teachers unions and management partnerships: how working together improves student achievement
TRANSCRIPT
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Teachers Unions andManagement PartnershipsHow Working Together Improves Student Achievement
By Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy March 2014
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 228
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Teachers Unions andManagement PartnershipsHow Working Together
Improves Student Achievement
By Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy March 2014
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 428
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 528
1 Introduction and summary
5 Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
9 How partnerships affect communication
networks and student performance
15 Recommendations and conclusion
17 About the authors
19 Endnotes
Contents
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Introduction and summary
For more han a decade he debae over public school reorm has creaed ricion
beween eachers unions adminisraors school boards parens policymakers
and oher sakeholders in public educaion and has ueled disagreemens over
how o improve he qualiy o eaching and learning or children While many
acors make consensus elusive when i comes o school reorm a key obsacle o
finding agreemen around educaional improvemens and bringing such improve-
mens o ruiion is ideological policy divisions1
Ye wihin some disrics and schools union leaders and school adminisraors
have ound an alernae pah o reorm991252one ha is based on building srong rela-
ionships ha aciliae collaboraion among educaors and is ocused on each-
ing qualiy and educaional improvemen or sudens Tis repor explores he
impac o school-level union-managemen insiuional parnerships on eacher
collaboraion and suden perormance Moreover i offers srong evidence or
his alernaive direcion o he policy debae on public school reorm by analyz-
ing he role o union-managemen relaions in educaional qualiy
ess can reveal deficiencies in suden knowledge bu can offer litle more
beyond alering parens and eachers o a problem Union-managemen parner-
ships because hey are problem ocused can ake he criical nex seps and help
drive hinking abou ways o increase suden learning Tese ypes o parner-
ships are designed o use collaboraion among educaors o find soluions o gaps
in suden achievemen and hen effecively implemen hose soluions because
hose closes o he problem991252wih aci knowledge o i991252are key sakeholders
in he improvemen process
An earlier repor or he Cener or American Progress ldquoReorming Public SchoolSysems hrough Susained Union-Managemen Collaboraionrdquo2 examined cases
o school reorm ha resuled rom collaboraive parnerships beween each-
ers unions and adminisraors working ogeher in innovaive ways o improve
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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2 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
eaching qualiy and suden perormance Ta repor analyzed hese cases o
ideniy he common elemens ha all disrics wih long-erm union-manage-
men parnerships shared in common Tis curren repor looks deeper ino hese
parnerships o examine he paterns o collaboraion ha occur wihin schools
beween eachers and adminisraors o see how hey affec suden perormance
Tis repor akes an organizaional perspecive looking a schools as sysems andexamining school governance paterns o communicaion and collaboraion
eacher paricipaion in decision making and indusrial relaions Paricular iner-
es is paid o he way eachers work wih each oher and how union represenaives
work wih principals a he school level
Tis laes sudy finds ha
bull Formal partnerships help improve student performance Te qualiy o ormal
parnerships beween eachers unions adminisraors and eachers a he school
level is a significan predicor o suden perormance as well as perormanceimprovemen afer povery and school ype are aken ino accoun
bull Partnerships lead to more extensive communication between teachers Higher-qualiy school-level eacher-adminisraor parnerships prediced more
exensive school-level collaboraion and communicaion around suden-
perormance daa curriculum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or grade-
o-grade inegraion sharing advising or learning abou insrucional pracices
and giving or receiving ormal or inormal menoring
bull More extensive communication improves student performance More exen-
sive communicaions around suden-perormance daa curriculum and ine-
graion insrucional pracice and menoring all prediced large and significan
gains in suden perormance or perormance improvemen
bull Partnership leads to more frequent and i nformal communication between
union representatives and principals Finally he qualiy o parnerships
prediced differen communicaion paterns beween union building represen-
aives and principals wih he communicaion in high-parnership schools
becoming more requen and less ormal han he communicaion in low-parnership schools
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Tis sudy conribues o our undersanding o he value ha union-managemen
parnerships can bring o organizaional perormance by creaing a posiive climae
or eacher collaboraion which leads o innovaion and an inrasrucure or prob-
lem solving Over he pas decade educaion researchers have encouraged greaer
