William A Firestone
Biographic Data
| ID | 4136757 |
|---|---|
| NAME | William A Firestone |
| GIVEN NAMES | William A |
| FAMILY NAME | Firestone |
| SIGNATURE | FIRESTONE W A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9448-3274 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 263 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1976 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Why Teachers Participate in Professional Development: Lessons from a Schoolwide Teacher Study Group
Because it is not clear that teachers will volunteer for good professional development if it is made available, this study used surveys—including social network analysis—and interviews to examine why teachers did and did not participate in one school's high-quality study group. While all teachers were motivated by intrinsic incentives, two factors separated participators from nonparticipators. Nonparticipators were more susceptible to barriers li…
Teacher Evaluation Policy and Conflicting Theories of Motivation
Current interest in teacher evaluation focuses disproportionately on measurement issues and performance-based pay without an overarching theory of how evaluation works. To develop such a theory, I contrast two motivation theories often used to guide thinking about teacher evaluation. External motivation theory relies on economics and extrinsic incentives. Internal motivation uses psychology and intrinsic incentives. These theories and available e…
Power, Learning, and Legitimation: Assessment Implementation across Levels in the United States and the United Kingdom
Fieldwork conducted in two American states and in England and Wales helps to clarify the implementation of assessment policy at the central, local administrative (school and district), and classroom levels. This article examines implementation from three perspectives. The power perspective suggests that formal sanctions can result in educators attending to assessments but that such sanctions are not likely to change practice alone. A second persp…
Designing State-Sponsored Teacher Networks: A Comparison of Two Cases
Using interviews with teachers, network staff, and state policymakers as well as direct observation, this article compares state-sponsored teacher networks from Vermont and California. We conclude that state-sponsored networks can improve teachers’ knowledge and motivation while empowering them. We offer three recommendations. First, networks should use a loosely coupled, capacity-building strategy to support reform. Second, extrinsic incentives …
Democracy and Professionalism in Teacher Change
Redesigning Teacher Salary Systems for Educational Reform
Although recent efforts to reform teacher pay through merit pay and career ladders have not been successful, there are good reasons to consider new approaches. However, such changes should be a part of larger reform. This article assesses how changes in teacher pay can contribute to both systemic reform and restructuring agendas. Three specific alternatives—knowledge-and skill-based pay, job enlargement, and collective incentives—have potential t…
Teacher Commitment, Working Conditions, and Differential Incentive Policies
The push for more complex, intellectually demanding approaches to teaching suggests that teacher commitment will continue to be important for effective education. This article develops a framework for assessing how differential incentive policies affect teacher commitment. It identifies seven key workplace conditions that contribute to teacher commitment: job design characteristics, feedback, autonomy, participation, collaboration, learning oppor…
Alternative Arguments for Generalizing From Data as Applied to Qualitative Research
One criticism about qualitative research is that it is difficult to generalize findings to settings not studied. To explore this issue, I examine three broad arguments for generalizing from data: sample-to-population extrapolation, analytic generalization, and case-to-case transfer. Qualitative research often uses the last argument, but some efforts have been made to use the first two. I suggest that analytic generalization can be very helpful fo…
Change and Effectiveness in Schools: A Cultural Perspective
Educational Policy as an Ecology of Games
Educational policy can be considered as a set of overlapping games. Each has its own winners and losers, but each feeds and is fed by others. This metaphor identifies some of the functions and dysfunctions of the policy process. The time perspective of all players is shorter than the whole process, so no one sees the whole picture. Policies interact, so decisions do not reflect what is good for just one issue. Viewing the policy process as multip…
Different by Design: The Context and Character of Three Magnet Schools . Mary Haywood Metz
Meaning in Method: The Rhetoric of Quantitative and Qualitative Research
The current debate about quantitative and qualitative methods focuses on whether there is a necessary connection between method-type and research paradigm that makes the different approaches incompatible. This paper argues that part of the connection is rhetorical. Quantitative methods express the assumptions of a positvisit paradigm which holds that behavior can be explained through objective facts. Design and instrumentation persuade by showing…
Exploring Organizational Approaches to Dissemination and Training
Research in such fields as population planning, agriculture, and education has demonstrated the importance of intermediaries to ensure the dissemination of innovative practices However, little attention has been given to how organizations serve this function This article reports four case studies of regional educational service agencies in their role as disseminators of new knowledge Three characteristic approaches to dissemination were identifie…
