Assistant Professor Patricia Burch
Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies
Faculty Affiliate, La Follette School of Public Affairs
(Curriculum Vitae)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of Educational Policy Studies
257 Education Building
1000 Bascom Mall
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
Tel: (608) 263-2863
Email: pburch@wisc.edu
Doctoral Degree:
Stanford University, Ph.D. Social Sciences and Education Policy, 2000.
Academic Areas of Interest:
Patricia Burch's research explores the policy process at the Federal, state, school district, school and classroom levels, focusing on intergovernmental relations and connections between policy practice and research. She examines educational policy in the context of wider political and cultural processes, particularly as they unfold in urban contexts and in high poverty settings. She also is interested in developing conceptual models of policy research that connect macro level analyses with micro investigations of school and classroom practice.
Current Research Projects:
Principal Investigator, The New Educational Privatization: Educational Contracting and High Stakes Accountability
Consultant, Evaluation of Milwaukee Public Schools Supplemental Educational Services Provision
Principal Investigator, An Integrated Qualitative and Quantitative Evaluation of the SAGE Program (Beth Graue and Robert Meyer, co principal investigators). http://varc.wceruw.org/sage/
Current and Recent Grants and Awards:
Co-Principal Investigator, An Integrated Qualitative and Quantitative Evaluation of the SAGE Program (July 2005-July 2007). Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. $500,000.
Principal Investigator, Class Size Reduction in Policy and Practice. The Graduate School. University of Wisconsin-Madison (June 2005 – July 2006). $17,173.
Principal Investigator, The Role of the District in Improving Instruction in High Poverty Schools. The Graduate School. University of Wisconsin Madison (June 2004-June 2005). $22,5000.
Principal Investigator, District-School Collaboration Study (January 1999-January 2002). John D. and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, Spencer Foundation. $1.3 Million.
Representative Publications:
Burch, P. (2007). “Educational Policy and Practice and Institutional Theory: Crafting a Wider Lens.” Educational Researcher, 36(2), 84-95.
Burch, P., Steinberg, M., & Donovan, J. (2007). “Accountability and Supplemental Education Services: Market Assumptions and Emerging Policy Issues.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 29(2), 115-133.
Burch, P. (2007, March). “The Professionalization of Instructional Leadership in the United States: Competing Values and Current Tensions.” Journal of Educational Policy, 22(2), 195-214.
Burch, P. (2007). “School Leadership Practice and the Subject: The Baxter Case.” In J. Spillane & J. Diamond (Eds.) Distributed Leadership in Practice (pp. 129-146). New York: Teachers College Press.
Burch, P. (2007). Supplemental Education Services under NCLB: Emerging Evidence and Policy Issues. The Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice. East Lansing, MI
Spillane, J. & Burch, P. (2007). The Institutional Environment and the Technical Core in K-12 Schools: “Loose Coupling” Revisited. In Brian Rowan and Heinz-Dietz (Eds.) The New Institutionalism in Education (pp. 87-102). Albany: SUNY Press.
Burch, P. (2006, December). “The New Educational Privatization: Educational Contracting and High Stakes Accountability.” Teachers College Record, 108 (12), 2582-2610.
Burch, P., Donovan, J., & Steinberg M. (October 2006). “Educational Privatization in the Era of NCLB: Markets, Supplemental Education Services and No Child Left Behind.” Phi Delta Kappa, 88(2), 86-90.
Burch, P. & Spillane, J. (2005, March). “How the Subjects Matter: Instructionally Relevant Policy in Central Office ReDesign.” Journal of Education Change, 6 (1), 51-76. Link to article: http://springerlink.metapress.com/link.asp?ID=R5M7725JQ6338220
Burch, P. & Spillane, J. (2004). Leading from the Middle: Mid-Level District Staff and Instructional Improvement. Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform. Chicago, Illinois
Burch, P. & Spillane, J. (2003, May). “Elementary School Leadership Strategies and Subject Matter: Reforming Mathematics and Literacy Instruction.” The Elementary School Journal, 103(5), 519-535.
Spillane, J., Diamond, J., Hallett, T., Halverson, R., & Burch, P. (2002). “Managing in the Middle: School Leaders and the Enactment of Accountability Policy,” Educational Policy, 16(5), 731-762.
Burch, P. (2002). “Constraints and Opportunities in Changing Policy Environments: Intermediary Organizations' Response to Complex District Contexts.” In A. Hightower, M. Knapp, J. Marsh, & M. McLaughlin, (Eds.) School Districts and Instructional Renewal. (pp. 111-126). New York: Teachers College Press.
Courses Taught:
EPS 765: Issues in Educational Policy Analysis
EPS 600: Introduction to the Study of Education Policy
EPS 600: Problems in Educational Policy
EPS 780 Topic Seminar – Educational Privatization
EPS 780 Topic Seminar – Teacher Quality and Urban School Reform
EPS 780 Topic Seminar – Policy Issues in Complex School Reform
EPS 920 Research Seminar in Educational Privatization
EPS 920 Policy Perspectives on ComplexSchool Reform