levels o proessional collaboraion among eachers as a means o improve suden
achievemen3
However litle is currenly known abou he insiuional aneced-ens o proessional collaboraion paricularly in he conex o public educaion
Tis repor arges school-level union-managemen parnerships as poenial caa-
lyss or proessional collaboraion in public schools
Furhermore his research sheds ligh on he impac ha school-level union-man-
agemen parnerships and eacher collaboraion can have on suden perormance
Based on he findings o his repor i policymakers and educaors wan o creae
and suppor more long-erm parnership arrangemens in US school disrics
hey should underake he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o he developmen o curriculum and insrucional prac-
ice eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
bull Provide echnical and financial suppor o disrics ha are willing o pilo par-
nerships and innovaive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy
and suden perormance
bull Build learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih exensive
experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bull Creae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmen
in union-managemen parnerships and collaboraion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical assisance
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm effors ha have produced
resuls and share he findings widely
As unions eachers and adminisraors coninue o see he value o collaboraion
and deepen heir work ogeher on he design and implemenaion o our educa-
ion sysems eaching and learning can be more effecive and efficien
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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4 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
Research across a wide variey o indusries has long esablished ha as employees
are increasingly included in managerial planning problem solving and decision
making perormance and produciviy increases4 Tis increase in perormance
and produciviy resuls rom direcing more resources oward improvemen
effors culivaing soluions rom employees who are closes o he problems
using beter inormaion o aid in he decision-making process increasing effor
and moivaion and providing greaer suppor or he implemenaion o deci-
sions o hose involved in making hem Tis sudy exends hese ideas o publicschool reorm An earlier CAP repor on his issue ound ha schools ha sus-
ained high-qualiy union-managemen parnerships developed a culure o col-
laboraion hese schools also esablished organizaional srucures ha allowed
or greaer levels o eacher inpu ino planning problem solving and decision
making5 Tis repor builds on hose earlier findings by invesigaing wheher
hose schools wih sronger parnerships also have higher levels o perormance
and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and communication networks
Communicaions heory ells us ha he srucure and patern o relaionships
beween organizaional members will have an impac on heir behavior and
decisions Work sysems ha are more collaboraive break down hierarchies
and increase horizonal communicaion inormaion and knowledge sharing
and innovaion Tis resuls in greaer responsiveness and flexibiliy paricularly
in knowledge-inensive work6 Neworks wihin organizaions are increasingly
imporan or coordinaing work when inormaion is dispersed and when flex-
ibiliy responsiveness and problem solving are imporan or improving peror-mance7 Tis is rue across a variey o indusries For example nurses and docors
need o share inormaion abou paiens in hospials and eams o workers need
o come ogeher o solve qualiy problems in seel or auomobile manuacuring
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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6 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
Applying his ramework o public schools he auhors projec ha improved edu-
caional qualiy will resul rom praciioners analyzing suden perormance and
making adjusmens o curriculum and insrucional pracice o improve learning8
Tis however is no simply he work o individual eachers working alone bu
raher he resul o eachers ineracing wih one anoher and wih adminisra-
ors991252he social nework wihin schools Tis requires he inpu cooperaionand coordinaion o eachers and adminisraors across classrooms and depar-
mens In essence i requires an exensive communicaions nework ha osers
educaional effeciveness991252his is reerred o as he ldquodensiyrdquo o a communicaions
nework When here is requen and exensive communicaion beween each-
ers and wih adminisraors he nework is considered dense Furhermore he
srucure and characer o he social nework inside a school can be shaped by he
relaionship beween managemen and he union9
Te earlier CAP repor sudied union-managemen parnerships in six school
disrics across he Unied Saes in order o deermine how deep collaboraionis creaed and susained10 Te repor idenified a unique se o common charac-
erisics across hese disrics ha allowed hem o change union-managemen
relaionships and oser collaboraion beween eachers and adminisraors
a he school level In he case o he ABC Unified School Disric991252Aresia
Bloomfield and Carmenia991252in Souhern Caliornia ha is he basis or research
in his repor he union-managemen relaionship has osered a parnership ha
emphasizes shared responsibiliy or decision making and school improvemen