The Imperfect Union: School Consolidation and Community Conflict . Alan Peshkin
The Politics of Technical Assistance: Regional Educational Service Agencies in their State Context
Assistance and Enforcement: Strategies for Knowledge Transfer and Program Reform
Reply to David
Multisite Qualitative Policy Research: Optimizing Description and Generalizability
The classical qualitative educational research design is the case study. Studies of school life (Cusick, 1973; Wolcott, 1973), of the larger social forces affecting schooling (Ogbu, 1974), and of efforts to promote planned educational change (Smith & Keith, 1971) have used qualitative data in describing a single social setting. Typically, such studies emphasize in-depth description but provide a weak basis for generalization to other settings. Th…
Limits to Citizen Participation: The Decline of Community Organizations . Marilyn Gittell , Bruce Hoffacker , Eleanor Rollins , Samuel Foster , Mark Hoffacker
Great Expectations for Small Schools: The Limitations of Federal Projects
Is "Who Governs?" the Right Question? Citizen Participation in the Public Schools . Robert H. Salisbury Professionals versus the Public: Attitudes, Communication, and Response in School Districts . Ha…
Images of Schools and Patterns of Change
Many researchers, change agents, and practitioners have assumed that schools are rational bureaucracies. Yet, schools can vary in the clarity and consistency of their goals, in the ways in which staff work together, and in their abilities to deal with the outside world. The bureaucratic imagery does not take such variation into account. This paper contrasts the bureaucratic image of schools with four other possible images--the sect, the legislatu…
The Promise and Problems of Long-Term, Continuous Fieldwork
Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation C. Wacaster, William Firestone; The Promise and Problems of Long-Term, Continuous Fieldwork. Human Organization 1 September 1978; 37 (3): 269–275. doi: https://doi.org/10.17730/humo.37.3.8h1v675326113mn2 Download citation file: Ris (Zoter…
Ideology and Conflict in Parent-Run Free Schools
Silberman, Charles. 1970 Crisis in the Classroom. New York: Random House. Spitzer, Stephen, Carl Couch, and John Stratton. 1969 The Assessment of the Self. Iowa City: Sernoll. Tefft, Stanton. 1967 Anomy, values, and culture change among teen-age Indians: An exploratory study. Sociology of Education 40 (Spring): 145-157. U.S. Senate. 1969 The Education of American Indians. Special Subcommittee on Labor and Public Welfare. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Go…
Alternative Arguments for Generalizing From Data as Applied to Qualitative Research
One criticism about qualitative research is that it is difficult to generalize findings to settings not studied. To explore this issue, I examine three broad arguments for generalizing from data: sample-to-population extrapolation, analytic generalization, and case-to-case transfer. Qualitative research often uses the last argument, but some efforts have been made to use the first two. I suggest that analytic generalization can be very helpful fo…
Meaning in Method: The Rhetoric of Quantitative and Qualitative Research
The current debate about quantitative and qualitative methods focuses on whether there is a necessary connection between method-type and research paradigm that makes the different approaches incompatible. This paper argues that part of the connection is rhetorical. Quantitative methods express the assumptions of a positvisit paradigm which holds that behavior can be explained through objective facts. Design and instrumentation persuade by showing…
Multisite Qualitative Policy Research: Optimizing Description and Generalizability
The classical qualitative educational research design is the case study. Studies of school life (Cusick, 1973; Wolcott, 1973), of the larger social forces affecting schooling (Ogbu, 1974), and of efforts to promote planned educational change (Smith & Keith, 1971) have used qualitative data in describing a single social setting. Typically, such studies emphasize in-depth description but provide a weak basis for generalization to other settings. Th…
Educational Policy as an Ecology of Games
Educational policy can be considered as a set of overlapping games. Each has its own winners and losers, but each feeds and is fed by others. This metaphor identifies some of the functions and dysfunctions of the policy process. The time perspective of all players is shorter than the whole process, so no one sees the whole picture. Policies interact, so decisions do not reflect what is good for just one issue. Viewing the policy process as multip…
Teacher Evaluation Policy and Conflicting Theories of Motivation
Current interest in teacher evaluation focuses disproportionately on measurement issues and performance-based pay without an overarching theory of how evaluation works. To develop such a theory, I contrast two motivation theories often used to guide thinking about teacher evaluation. External motivation theory relies on economics and extrinsic incentives. Internal motivation uses psychology and intrinsic incentives. These theories and available e…
Power, Learning, and Legitimation: Assessment Implementation across Levels in the United States and the United Kingdom
