Related
Related Books
Reviews
Reviews
The 'definitive assessment' of performance funding in higher education...
An in-depth study of an important topic...enlightening and very thorough.
The Politics of Performance Funding for Higher Education: Origins, Discontinuations, and Transformations is the most comprehensive volume on the current state of performance funding in higher education.
The Politics of Performance Funding for Higher Education clearly articulates the origins, implications, and life cycles of performance-based funding as a complex function of higher education finance that is here to stay.
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 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.
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.
About
Book Details
Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x 9
Pages
272
ISBN
9781421416908
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
Conundrums of Performance Funding
Research Questions and a Preview of Methods and Perspectives
Chapter Contents and Preview of Findings
2. Putting U.S. Performance Funding
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
Conundrums of Performance Funding
Research Questions and a Preview of Methods and Perspectives
Chapter Contents and Preview of Findings
2. Putting U.S. Performance Funding in Context
Conceptualizing Accountability
Accountability to State Government
State Finance of Higher Education as Accountability
The Use of Performance Outcomes in State Funding
Contextualizing U.S. Performance Funding
Summary and Conclusions
3. The Varying Trajectories of Higher Education Performance Funding Programs
How Many States Have Adopted Performance Funding?
Two Waves of Performance Funding Adoption
Different Stages of Performance Funding
Varying Trajectories of Performance Funding
Synopses of the Performance Funding Programs in Our Eight States
Summary and Conclusions
4. Origins of the First Wave of State Performance Funding Adoptions with Rachel Hare Bork, Sosanya M. Jones, and Blanca E. Vega
Explaining the Rise of State Performance Funding
Theoretical Perspectives
Research Methods
Broad-Based Social Forces Giving Rise to Performance Funding
Supporters of Performance Funding and Their Motives
Opponents and Their Beliefs
Coalition Formation
Identification of Policy Solutions
Agenda Setting
Summary and Conclusions
5. Incremental Change in Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee
Selection of Cases and Interviews
Theoretical Framework
Incremental Change in Funding Levels for Performance Funding
Incremental Change in Performance Indicators
Summary and Conclusions
6. Performance Funding Discontinued
Research and Theoretical Perspectives
Factors Contributing to Performance Funding Program Discontinuation
Risk Factors for Performance Funding Discontinuation
Summary and Conclusions
7. Origins of the Second Wave of Performance Funding Adoptions with Sosanya M. Jones, Hana Lahr, Lara Pheatt, and Vikash Reddy
Objectives and Theoretical Perspectives
Research Methods and Data Sources
Broad-Based Social Forces Giving Rise to the Wave 2 Programs
Advocacy Coalitions Supporting Performance Funding
Muted Opposition
Formation of the Supporting Coalitions
Identification of Policy Solutions
Policy Windows Opening the Way for PF 2.0
Similarities and Differences in the Origins of Wave 1 and 2 Programs
Summary and Conclusions
8. Summary and Conclusions
Summary of Findings
Research and Theory Implications
What Is the Likely Future of Performance Funding?
Appendix
Research Questions
Theoretical Perspectives
Research Methods
Notes
References
Index
Featured Contributor
Rebecca S. Natow
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.Resources