Tis sudy shows ha schools wih higher levels o union-managemen parner-
ship also have higher levels o communicaion and collaboraion Moreover
schools wih higher levels o collaboraion also have higher levels o suden
perormance and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and union-management relations
Earlier research has shown ha union-managemen parnerships can lead o
undamenal changes in union srucure and he srucure o union-managemen
communicaion11 Tereore schools wih sronger union-managemen parner-
ships are likely o have more exensive communicaions neworks and exhibidifferen paterns o collaboraion beween principals and school union represen-
aives In schools where union leaders and principals alk requenly and inor-
mally abou eaching and learning perormance is likely o improve Schools wih
srong union-managemen parnerships should have beter suden oucomes han
schools wihou good parnerships
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Furhermore as local unions aciliae communicaion hrough heir role in par-
nerships wih managemen hey help creae remendous value in he school by
engendering a greaer level o employee rus in collaboraion han managemen
can creae on is own eachers are more willing o engage in collaboraive sruc-
ures and processes because hey have greaer rus in heir eleced union leaders
han hey do in managemen12
Tis repor ocuses specifically on he paterns o collaboraion beween eachers
and adminisraors ha ake place under union-managemen parnership arrange-
mens and heir relaionship o suden perormance Social-nework analysis is
used o look wihin public schools in order o examine changes in he paterns o
collaboraion and suden perormance ha occur in schools ha have developed
srong eacher-adminisraion parnering arrangemens Social-nework analysis
allows researchers o measure he srucure o relaionships beween eachers
and principals raher han simply individual atribues or atiudes Oher sudies
have applied social-nework analysis echniques o public schools o analyze hesepaterns empirically bu he auhors o his sudy are no aware o any previous
research ha has examined he links beween school reorm union-managemen
parnership arrangemens school-level collaboraion and suden perormance13
The research setting for this study was the ABC Unified School Dis-
trict which is 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles Over the past two
decades a partnership has been sustained between the teachers
union or the ABC Federation of Teachers and the districtrsquos adminis-
tration that has resulted in extensive collaboration and innovation
around instructional programs curriculum development textbook
selection and adoption recruiting and hiring of administrators and
teachers mentoring teacher evaluation and support and data-
based decision making to improve student performance This study
used surveys interviews student-performance data and social-net-
work analysis which analyzes the communication patterns within
and across organizations to examine the impact of this partnershipon school-level teacher collaboration student performance and the
structure of union-management relations The district employs more
than 1100 educators serving almost 21000 students and includes
30 schools of which 19 are elementary schools five are middle
schools five are high schools and one school is an adult school
that offers remedial education and career development for old
students Fourteen of the schools are Title I schools meaning t
have high percentages of children from low-income families a
receive federal funds to ensure these students receive extra su
Also 25 percent of the districtrsquos students are English language
ers or ELL and as with many urban school districts in the Uni
States a high percentage of the students are financially disadv
tagedmdashroughly 455 percent are eligible for the reduced-price
free lunch program Yet the district has consistently scored abo
the state average for the California Academic Performance Ind
API and has exceeded API targets for comparable districts set
state The API is a composite of tests and other measures that astudent achievement to be compared across schools and distr
Four of the districtrsquos schools were removed from the study sam
because of either demographic peculiarities or low response r
Therefore the sample used for this analysis consisted of 26 sch
which together employ roughly 900 teachers
Research setting
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8 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
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8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 328
Teachers Unions andManagement PartnershipsHow Working Together
Improves Student Achievement
By Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy March 2014
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 528
1 Introduction and summary
5 Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
9 How partnerships affect communication
networks and student performance
15 Recommendations and conclusion
17 About the authors
19 Endnotes
Contents
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 728
Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Introduction and summary
For more han a decade he debae over public school reorm has creaed ricion
beween eachers unions adminisraors school boards parens policymakers
