The Politics of Performance Funding for Higher Education: Origins, Discontinuations, and Transformations available in Hardcover, eBook
The Politics of Performance Funding for Higher Education: Origins, Discontinuations, and Transformations
- ISBN-10:
- 1421416905
- ISBN-13:
- 9781421416908
- Pub. Date:
- 05/15/2015
- Publisher:
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- ISBN-10:
- 1421416905
- ISBN-13:
- 9781421416908
- Pub. Date:
- 05/15/2015
- Publisher:
- Johns Hopkins University Press
The Politics of Performance Funding for Higher Education: Origins, Discontinuations, and Transformations
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Overview
Performance funding ties state support of colleges and universities directly to institutional performance on specific outcomes, including retention, number of credits accrued, graduation, and job placement. The theory is that introducing market-like forces will prod institutions to become more efficient and effective. In The Politics of Performance Funding for Higher Education, Kevin J. Dougherty and Rebecca S. Natow explore the sometimes puzzling evolution of this mode of funding higher education. Drawing on an eight-state study of performance funding in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington, Dougherty and Natow shed light on the social and political factors affecting the origins, evolution, and demise of these programs. Their findings uncover patterns of frequent adoption, discontinuation, and re-adoption.
Of the thirty-six states that have ever adopted performance funding, two-thirds discontinued it, although many of those later re-adopted it. Even when performance funding programs persist over time, they can undergo considerable changes in both the amount of state funding and in the indicators used to allocate funding. Yet performance funding continues to attract interest from federal and state officials, state policy associations, and major foundations as a way of improving educational outcomes.
The authors explore the various forces, actors, and motives behind the adoption, discontinuation, and transformation of performance funding programs. They compare U.S. programs to international models, and they gauge the likely future of performance funding, given the volatility of the political forces driving it. Aimed at educators, sociologists, political scientists, and policy makers, this book will be hailed as the definitive assessment of the origins and evolution of performance funding.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781421416908 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Johns Hopkins University Press |
| Publication date: | 05/15/2015 |
| Edition description: | New Edition |
| Pages: | 272 |
| Sales rank: | 1,042,556 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d) |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Rebecca S. Natow is a senior research associate at the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is a coauthor of The Politics of Performance Funding for Higher Education: Origins, Discontinuations, and Transformations.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1 Introduction 1
Conundrums of Performance Funding 3
Research Questions and a Preview of Methods and Perspectives 4
Chapter Contents and Preview of Findings 8
2 Putting U.S. Performance Funding in Context 12
Conceptualizing Accountability 12
Accountability to State Government 13
State Finance of Higher Education as Accountability 14
The Use of Performance Outcomes in State Funding 15
Contextualizing U.S. Performance Funding 17
Summary and Conclusions 25
3 The Varying Trajectories of Higher Education Performance Funding Programs 27
How Many States Have Adopted Performance Funding? 27
Two Waves of Performance Funding Adoption 29
Different Stages of Performance Funding 29
Varying Trajectories of Performance Funding 36
Synopses of the Performance Funding Programs in Our Eight States 38
Summary and Conclusions 50
4 Origins of the First Wave of State Performance Funding Adoptions Rachel Hare Bork Sosanya M. Jones Blanca E. Vega 52
Explaining the Rise of State Performance Funding 52
Theoretical Perspectives 54
Research Methods 60
Broad-Based Social Forces Giving Rise to Performance Funding 60
Supporters of Performance Funding and Their Motives 63
Opponents and Their Beliefs 72
Coalition Formation: The Role of Policy Entrepreneurs 76
Identification of Policy Solutions 78
Agenda Setting: Policy Windows and External Shocks 85
Summary and Conclusions 88
5 Incremental Change in Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee 91
Selection of Cases and Interviews 92
Theoretical Framework 93
Incremental Change in Funding Levels for Performance Funding 97
Incremental Change in Performance Indicators 105
Summary and Conclusions 115
6 Performance Funding Discontinued: Lessons from Florida, Illinois, Missouri, and Washington 117
Research and Theoretical Perspectives 119
