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
312 Rust Hall
115 North Orchard Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53715
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 and public and private sector interactions. 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. Her most recent research explores new forms of government contracting in education and the equity and governance implications of these developments.
Current and Recent Grants and Awards:
Principal Investigator, Supplemental Educational Services in the Milwaukee Public Schools: Looking Inside the Black Box of Tutoring Practice (July 2008 – July 2009). The Graduate School. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Amount: $27,000.
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:
Books
Burch, P. (in press). Hidden Markets: The New Education Privatization. New York: Routledge. The Critical Social Thought Series.
Journal Articles
Burch, P, Theoharis, G. & Rauscher E. (in press). Class size reduction in practice: Investigating the influence of the elementary school principal. Educational Policy.
Burch, P. (2007). The professionalization of instructional leadership in the United States: Competing values and current tensions. Journal of Education Policy, (22)2, 195-214.
Burch, P. (2007). Educational policy and practice from the perspective of institutional theory: Crafting a wider lens. Educational Researcher, 36(2), 84-95. (pdf file)
Burch, P., Steinberg, M., & Donovan, J. (2007). Supplemental educational services and NCLB: Policy assumptions, market practices, emerging issues. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 29(2), 115-133. (pdf file)
Burch, P. (2006). The new educational privatization: Educational contracting and high stakes accountability. Teachers College Record, 108 (12), 2582-2610. (pdf file)
Burch, P., Donovan, J., & Steinberg M. (October 2006). The new landscape of 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). How subjects matter in district office practice: Instructionally relevant policy in urban school district redesign. Journal of Educational Change, 6 (1), 51-76. (link to article)
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.
Teaching:
EPS 150 Urban Youth and Education Policy (Undergraduate)
EPS 600 Problems in Education Policy (Undergraduate)
EPS 765 Issues in Educational Policy Analysis (Graduate)
EPS 780 Qualitative Research Methods (Graduate)
EPS 780 Markets and Education (Graduate)