Fieldwork conducted in two American states and in England and Wales helps to clarify the implementation of assessment policy at the central, local administrative (school and district), and classroom levels. This article examines implementation from three perspectives. The power perspective suggests that formal sanctions can result in educators attending to assessments but that such sanctions are not likely to change practice alone. A second persp…
Designing State-Sponsored Teacher Networks: A Comparison of Two Cases
Using interviews with teachers, network staff, and state policymakers as well as direct observation, this article compares state-sponsored teacher networks from Vermont and California. We conclude that state-sponsored networks can improve teachers’ knowledge and motivation while empowering them. We offer three recommendations. First, networks should use a loosely coupled, capacity-building strategy to support reform. Second, extrinsic incentives …
Redesigning Teacher Salary Systems for Educational Reform
Although recent efforts to reform teacher pay through merit pay and career ladders have not been successful, there are good reasons to consider new approaches. However, such changes should be a part of larger reform. This article assesses how changes in teacher pay can contribute to both systemic reform and restructuring agendas. Three specific alternatives—knowledge-and skill-based pay, job enlargement, and collective incentives—have potential t…
Assistance and Enforcement: Strategies for Knowledge Transfer and Program Reform
The Promise and Problems of Long-Term, Continuous Fieldwork
Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation C. Wacaster, William Firestone; The Promise and Problems of Long-Term, Continuous Fieldwork. Human Organization 1 September 1978; 37 (3): 269–275. doi: https://doi.org/10.17730/humo.37.3.8h1v675326113mn2 Download citation file: Ris (Zoter…
The Politics of Technical Assistance: Regional Educational Service Agencies in their State Context
Images of Schools and Patterns of Change
Many researchers, change agents, and practitioners have assumed that schools are rational bureaucracies. Yet, schools can vary in the clarity and consistency of their goals, in the ways in which staff work together, and in their abilities to deal with the outside world. The bureaucratic imagery does not take such variation into account. This paper contrasts the bureaucratic image of schools with four other possible images--the sect, the legislatu…
Ideology and Conflict in Parent-Run Free Schools
Silberman, Charles. 1970 Crisis in the Classroom. New York: Random House. Spitzer, Stephen, Carl Couch, and John Stratton. 1969 The Assessment of the Self. Iowa City: Sernoll. Tefft, Stanton. 1967 Anomy, values, and culture change among teen-age Indians: An exploratory study. Sociology of Education 40 (Spring): 145-157. U.S. Senate. 1969 The Education of American Indians. Special Subcommittee on Labor and Public Welfare. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Go…
Ideology and Conflict in Parent-Run Free Schools
Silberman, Charles. 1970 Crisis in the Classroom. New York: Random House. Spitzer, Stephen, Carl Couch, and John Stratton. 1969 The Assessment of the Self. Iowa City: Sernoll. Tefft, Stanton. 1967 Anomy, values, and culture change among teen-age Indians: An exploratory study. Sociology of Education 40 (Spring): 145-157. U.S. Senate. 1969 The Education of American Indians. Special Subcommittee on Labor and Public Welfare. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Go…
The Promise and Problems of Long-Term, Continuous Fieldwork
Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation C. Wacaster, William Firestone; The Promise and Problems of Long-Term, Continuous Fieldwork. Human Organization 1 September 1978; 37 (3): 269–275. doi: https://doi.org/10.17730/humo.37.3.8h1v675326113mn2 Download citation file: Ris (Zoter…
Images of Schools and Patterns of Change
Many researchers, change agents, and practitioners have assumed that schools are rational bureaucracies. Yet, schools can vary in the clarity and consistency of their goals, in the ways in which staff work together, and in their abilities to deal with the outside world. The bureaucratic imagery does not take such variation into account. This paper contrasts the bureaucratic image of schools with four other possible images--the sect, the legislatu…
Is "Who Governs?" the Right Question? Citizen Participation in the Public Schools . Robert H. Salisbury Professionals versus the Public: Attitudes, Communication, and Response in School Districts . Ha…
Limits to Citizen Participation: The Decline of Community Organizations . Marilyn Gittell , Bruce Hoffacker , Eleanor Rollins , Samuel Foster , Mark Hoffacker
Great Expectations for Small Schools: The Limitations of Federal Projects
Assistance and Enforcement: Strategies for Knowledge Transfer and Program Reform
Reply to David
Multisite Qualitative Policy Research: Optimizing Description and Generalizability
The classical qualitative educational research design is the case study. Studies of school life (Cusick, 1973; Wolcott, 1973), of the larger social forces affecting schooling (Ogbu, 1974), and of efforts to promote planned educational change (Smith & Keith, 1971) have used qualitative data in describing a single social setting. Typically, such studies emphasize in-depth description but provide a weak basis for generalization to other settings. Th…
The Imperfect Union: School Consolidation and Community Conflict . Alan Peshkin
The Politics of Technical Assistance: Regional Educational Service Agencies in their State Context
Exploring Organizational Approaches to Dissemination and Training
