New @epaa_aape special issue alert! "Researching 21st Century #EducationPolicy Through #SocialNetworkAnalysis." With @jaycee43public and @UWBothell's #WayneAu, we feature those combining #SNA with political science theory or other novel lenses to education #policynetworks

Our editorial introduction provides background on policy networks, #networkedgovernance, and contrasts the large number of #education #sna studies using a social capital perspective with the relatively few using political science https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/5874

#SarahHGaley & @UWBothell's #JoeFerrare provide a unified framework for understanding the role of ideas and beliefs in policy change and formation (including @PhilipLeifeld's #DiscourseNetworkAnalysis with other complementary approaches). https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/4508

From @HelenWangYying, a super cool #DiscourseNetworkAnalysis of congressional hearings around #ESSA implementation—she identifies both coalitions of actors and policy positions! https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/4451

@RicardoBreynner and @DorianaDaroit conduct a #networkethnography of Brazil's Bolsa Família Program, in which families only get $ if children attend school. The authors identify a complex interorganizational network and routines for surveilling attendance https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/4499

@ecastillophd uses a #policynetworks POV to investigate fundraising of progressive #charterschools—finding that, like #CMOs, $$ comes from school personnel’s #socialcapital and ability to leverage those connections into concrete financial resources. https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/4452

#NabihHaddad extends @SReckhow's work on K-12 foundation funding networks to #highered, finding that funders prioritize those whom they know will be able to broker ideas and relationships across multiple sectors https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/4501

#BernardDavid #MichaelMarder #JillMarshall @MGonzalezHoward @utexascoe use innovative #SNA to analyze #STEM course-taking in TX #charters: two-mode to one-mode networks, a community detection algorithm, and multiple quantitative models. https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/4484

@OrenPizmonyLevy and #NancyGreenSaraisky have an amazing survey dataset of parents/caregivers contacted by opt-out orgs when #CCSS resistance was at its peak and shortly after, showing how contact w/ orgs can influence beliefs. https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/4835

Finally! @SalloumSerena @slbenko & myself investigate predictors of states' shared org ties for #CCSS implementation. Turns out that #RTTT did not just influence states to ADOPT CCSS, but also influenced where they turned for curricular resources! https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/4494

Together, these articles provide models for using SNA to describe and predict education #policynetworks. They suggest new theoretical approaches outside of traditional sociological approaches, including those from political science, institutional theory, & social movement theory.

More #SNA #edpolicy research is needed to broaden our understanding of ed policy networks and help us explore agendas and power relationships in policy formation and implementation, as well as the influence of brokers on policy ideas.

If #JoeFerrare, @ksfinnigan, and I ever get to have our @Spencer_Fdn conference on #SNA in #EdPolicy, hopefully this can also help to push this research agenda forward! In the meantime, please seek out these authors for discussion and collaboration!