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Article 1: Hornbeck, D. & Malin, J. (2018). State Auditors in Education Policy, Educational Policy. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904818755469

Abstract: Contemporary education reform movements in the United States have emphasized accountability for student performance. Policy actors serving within the executive branch have arguably gained power in part to provide this accountability function. The present study, in which Ohio and Pennsylvania serve as state case contexts, examines the changing education policy role of executive-level state auditors. Findings indicate their powers have expanded considerably between 2005 and 2017, with expansion attributable to four main factors: the proliferation of brick-and-mortar and online charter schools, auditors’ political motivations, auditors’ ability to conduct performance audits, and state legislatures’ reliance on auditors to provide oversight.

Article 2: Hopson, R. (2014) Why Are Studies of Neighborhoods and Communities Central to Education Policy and Reform? Urban Education, 49(8), 992-995.

Abstract: To understand the long shadow of education policy and reform in the United States, especially in the urban core, requires a full and elaborate understanding of the neighborhoods and communities that have transformed in the last 20 or 30 years. Studying classrooms and educational spaces without concomitant understanding of the dynamics and facets of neighborhood life render educational, political, and policy analyses potentially incomplete. This afterword serves to remind the reader of the key issues in each article and identify the key issues raised from the authors for implications for more robust study of neighborhoods, communities, and education policy.