Melissa Arnold Lyons
Biographic Data
| ID | 4391845 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Melissa Arnold Lyons |
| GIVEN NAMES | Melissa Arnold |
| FAMILY NAME | Lyons |
| SIGNATURE | LYONS M A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University at Albany, State University of New York |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4388-6337 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 31 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
The Rise and Fall of the Teaching Profession: Prestige, Interest, Preparation, and Satisfaction Over the Last Half Century
We examine the state of the U.S. K–12 teaching profession over the last half century by compiling nationally representative time-series data on four interrelated constructs: occupational prestige, interest among students, the number of individuals preparing for entry, and on-the-job satisfaction. We find a consistent and dynamic pattern across every measure: a rapid decline in the 1970s, a swift rise in the 1980s extending into the mid-1990s, rel…
How Do Unions Create Candidates
Design Philanthropy: Challenges and Opportunities in the Evolution of Philanthropic Giving
Over the past several decades large philanthropies have adopted aggressive approaches to education reform that scholars have labeled venture philanthropy. These efforts focused on broad changes to schooling and education policy, borrowing techniques from the venture capital world. But many foundations have recently become convinced that market forces and macro-level policymaking alone cannot drive educational improvement, particularly in areas re…
Current Perspectives on Teacher Unionization, and What They’re Missing
Educational policy research on teacher unionization in the United States has been dominated by two theoretical perspectives: rent-seeking and teacher voice. While bringing valuable insights to bear, these views have mutated into rigid and often ideologically charged alternatives with strong normative claims about teacher collective bargaining. Drawing from a political economy framework, this article advances a distinct theoretical perspective foc…
The Effect of Right to Work Laws on Union Membership and School Resources: Evidence from 1942–2017
In the Janus v. AFCSME (2018) decision, the U.S. Supreme Court mandated that all public sector workers, including teachers, operate in a Right to Work (RTW) framework. In the years since, teachers’ unions have not experienced the mass exodus that some predicted, but should we expect them to? Using an original, historical data set spanning 1942–2017, I examine the effect of prior RTW policies on teachers’ union membership and school expenditures. …
Narrative spillover: A narrative policy framework analysis of critical race theory discourse at multiple levels
Narrative storytelling surrounds us. Narratives are especially salient in politics, as policy problems do not simply exist, but are actively created through the stories policy actors tell. Scholars introduced the narrative policy framework (NPF) to create a generalized framework for studying how policy actors use storytelling strategically to influence policy. We use the NPF to examine the recent rise of critical race theory (CRT) in policy debat…
Teacher Political Candidacy and the Gender Composition of State Legislatures
In this article, we examine the extent to which women teachers ran for state legislative office in 2018, where they won, and the degree to which they contributed to the surge of women representatives elected in state legislatures around the country. We engaged in a comprehensive effort to collect information on all of the teacher candidates who ran for seats in state legislatures during the 2018 midterm elections. We found that 430 teacher candid…
Heroes, villains, or something in between? How “Right to Work” policies affect teachers, students, and education policymaking
Blurring Lines? How Locally Based Collaborations Handle the Redistribution/Development Tradeoff
The tension between the pursuit of equity versus economic growth has been a central focus on the field of urban politics. Although local governance regimes have tended to focus on growth policies and the accommodation of business interests, regime theorists have argued that it is possible, albeit challenging, to construct sustainable coalitions to support equity agendas. In this article, we empirically examine the equity/development trade-off wit…
Counting on Context: Cross-Sector Collaborations for Education and the Legacy of James Coleman's Sociological Vision
Many localities across the United States are pursuing efforts to improve outcomes for children and youth through place-based, cross-sector collaborations among education, business, government, philanthropy, and social services agencies. In this article, we examine these place-based initiatives, investigating how they attempt to ameliorate educational inequity and how they might reflect the broader sociological vision of James S. Coleman. We draw …
Narrative spillover: A narrative policy framework analysis of critical race theory discourse at multiple levels
Narrative storytelling surrounds us. Narratives are especially salient in politics, as policy problems do not simply exist, but are actively created through the stories policy actors tell. Scholars introduced the narrative policy framework (NPF) to create a generalized framework for studying how policy actors use storytelling strategically to influence policy. We use the NPF to examine the recent rise of critical race theory (CRT) in policy debat…
The Rise and Fall of the Teaching Profession: Prestige, Interest, Preparation, and Satisfaction Over the Last Half Century
We examine the state of the U.S. K–12 teaching profession over the last half century by compiling nationally representative time-series data on four interrelated constructs: occupational prestige, interest among students, the number of individuals preparing for entry, and on-the-job satisfaction. We find a consistent and dynamic pattern across every measure: a rapid decline in the 1970s, a swift rise in the 1980s extending into the mid-1990s, rel…
Counting on Context: Cross-Sector Collaborations for Education and the Legacy of James Coleman's Sociological Vision
