scholarly journals Public-private partnerships, accountability, and competition: Theory versus reality in the charter schools of Bogotá, Colombia

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Brent Edwards Jr. ◽  
David DeMatthews ◽  
Hilary Hartley
Keyword(s):  
Charter Schools ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Public Private Partnerships ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Competition Theory ◽  
Policy Theory ◽  
Political Clout ◽  
Theory Versus ◽  
Charter Management Organizations

While charter schools are among the most prevalent public-private partnerships in the education sector, they are frequently only assessed by measuring outputs such as enrollment and test scores. In contrast, this article assesses the logic model behind charter schools, specifically the mechanisms of accountability and competition, through a study of the Concession Schools in Bogotá, Colombia, using a realist evaluation methodology. Despite the program’s success in increasing access in marginalized areas, findings indicate that accountability and competition were hindered in practice—because of insufficient choice for parents and other unique organizational and political factors. For example, particular issues emerged that influenced the availability of viable charter operators to open and manage schools while political orientations, political shifts, and evaluation design issues affected the charter authorizer’s ability to monitor, assess, and hold charters accountable. Successfully operationalizing public-private partnerships requires that the mechanisms underlying each link in the policy theory are carefully designed and supported, that they directly connect, and that the functioning of one does not adversely impact the others—a difficult task given the dynamic and sensitive nature of such mechanisms and the imperfect world of educational reform. The article concludes by reflecting on a number of issues, including charter school exit from the market, the need for accountability of charter authorizers themselves, the increasing political clout of charter management organizations and their allies, and the ways that these actors circumvent or avoid public accountability.  

Explaining Public-Private Partnership Projects through Political Factors: An Assessment of Developing Countries

2021 ◽  
pp. 003232172110403
Author(s):  
Noemí Peña-Miguel ◽  
Beatriz Cuadrado-Ballesteros
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Public Private Partnership ◽  
Public Private Partnerships ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Private Partnership ◽  
The Government

This article analyses the effect of political factors on the use of Public Private Partnerships in developing countries. According to a sample of 80 low- and middle-income countries over the period 1995–2017, our findings suggest that Public Private Partnership projects are affected by political ideology, the strength of the government and electoral cycles. Concretely, they tend to be used by left-wing governments to a greater extent than governments with other ideologies. Public Private Partnerships also tend to be more frequently used by fragmented governments and when there is greater political competition. There is also some evidence (although slight) on the relevance of the proximity of elections in explaining Public Private Partnerships in developing countries.

PP19 Primary care streaming in emergency departments- contexts and mechanisms associated with perceived effectiveness outcomes: a realist evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. A9.1-A9
Author(s):  
Michelle Edwards ◽  
Alison Cooper ◽  
Freya Davies ◽  
Andrew Carson Stevens ◽  
Adrian Edwards ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Emergency Departments ◽  
Patient Flow ◽  
Care Service ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Primary Care Service ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Service Models

BackgroundRecent policy has encouraged emergency departments (EDs) to deploy nurses to stream patients from the ED front door to GPs working in a separate GP service operating within or alongside an ED. We aimed to describe mechanisms relating to effectiveness of streaming in different primary care service models identified in EDs. We explored perceptions of whether patients were perceived to be appropriately streamed to emergency care, primary care, other hospital services or community primary care services; and effects on patient flow (waiting times and length of stay in the ED); and safe streaming outcomes.MethodsWe used realist evaluation methodology to explore perceived streaming effectiveness. We visited 13 EDs with different primary care service models (purposively selected across England & Wales; 8 streamed primary care patients to a primary care clinician) and carried out observations of triage/streaming and patient flow and interviews with key members of staff (consultants, GPs, nurses). Field notes and audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed by creating context, mechanism and outcome configurations to refine and develop theories relating to streaming effectiveness.ResultsWe identified five contexts (nurses’ knowledge and experience, streaming guidance, teamwork and communication, operational management and strategic management) that facilitated mechanisms that influenced the effectiveness of streaming (streaming to an appropriate service, patient flow, delivering safe care). We integrated a middle range psychological theory (cognitive continuum theory) with our findings to recommend a focus for training nurses in streaming and service improvements.ConclusionsWe identified key mechanisms relating to the effectiveness of primary care streaming in different models of service. We recommend a collaborative approach to service development, guidance and training (including input from ED clinicians and primary care clinicians) and a range of training strategies that are suitable for less experienced junior nurses and more experienced senior nurses and nurse practitioners.

