Advocacy groups, policy subsidies, and policy change: The case of teacher evaluations

2024/07/19 by Leslie K. Finger · 1 voice · 1 citation
Decision Sciences · Social Sciences · #Educational Assessment and Improvement #Evaluation and Performance Assessment #School Choice and Performance

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/psj.12538

openalex publication_date 2024/07/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21

Abstract

Abstract How are powerful interest groups with a stake in the status quo overcome? Policymakers succeed in enacting policies against the preferences of powerful vested interests when they delegate the costs associated with challenging those vested interests to advocacy groups. Advocacy groups can provide information and capacity, freeing allied policymakers from relying on vested interests. Using a 50‐state regression analysis of teacher evaluation policymaking in 2010 and 2011 and case studies of the experiences of Minnesota and Wisconsin, I find evidence that where advocacy groups assist policymaker allies, they can successfully pass and implement policy change against the preferences of powerful vested interests.

Citations

• Can Value-Added Measures of Teacher Performance Be Trusted?

Cited by

• Editorial introduction: Policy actors, dynamics, and developments—New insights from process theories and methodological applications

Discussions

• Can advocacy groups help policymakers challenge powerful interests? Explore this PSJ article which examines how advocacy groups drive policy change in teacher evaluations. Read more here: doi.org/10. [bsky, 3 points, 0 comments]

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