Many localities across the United States are pursuing efforts to improve outcomes for children and youth through place-based, cross-sector collaborations among education, business, government, philanthropy, and social services agencies. In this article, we examine these place-based initiatives, investigating how they attempt to ameliorate educational inequity and how they might reflect the broader sociological vision of James S. Coleman. We draw …
The Effect of Right to Work Laws on Union Membership and School Resources: Evidence from 1942–2017
In the Janus v. AFCSME (2018) decision, the U.S. Supreme Court mandated that all public sector workers, including teachers, operate in a Right to Work (RTW) framework. In the years since, teachers’ unions have not experienced the mass exodus that some predicted, but should we expect them to? Using an original, historical data set spanning 1942–2017, I examine the effect of prior RTW policies on teachers’ union membership and school expenditures. …
How Do Unions Create Candidates
Blurring Lines? How Locally Based Collaborations Handle the Redistribution/Development Tradeoff
The tension between the pursuit of equity versus economic growth has been a central focus on the field of urban politics. Although local governance regimes have tended to focus on growth policies and the accommodation of business interests, regime theorists have argued that it is possible, albeit challenging, to construct sustainable coalitions to support equity agendas. In this article, we empirically examine the equity/development trade-off wit…
Counting on Context: Cross-Sector Collaborations for Education and the Legacy of James Coleman's Sociological Vision
Many localities across the United States are pursuing efforts to improve outcomes for children and youth through place-based, cross-sector collaborations among education, business, government, philanthropy, and social services agencies. In this article, we examine these place-based initiatives, investigating how they attempt to ameliorate educational inequity and how they might reflect the broader sociological vision of James S. Coleman. We draw …
Blurring Lines? How Locally Based Collaborations Handle the Redistribution/Development Tradeoff
The tension between the pursuit of equity versus economic growth has been a central focus on the field of urban politics. Although local governance regimes have tended to focus on growth policies and the accommodation of business interests, regime theorists have argued that it is possible, albeit challenging, to construct sustainable coalitions to support equity agendas. In this article, we empirically examine the equity/development trade-off wit…
Heroes, villains, or something in between? How “Right to Work” policies affect teachers, students, and education policymaking
Teacher Political Candidacy and the Gender Composition of State Legislatures
In this article, we examine the extent to which women teachers ran for state legislative office in 2018, where they won, and the degree to which they contributed to the surge of women representatives elected in state legislatures around the country. We engaged in a comprehensive effort to collect information on all of the teacher candidates who ran for seats in state legislatures during the 2018 midterm elections. We found that 430 teacher candid…
Design Philanthropy: Challenges and Opportunities in the Evolution of Philanthropic Giving
Over the past several decades large philanthropies have adopted aggressive approaches to education reform that scholars have labeled venture philanthropy. These efforts focused on broad changes to schooling and education policy, borrowing techniques from the venture capital world. But many foundations have recently become convinced that market forces and macro-level policymaking alone cannot drive educational improvement, particularly in areas re…
Current Perspectives on Teacher Unionization, and What They’re Missing
Educational policy research on teacher unionization in the United States has been dominated by two theoretical perspectives: rent-seeking and teacher voice. While bringing valuable insights to bear, these views have mutated into rigid and often ideologically charged alternatives with strong normative claims about teacher collective bargaining. Drawing from a political economy framework, this article advances a distinct theoretical perspective foc…
The Effect of Right to Work Laws on Union Membership and School Resources: Evidence from 1942–2017
In the Janus v. AFCSME (2018) decision, the U.S. Supreme Court mandated that all public sector workers, including teachers, operate in a Right to Work (RTW) framework. In the years since, teachers’ unions have not experienced the mass exodus that some predicted, but should we expect them to? Using an original, historical data set spanning 1942–2017, I examine the effect of prior RTW policies on teachers’ union membership and school expenditures. …
Narrative spillover: A narrative policy framework analysis of critical race theory discourse at multiple levels
Narrative storytelling surrounds us. Narratives are especially salient in politics, as policy problems do not simply exist, but are actively created through the stories policy actors tell. Scholars introduced the narrative policy framework (NPF) to create a generalized framework for studying how policy actors use storytelling strategically to influence policy. We use the NPF to examine the recent rise of critical race theory (CRT) in policy debat…
The Rise and Fall of the Teaching Profession: Prestige, Interest, Preparation, and Satisfaction Over the Last Half Century
We examine the state of the U.S. K–12 teaching profession over the last half century by compiling nationally representative time-series data on four interrelated constructs: occupational prestige, interest among students, the number of individuals preparing for entry, and on-the-job satisfaction. We find a consistent and dynamic pattern across every measure: a rapid decline in the 1970s, a swift rise in the 1980s extending into the mid-1990s, rel…
How Do Unions Create Candidates
Political science (10 works) · Law (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Politics (6 works) · Economics (5 works) · Psychology (5 works) · Public Administration (5 works) · Public relations (5 works) · Labor Movements and Unions (4 works) · Law (4 works)