Following the Leader: The Evolving Network of Charter School Giving

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (10) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
David Diehl ◽  
Robert A. Marx
Keyword(s):  
Charter Schools ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Exponential Random Graph Models ◽  
Graph Models ◽  
Random Graph Models ◽  
Exponential Random Graph ◽  
Disproportionate Number ◽  
Charter Management Organizations ◽  
Foundation Type ◽  
Over Time

Background/Context Research on the patterns of philanthropic funding of charter schools has largely focused on the behavior of major foundations. This work has documented how the once diffuse giving by these major foundations has become increasingly concentrated on a small number of jurisdictional challengers in the form of charter schools, charter management organizations, and intermediary organizations. Purpose The current study examines whether this convergence in giving has spread to the entire network of foundations giving to charter-school-related organizations. We do so by extending current work and focus on the broader institutional field that includes the interactions between major foundations, smaller foundations, and grantees over time. Moreover, we look to see, if such a field-wide convergence is present, whether there is evidence consistent with the institutional process of isomorphism in which low-status foundations match the giving strategy of higher status ones. Research Design We test for these dynamics using exponential random graph models (ERGMs), a hypothesis-testing framework for network analysis. More specifically, we analyze the funding ties among 809 foundations that gave grants to California charter schools and charter-school-related organizations between 2003 and 2014, as available through the Foundation Directory Online. We constructed multiyear windows to examine funding ties between foundations and recipients, using organizational characteristics, such as foundation type, foundation year, professionalization, foundation size, organizational type, and location, and endogenous features of the network as independent variables. Findings Results indicate centralization of giving over time, as larger and newer foundations began practicing more targeted giving and the most connected recipients were involved in a disproportionate number of funding ties. We also found evidence consistent with institutionalization, as foundations with professional staffs played a larger role in giving, and smaller foundations increasingly engaged in behavior similar to their larger peers over time. Finally, we found evidence for the consistent effect of propinquity: We observe co-funding and co-receiving ties between foundations and grantees in geographical proximity to each other. Conclusions This work examines the network dynamics of charter school philanthropic giving and provides evidence for the centralization and institutionalization of the field. In turn, this may create inequity in funding for charter schools because it may be more difficult for smaller or less ideologically popular organizations to penetrate the field. Policy makers should be aware of these forces and should take them into account when making budgetary and funding decisions.

Ameliorating Workplace Harassment among Direct Caregivers in Canada’s Healthcare System: A Theatre-Based Intervention

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 626-643
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Quinlan ◽  
Susan Robertson ◽  
Ann-Marie Urban ◽  
Isobel M Findlay ◽  
Beth Bilson
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Theatre Of The Oppressed ◽  
Process Theory ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
Workplace Harassment ◽  
Labour Process ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
System A

The article reports on a theatre-based intervention designed to address workplace harassment among direct caregivers in Canada. The study is part of a larger analytical project that relies on labour process theory and critical realist evaluation methodology to understand what interventions work, how, for whom, and under what circumstances. Using Theatre of the Oppressed techniques, the reported intervention addresses workplace harassment by challenging the normative codes governing social interactions in participants’ workplaces. The study’s analysis indicates that the intervention’s Theatre of the Oppressed activities energized the participating caregivers to imagine, enact and collectively assess new social interactions. The caregivers developed strategies to resist the oppressive relations of their employment and became competent contesters of dominant discourses circulating in their workplaces. The solidarity developed through the bodily sculptures and enacted scenarios elicited participants’ deliberative exchange about workplace harassment and awakened a collective will to carry their revelations back to their workplaces.

