisation
and as a new phenomenon. We believe that some of
these developments are significant in both their
nature and form but have not been fully understood.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse these developments
and provide a framework for understanding them and
their implications for educational leaders. This
paper reports on two studies, one on a partnership
between the public and private sector for the delivery
of LEA services and the second, on a public/private
partnership to turn around a failing school. The
paper provides an overview of the context in which
the public/private partnerships are set, and it then
moves on to examine four key factors that structure
the dimensions of public/private partnerships: 1)
Preconditions for partnerships; 2) Change dimensions
that emerge as a result of partnerships; 3) Mechanisms
for partnering; and 4) Success indicators of partnerships.
Wohlstetter,
P., Malloy, C. L., Smith, J. & Hentschke, G. (2003,
June). Cross-sectoral alliances in education: A new
approach to enhancing school capacity. Working Paper.
In this exploratory study, the authors
examine the recent emergence of cross-sectoral alliances
- groups of organizations voluntarily working together
to solve issues of mutual concern - in K-12 education.
The article focuses on alliances in charter schools
and seeks to 1) analyze the extent to which charter
school legislation encourages or discourages alliances;
2) examine the types of organizations that form alliances
with charter schools and the range of contributions
they provide; and 3) assess the various motivations
that lead charter schools and other organizations
to form alliances. Implications of the findings for
educational practice and policy as well as future
research are discussed.
Wohlstetter,
P., Malloy, C. L., Chau, D., & Polhemus, J. L. (2003).
Improving schools through networks: A new approach
to urban school reform. Educational Policy,
17(4), 399-430.
Research suggests that decentralized
management reforms - from school-based management
to comprehensive school reform and charter schools
- have produced changes in classroom practice and
higher student achievement in some schools. However
many schools, particularly in urban areas, simply
do not have the capacity to improve on their own
and often end up isolated from one another. A few
school districts are experimenting with a new approach
to school reform - school networks - that relies
on collaboration among schools. This article draws
on data from an evaluation of the Annenberg Challenge
in Los Angeles, a reform effort that experimented
with school networks as a vehicle for improving schools.
As a theoretical framework, we applied Lawler's (1991)
high-involvement model, which is based on the premise
that collaboration is a necessary condition for organizational
improvement. We found that when School Families created
structures that decentralized power and distributed
organizational resources throughout the network,
they also reduced isolation of individual schools
and enhanced capacity for reform.
Smith,
A. & Wohlstetter, P. (2001). Reform through school
networks: A new kind of authority and accountability. Educational
Policy, 15(4), 499-519.
Many educational reforms are implemented
on a school-by-school basis where the individual
or the school is the target of the effort. Strategies
to network schools with other schools or organizations
are usually employed to add value to an existing
school-based improvement model, based often on a
market-type or hierarchical approach to reform. In
this paper, we argue that networks of schools can
effect improvement in new ways through the development
of social capital among schools. Drawing from research
on networks in other policy domains, we further argue
that network structures have the potential to create
stable learning communities, governed by agreements
of communal relations, that may help mitigate some
of the most harmful effects of mobility in urban
school districts. Using the context of the Annenberg
Challenge in Los Angeles, the article introduces
the properties of networks as a reform strategy and
then discusses new management roles with school networks.
Our purpose in writing the article is to make the
language and discourse of networks more accessible
to education reformers and practitioners.
Los
Angeles Compact on Evaluation, (July, 2001). Anatomy
of School Family networks: A collaborative approach
to reform. Los Angeles: University of Southern California.
This final report details the impact
of the collaborative style of governance on LAAMP
School Family decision- making structures and processes.
In this report we demonstrate how School Families
organize schools for reform in ways that challenge
traditional assumptions about district management.
First, authority and accountability are changed as
a result of the voluntary participation of members.
Second, leadership - usually the primary source of
authority - is changed to become more facilitative
and less directive. Third, we note the presence of
several factors that support the development of collaborative
projects. The last section of the report summarizes
the advantages that School Families gained by acting
collaboratively and the challenges to this method
of organizing.
Wohlstetter,
P. and Smith, A.K., (March, 2000). A different approach
to systemic reform: Network structures in Los Angeles. Phi
Delta Kappan, 81(7), 508-515.
In this article, we highlight early
lessons from school networks in Los Angeles. The
article focuses specifically on the opportunities
and challenges faced by LAAMP School Families in
their early years of working together as a network.
Our findings suggest that a school network is more
than a set of new organizational structures; it also
requires new processes - ways of doing business -
that foster collaborative relationships between parents
and professional educators to engage them in continuous
conversations about teaching, learning and student
performance.
Los
Angeles Compact on Evaluation, (March, 2000). The
value of teams in school reform: Findings from year
four of the Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project.
Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles
and University of Southern California.
This report details the findings of
the fourth year of the external evaluation of LAAMP.
A set of general structures and processes to describe
teams' within School Families is synthesized. For
structures, questions of how power is disbursed among
School Family teams and what capacity the teams have
to make decisions is explored. For processes, teams
improvement of communication among schools and how
reforms are implemented within the School Family
is described. By examining these structures and processes,
the effects of teachers participating on teams, can
be estimated in terms of intrinsic rewards for teachers
and in terms of the sustainability of the overall
reform.
Los
Angeles Compact on Evaluation, (December, 1999).
Building K-12 connections to advance school reform:
New organizational structures and processes in LAAMP
School Families. Los Angeles: University of California,
Los Angeles and University of Southern California.
This Education Brief is based upon, Team
Work in LAAMP School Families: Building Capacity
for Reform, describing how LAAMP School Families
have used this new K-12 organizational structure
to implement reforms. The brief offers a practical
guide to the structures and processes developed
to implement reforms, and how they have evolved
in response to problems or innovations.
Los
Angeles Compact on Evaluation, (March, 1999). Teamwork
in LAAMP School Families: Building capacity for reform.
Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles
and University of Southern California.
The focus of this annual report is
the progress that LAAMP School Families have made
in the 1997-1998 year to build capacity to work collectively.
We describe the structures and processes the School
Families have put in place to facilitate the implementation
of the LAAMP Action Principles, and instances of
organizational learning observed within the School
Family.
This report is the first yearly evaluation
of the Annenberg Challenge Grant to Los Angeles County.
The report focuses on the evolution of LAAMP school
families and addresses issues such as curriculum
and instruction, professional development, school
families,and student outcomes. Plans for the on-going
evaluation of the Annenberg Challenge in Los Angeles
are also described.
This report is the first yearly evaluation
of the Annenberg Challenge Grant to Los Angeles County.
The report focuses on the evolution of LAAMP school
families and addresses issues such as curriculum
and instruction, professional development, school
families,and student outcomes. Plans for the on-going
evaluation of the Annenberg Challenge in Los Angeles
are also described.
This initial report describes the status
of the LAAMP reforms in Los Angeles area schools.
The report outlines the nature and goals of the Los
Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project,as well as
plans for the long term evaluation of the project.
Also described are the school families LAAMP funded,
the focus of their proposals and the activities they
have undertaken.
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