Teaching Profession

Study Questions Image of Unions As Villains in School Reform Saga

By Jeff Archer — January 31, 2001 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

In the ongoing struggle for school improvement, few groups get to play the role of bad guy as often as the teachers’ unions. Witness such recent books as: Power Grab: How the National Education Association is Betraying our Children and The Teacher Unions: How the nea and aft Sabotage Reform and Hold Students, Parents, Teachers, and Taxpayers Hostage to Bureaucracy.

Given such titles, readers might be surprised to find teachers’ groups wearing the white hat in a new study in this winter’s issue of the Harvard Educational Review.

The authors’ nationwide analysis examined student results on the SAT and ACT college-entrance exams and the proportion of teachers in each state who work under collective-bargaining agreements. What the study found was a significant positive correlation between the degree of unionization in a state and how well its students fared on the tests. Moreover, that link remained after controlling for such factors as family income and parents’ education.

“When we started working on this project, we thought there’d be no relationship,” said Brian Powell, a sociology professor at Indiana University Bloomington. “We were really, to be honest, shocked that we found a positive effect. And the more analysis we did and the more runs we made, it was surprising how robust the link was.”

Mr. Powell carried out the study with fellow IU professor Robert M. Carini and Lala Carr Steelman, a sociologist at the University of South Carolina-Columbia.

The study is not the first to question the view that what’s good for teachers’ unions is bad for students. In 1987, researchers Randall W. Eberts and Joe A. Stone found that students in unionized school districts enjoyed a small but statistically significant edge in mathematics scores. By contrast, a 1996 paper by Harvard economist Caroline Minter Hoxby suggested that unionized districts tended to have higher dropout rates.

Last week, Ms. Hoxby criticized the new Harvard Educational Review study for relying on state-level comparisons, to reach conclusions about unionization and performance. “You really cannot control easily with just five or six variables for all the differences between, say, New York and Mississippi,” she said.

Mr. Stone, who is now the dean of the college of arts and sciences at the University of Oregon, sees at least one way in which the Hoxby research can be reconciled with the new study. Since weaker students are the most likely to drop out, he notes, a higher attrition rate could yield a stronger pool of students taking college-entrance exams.

Still, Mr. Stone finds scant grounds to believe that teachers’ unions are anathema to better schools. “Collective bargaining is not the devil behind poor student performance,” he said.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the January 31, 2001 edition of Education Week as Study Questions Image of Unions As Villains in School Reform Saga

Events

Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
End Student Boredom: K-12 Publisher's Guide to 70% Engagement Boost
Calling all K-12 Publishers! Student engagement flatlining? Learn how to boost it by up to 70%.
Content provided by KITABOO

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession Data Average Teacher Pay Increased Again This Year—Sort of. See How Your State Fared
Inflation is taking a bite out of teachers' paychecks, according to new state-by-state salary data.
3 min read
A kindergarten teacher works one-on-one with a student during a small-group math activity.
A kindergarten teacher works one-on-one with a student during a small-group math activity.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
Teaching Profession How These 4 Teachers Go Above and Beyond for Their Students and Colleagues
During Teacher Appreciation Week, we showcase inspiring examples of committed teachers.
8 min read
Jessica Arrow, a play-based learning kindergarten teacher, talks with her students about squirrels during class at Symonds Elementary School in Keene, N.H. on Nov. 7, 2024.
Jessica Arrow, a play-based learning kindergarten teacher, talks with her students about squirrels during class at Symonds Elementary School in Keene, N.H. on Nov. 7, 2024.
Sophie Park for Education Week
Teaching Profession Teachers Share the Weirdest Teacher Appreciation Week Gifts They've Ever Gotten
These presents range from the unexpected to the unforgettable.
1 min read
Collage of images: ash tray with cigarettes, partially eaten muffin, toilet paper, cockroaches, a pineapple and a rock.
Liz Yap/Education Week and Canva
Teaching Profession Opinion My Grandson Is Becoming a Teacher. Here's What I Want Him to Know
Larry Ferlazzo, who retires from teaching at the end of this year, offers guidance for new and veteran educators.
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week