Factors Contributing to Performance Funding Program Discontinuation 125
Risk Factors for Performance Funding Discontinuation: In Theory and Practice 137
Summary and Conclusions 138
7 Origins of the Second Wave of Performance Funding Adoptions Sosanya M. Jones Hana Lahr Lara Pheatt Vikasb Reddy 142
Objectives and Theoretical Perspectives 143
Research Methods and Data Sources 144
Broad-Based Social Forces Giving Rise to the Wave 2 Programs 144
Advocacy Coalitions Supporting Performance Funding 146
Muted Opposition 152
Formation of the Supporting Coalitions: The Role of Policy Entrepreneurs 157
Identification of Policy Solutions 161
Policy Windows Opening the Way for PF 2.0 165
Similarities and Differences in the Origins of Wave 1 and 2 Programs 168
Summary and Conclusions 170
8 Summary and Conclusions 173
Summary of Findings 173
Research and Theory Implications 179
What Is the Likely Future of Performance Funding? 186
Appendix: Research Questions, Theoretical Perspectives, and Research Methods 197
Research Questions 197
Theoretical Perspectives 198
Research Methods 202
Notes 207
References 215
Index 253
What People are Saying About This
Kevin J. Dougherty and Rebecca S. Natow provide us with a comprehensive review of performance funding in action based on intensive case studies of eight states that have enacted it. I know of no other higher education policy study that is as deeply researched, as thoughtfully constructed, or as informative as this one. This impressive work will be regarded as a landmark in higher education policy studies—and it will surely also serve as an important source for those engaged in designing future state higher education reforms.
Performance funding for higher education is an increasingly popular tool for states that are seeking to hold their college and university systems accountable in their use of public resources. And yet there has been little scholarly research, besides descriptive briefs, of why, how, and with what impacts states have chosen to implement performance funding schemes, and why they have so often failed. This important volume fills that void by examining the history of performance funding, how it has been implemented, and what impact it has had. It contains important lessons for policy makers who believe that performance funding is the silver bullet of higher education accountability.
Performance funding for higher education is an increasingly popular tool for states that are seeking to hold their college and university systems accountable in their use of public resources. And yet there has been little scholarly research, besides descriptive briefs, of why, how, and with what impacts states have chosen to implement performance funding schemes, and why they have so often failed. This important volume fills that void by examining the history of performance funding, how it has been implemented, and what impact it has had. It contains important lessons for policy makers who believe that performance funding is the silver bullet of higher education accountability.—Donald E. Heller, College of Education, Michigan State University
Performance funding is a commonly touted answer to one of the most important questions facing our nation’s higher education system: How can we effectively raise overall higher education attainment—and close persisting gaps in attainment across groups—in the context of finite fiscal resources? With its in-depth examination of the forces contributing to the origins, evolution, and discontinuation of performance funding in particular states, this book offers useful insights into the past, present, and future role of this potential policy lever.—Laura Perna, Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy at the University of Pennsylvania
Kevin J. Dougherty and Rebecca S. Natow provide us with a comprehensive review of performance funding in action based on intensive case studies of eight states that have enacted it. I know of no other higher education policy study that is as deeply researched, as thoughtfully constructed, or as informative as this one. This impressive work will be regarded as a landmark in higher education policy studies—and it will surely also serve as an important source for those engaged in designing future state higher education reforms.—Steven G. Brint, Vice Provost, Undergraduate Education, University of California, Riverside
Performance funding is a commonly touted answer to one of the most important questions facing our nation’s higher education system: How can we effectively raise overall higher education attainment—and close persisting gaps in attainment across groups—in the context of finite fiscal resources? With its in-depth examination of the forces contributing to the origins, evolution, and discontinuation of performance funding in particular states, this book offers useful insights into the past, present, and future role of this potential policy lever.