Research in such fields as population planning, agriculture, and education has demonstrated the importance of intermediaries to ensure the dissemination of innovative practices However, little attention has been given to how organizations serve this function This article reports four case studies of regional educational service agencies in their role as disseminators of new knowledge Three characteristic approaches to dissemination were identifie…
Different by Design: The Context and Character of Three Magnet Schools . Mary Haywood Metz
Meaning in Method: The Rhetoric of Quantitative and Qualitative Research
The current debate about quantitative and qualitative methods focuses on whether there is a necessary connection between method-type and research paradigm that makes the different approaches incompatible. This paper argues that part of the connection is rhetorical. Quantitative methods express the assumptions of a positvisit paradigm which holds that behavior can be explained through objective facts. Design and instrumentation persuade by showing…
Educational Policy as an Ecology of Games
Educational policy can be considered as a set of overlapping games. Each has its own winners and losers, but each feeds and is fed by others. This metaphor identifies some of the functions and dysfunctions of the policy process. The time perspective of all players is shorter than the whole process, so no one sees the whole picture. Policies interact, so decisions do not reflect what is good for just one issue. Viewing the policy process as multip…
Change and Effectiveness in Schools: A Cultural Perspective
Teacher Commitment, Working Conditions, and Differential Incentive Policies
The push for more complex, intellectually demanding approaches to teaching suggests that teacher commitment will continue to be important for effective education. This article develops a framework for assessing how differential incentive policies affect teacher commitment. It identifies seven key workplace conditions that contribute to teacher commitment: job design characteristics, feedback, autonomy, participation, collaboration, learning oppor…
Alternative Arguments for Generalizing From Data as Applied to Qualitative Research
One criticism about qualitative research is that it is difficult to generalize findings to settings not studied. To explore this issue, I examine three broad arguments for generalizing from data: sample-to-population extrapolation, analytic generalization, and case-to-case transfer. Qualitative research often uses the last argument, but some efforts have been made to use the first two. I suggest that analytic generalization can be very helpful fo…
Democracy and Professionalism in Teacher Change
Redesigning Teacher Salary Systems for Educational Reform
Although recent efforts to reform teacher pay through merit pay and career ladders have not been successful, there are good reasons to consider new approaches. However, such changes should be a part of larger reform. This article assesses how changes in teacher pay can contribute to both systemic reform and restructuring agendas. Three specific alternatives—knowledge-and skill-based pay, job enlargement, and collective incentives—have potential t…
Designing State-Sponsored Teacher Networks: A Comparison of Two Cases
Using interviews with teachers, network staff, and state policymakers as well as direct observation, this article compares state-sponsored teacher networks from Vermont and California. We conclude that state-sponsored networks can improve teachers’ knowledge and motivation while empowering them. We offer three recommendations. First, networks should use a loosely coupled, capacity-building strategy to support reform. Second, extrinsic incentives …
Power, Learning, and Legitimation: Assessment Implementation across Levels in the United States and the United Kingdom
Fieldwork conducted in two American states and in England and Wales helps to clarify the implementation of assessment policy at the central, local administrative (school and district), and classroom levels. This article examines implementation from three perspectives. The power perspective suggests that formal sanctions can result in educators attending to assessments but that such sanctions are not likely to change practice alone. A second persp…
Teacher Evaluation Policy and Conflicting Theories of Motivation
Current interest in teacher evaluation focuses disproportionately on measurement issues and performance-based pay without an overarching theory of how evaluation works. To develop such a theory, I contrast two motivation theories often used to guide thinking about teacher evaluation. External motivation theory relies on economics and extrinsic incentives. Internal motivation uses psychology and intrinsic incentives. These theories and available e…
Why Teachers Participate in Professional Development: Lessons from a Schoolwide Teacher Study Group
Because it is not clear that teachers will volunteer for good professional development if it is made available, this study used surveys—including social network analysis—and interviews to examine why teachers did and did not participate in one school's high-quality study group. While all teachers were motivated by intrinsic incentives, two factors separated participators from nonparticipators. Nonparticipators were more susceptible to barriers li…
Political science (19 works) · Sociology (17 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies (11 works) · Computer Science (9 works) · Economics (9 works) · Public relations (9 works) · Public Administration (8 works) · Public Administration (8 works) · Law (6 works)