scholarly journals How shall we examine and learn about public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the health sector? Realist evaluation of PPPs in Hong Kong

2015 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 261-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliza L.Y. Wong ◽  
Eng-kiong Yeoh ◽  
Patsy Y.K. Chau ◽  
Carrie H.K. Yam ◽  
Annie W.L. Cheung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Public Private Partnerships

scholarly journals Money for the marginalized: Promoting access to income benefits in Manitoba

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Schachter
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
Structural Level ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Dual Objectives

Low-income Manitobans are eligible for a variety of federal and provincial income support benefits that may help them meet their basic needs. However, many face barriers to completing the bureaucratic processes required to access these benefits. In response, nonprofit and public sector agencies have developed free benefit intermediary programs that support low-income community members to claim their benefits. Despite the growth of this field, there is a dearth of scholarly literature on programs that promote access to income benefits. This thesis contributes to filling this gap through a mixed-methods study of benefit intermediary programs operating in Winnipeg, MB. Using a realist evaluation methodology, this study examines contextual conditions that inhibit benefit take-up and the field of social programs that promote access to benefits. The evaluation considers the social-structural context, program goals and activities, and key program mechanisms that may account for the outcomes that ensue. Findings from semi-structured key informant interviews and a literature review demonstrate that benefit intermediary programs have dual objectives that correspond to two of Nancy Fraser’s strategies for achieving social justice. At the individual level, they employ a strategy of affirmative redistribution to assist low-income community members to claim benefits that increase their quality of life. At a structural level, they pursue nonreformist reforms to reduce systemic barriers that inhibit benefit take-up and build cross-sectoral capacity to promote access. However, these programs face constraints that limit the scope of their direct service delivery and the extent to which they can effect structural change. Nevertheless, benefit intermediaries play a vital role in promoting access to income benefits in Manitoba. This research may be useful for practitioners, policymakers, and social scientists who are interested in the problem of benefit non-take-up, or who are engaged in efforts to increase the take-up of money for the marginalized.

scholarly journals Disability Data Collection in a Complex Humanitarian Organisation: Lessons from a Realist Evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (19) ◽  
pp. 10334
Author(s):  
Claire F. O’Reilly ◽  
Louise Caffrey ◽  
Caroline Jagoe
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Data ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Life Saving ◽  
Implementation Context ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Roll Out

In recent years, global attention to disability inclusion in humanitarian and development contexts, notably comprising disability inclusion within the Sustainable Development Goals, has significantly increased. As a result, UN agencies and programmes are increasingly seeking to understand and increase the extent to which persons with disabilities are accounted for and included in their efforts to provide life-saving assistance. To explore the effects and effectiveness of such measurement, this paper applies a complexity-informed, realist evaluation methodology to a case study of a single measurement intervention. This intervention, ‘A9’, was the first indicator designed to measure the number of persons with disabilities assisted annually by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). Realist logic of analysis combined with complexity theory was employed to generate context-mechanism-outcome configurations (CMOC’s) against which primary interviews and secondary data were analysed. We show that within the complexity of the WFP system, the roll-out of the A9 measurement intervention generated delayed, counter-intuitive and unanticipated effects. In turn, path dependency and emergent behaviours meant that the intervention mechanisms of yesterday were destined to become the implementation context of tomorrow. These findings challenge the current reliance on quantitative data within humanitarian-development disability inclusion efforts and contribute to our understanding of how data can best be leveraged to support inclusion in such contexts.

Charter School Teacher Job Satisfaction

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 951-991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine H. Roch ◽  
Na Sai
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
School Teacher ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Education Management ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Traditional Public Schools ◽  
Charter Management Organizations

We examine whether working conditions in charter schools and traditional public schools lead to different levels of job satisfaction among teachers. We distinguish among charter schools managed by for-profit education management organizations (EMOs) and non-profit charter management organizations (CMOs) and stand-alone charter schools. We investigate our research question using data from the School and Staffing Survey. We find that teachers in charter schools are less satisfied with their jobs than teachers in traditional public schools. We also find that teachers in EMO-managed schools appear less satisfied than those in stand-alone charter schools. Our analyses suggest that lower salaries and limited union memberships help drive these lower levels of satisfaction, particularly among stand-alone charter schools and charter schools managed by EMOs.

scholarly journals “If you are on duty, you may be afraid to come out to attend to a person”: fear of crime and security challenges in maternal acute care in Nigeria from a realist perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Enyi Etiaba ◽  
Ana Manzano ◽  
Uju Agbawodikeizu ◽  
Udochukwu Ogu ◽  
Bassey Ebenso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Fear Of Crime ◽  
Maternal Health Services ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
Programme Theory ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Facility Staff

Abstract Background Maternal and Child Health is a global priority. Access and utilization of facility-based health services remain a challenge in low and middle-income countries. Evidence on barriers to providing and accessing services omits information on the role of security within facilities. This paper explores the role of security in the provision and use of maternal health services in primary healthcare facilities in Nigeria. Methods Study was carried out in Anambra state, Nigeria. Qualitative data were initially collected from 35 in-depth interviews and 24 focus groups with purposively identified key informants. Information gathered was used to build a programme theory that was tested with another round of interviews (17) and focus group (4) discussions. Data analysis and reporting were based on the Context-Mechanism-Outcome heuristic of Realist Evaluation methodology. Results The presence of a male security guard in the facility was the most important security factor that facilitated provision and uptake of services. Others include perimeter fencing, lighting and staff accommodation. Lack of these components constrained provision and use of services, by impacting on behaviour of staff and patients. Security concerns of facility staff who did not feel safe to let in people into unguarded facilities, mirrored those of pregnant women who did not utilize health facilities because of fear of not being let in and attended to by facility staff. Conclusion Health facility security should be key consideration in programme planning, to avert staff and women’s fear of crime which currently constrains provision and use of maternal healthcare at health facilities.

‘Improvement focused’ evaluation of place-based initiatives: An examination of three methodologies

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-182
Author(s):  
Lauren Heery ◽  
Lucio Naccarella ◽  
Rosemary McKenzie
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Impact Evaluation ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Evaluation Methodology ◽  
Developmental Evaluation ◽  
Facilitating Factors ◽  
Community Approach

Place-based initiatives offer a comprehensive, whole-of-community approach to solving complex problems. Impact evaluation of complex initiatives is challenging and alternative ‘improvement focused’ methodologies, such as developmental evaluation, action research and quality improvement, are being used. Limited understanding exists about how these methodologies work when used in place-based initiatives, which contexts they are individually best suited to and what they can achieve. This article examines the methodologies of developmental evaluation, action research and quality improvement when applied to the evaluation of place-based initiatives. The approach used a realist evaluation methodology, involving a 10-year literature review and three ‘instrumental’ case studies, which is described in detail in an accompanying paper (Heery, Naccarella & McKenzie, 2018). Contextual factors, mechanisms and outcomes for the application of developmental evaluation, action research and quality improvement to place-based evaluation were identified so as to build a theory for each methodology. The three methodologies have similar mechanisms; they are cyclical and comprise planning, doing, studying and acting, and all result in continuous improvement of the initiatives, increasing collaboration and increasing evaluation capacity. A key difference between the methodologies is their perceived purpose. These findings can support practitioners, commissioners and users of evaluation working in the place-based arena in three ways: advocating for the adoption of ‘improvement focused’ evaluation; selecting the most appropriate ‘improvement focused’ methodology; and identifying and addressing the facilitating factors particular to the selected methodology to increase the effectiveness of the evaluation.

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