and oher sakeholders in public educaion and has ueled disagreemens over
how o improve he qualiy o eaching and learning or children While many
acors make consensus elusive when i comes o school reorm a key obsacle o
finding agreemen around educaional improvemens and bringing such improve-
mens o ruiion is ideological policy divisions1
Ye wihin some disrics and schools union leaders and school adminisraors
have ound an alernae pah o reorm991252one ha is based on building srong rela-
ionships ha aciliae collaboraion among educaors and is ocused on each-
ing qualiy and educaional improvemen or sudens Tis repor explores he
impac o school-level union-managemen insiuional parnerships on eacher
collaboraion and suden perormance Moreover i offers srong evidence or
his alernaive direcion o he policy debae on public school reorm by analyz-
ing he role o union-managemen relaions in educaional qualiy
ess can reveal deficiencies in suden knowledge bu can offer litle more
beyond alering parens and eachers o a problem Union-managemen parner-
ships because hey are problem ocused can ake he criical nex seps and help
drive hinking abou ways o increase suden learning Tese ypes o parner-
ships are designed o use collaboraion among educaors o find soluions o gaps
in suden achievemen and hen effecively implemen hose soluions because
hose closes o he problem991252wih aci knowledge o i991252are key sakeholders
in he improvemen process
An earlier repor or he Cener or American Progress ldquoReorming Public SchoolSysems hrough Susained Union-Managemen Collaboraionrdquo2 examined cases
o school reorm ha resuled rom collaboraive parnerships beween each-
ers unions and adminisraors working ogeher in innovaive ways o improve
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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2 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
eaching qualiy and suden perormance Ta repor analyzed hese cases o
ideniy he common elemens ha all disrics wih long-erm union-manage-
men parnerships shared in common Tis curren repor looks deeper ino hese
parnerships o examine he paterns o collaboraion ha occur wihin schools
beween eachers and adminisraors o see how hey affec suden perormance
Tis repor akes an organizaional perspecive looking a schools as sysems andexamining school governance paterns o communicaion and collaboraion
eacher paricipaion in decision making and indusrial relaions Paricular iner-
es is paid o he way eachers work wih each oher and how union represenaives
work wih principals a he school level
Tis laes sudy finds ha
bull Formal partnerships help improve student performance Te qualiy o ormal
parnerships beween eachers unions adminisraors and eachers a he school
level is a significan predicor o suden perormance as well as perormanceimprovemen afer povery and school ype are aken ino accoun
bull Partnerships lead to more extensive communication between teachers Higher-qualiy school-level eacher-adminisraor parnerships prediced more
exensive school-level collaboraion and communicaion around suden-
perormance daa curriculum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or grade-
o-grade inegraion sharing advising or learning abou insrucional pracices
and giving or receiving ormal or inormal menoring
bull More extensive communication improves student performance More exen-
sive communicaions around suden-perormance daa curriculum and ine-
graion insrucional pracice and menoring all prediced large and significan
gains in suden perormance or perormance improvemen
bull Partnership leads to more frequent and i nformal communication between
union representatives and principals Finally he qualiy o parnerships
prediced differen communicaion paterns beween union building represen-
aives and principals wih he communicaion in high-parnership schools
becoming more requen and less ormal han he communicaion in low-parnership schools
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Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Tis sudy conribues o our undersanding o he value ha union-managemen
parnerships can bring o organizaional perormance by creaing a posiive climae
or eacher collaboraion which leads o innovaion and an inrasrucure or prob-
lem solving Over he pas decade educaion researchers have encouraged greaer
levels o proessional collaboraion among eachers as a means o improve suden
achievemen3
However litle is currenly known abou he insiuional aneced-ens o proessional collaboraion paricularly in he conex o public educaion
Tis repor arges school-level union-managemen parnerships as poenial caa-
lyss or proessional collaboraion in public schools
Furhermore his research sheds ligh on he impac ha school-level union-man-
agemen parnerships and eacher collaboraion can have on suden perormance
Based on he findings o his repor i policymakers and educaors wan o creae
and suppor more long-erm parnership arrangemens in US school disrics
hey should underake he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o he developmen o curriculum and insrucional prac-
ice eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
bull Provide echnical and financial suppor o disrics ha are willing o pilo par-
nerships and innovaive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy
and suden perormance
bull Build learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih exensive
experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bull Creae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmen
in union-managemen parnerships and collaboraion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical assisance
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm effors ha have produced
resuls and share he findings widely
As unions eachers and adminisraors coninue o see he value o collaboraion
and deepen heir work ogeher on he design and implemenaion o our educa-
ion sysems eaching and learning can be more effecive and efficien
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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4 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
Research across a wide variey o indusries has long esablished ha as employees
are increasingly included in managerial planning problem solving and decision
making perormance and produciviy increases4 Tis increase in perormance
and produciviy resuls rom direcing more resources oward improvemen
effors culivaing soluions rom employees who are closes o he problems
using beter inormaion o aid in he decision-making process increasing effor
and moivaion and providing greaer suppor or he implemenaion o deci-
sions o hose involved in making hem Tis sudy exends hese ideas o publicschool reorm An earlier CAP repor on his issue ound ha schools ha sus-
ained high-qualiy union-managemen parnerships developed a culure o col-
laboraion hese schools also esablished organizaional srucures ha allowed
or greaer levels o eacher inpu ino planning problem solving and decision
making5 Tis repor builds on hose earlier findings by invesigaing wheher
hose schools wih sronger parnerships also have higher levels o perormance
and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and communication networks
Communicaions heory ells us ha he srucure and patern o relaionships
beween organizaional members will have an impac on heir behavior and
decisions Work sysems ha are more collaboraive break down hierarchies
and increase horizonal communicaion inormaion and knowledge sharing
and innovaion Tis resuls in greaer responsiveness and flexibiliy paricularly
in knowledge-inensive work6 Neworks wihin organizaions are increasingly
imporan or coordinaing work when inormaion is dispersed and when flex-
ibiliy responsiveness and problem solving are imporan or improving peror-mance7 Tis is rue across a variey o indusries For example nurses and docors
need o share inormaion abou paiens in hospials and eams o workers need
o come ogeher o solve qualiy problems in seel or auomobile manuacuring
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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6 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
Applying his ramework o public schools he auhors projec ha improved edu-
caional qualiy will resul rom praciioners analyzing suden perormance and
making adjusmens o curriculum and insrucional pracice o improve learning8
Tis however is no simply he work o individual eachers working alone bu
raher he resul o eachers ineracing wih one anoher and wih adminisra-
ors991252he social nework wihin schools Tis requires he inpu cooperaionand coordinaion o eachers and adminisraors across classrooms and depar-
mens In essence i requires an exensive communicaions nework ha osers
educaional effeciveness991252his is reerred o as he ldquodensiyrdquo o a communicaions
nework When here is requen and exensive communicaion beween each-
ers and wih adminisraors he nework is considered dense Furhermore he
srucure and characer o he social nework inside a school can be shaped by he
relaionship beween managemen and he union9
Te earlier CAP repor sudied union-managemen parnerships in six school
disrics across he Unied Saes in order o deermine how deep collaboraionis creaed and susained10 Te repor idenified a unique se o common charac-
erisics across hese disrics ha allowed hem o change union-managemen
relaionships and oser collaboraion beween eachers and adminisraors
a he school level In he case o he ABC Unified School Disric991252Aresia
Bloomfield and Carmenia991252in Souhern Caliornia ha is he basis or research
in his repor he union-managemen relaionship has osered a parnership ha
emphasizes shared responsibiliy or decision making and school improvemen
Tis sudy shows ha schools wih higher levels o union-managemen parner-
ship also have higher levels o communicaion and collaboraion Moreover
schools wih higher levels o collaboraion also have higher levels o suden
perormance and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and union-management relations
Earlier research has shown ha union-managemen parnerships can lead o
undamenal changes in union srucure and he srucure o union-managemen
communicaion11 Tereore schools wih sronger union-managemen parner-
ships are likely o have more exensive communicaions neworks and exhibidifferen paterns o collaboraion beween principals and school union represen-
aives In schools where union leaders and principals alk requenly and inor-
mally abou eaching and learning perormance is likely o improve Schools wih
srong union-managemen parnerships should have beter suden oucomes han
schools wihou good parnerships
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Furhermore as local unions aciliae communicaion hrough heir role in par-
nerships wih managemen hey help creae remendous value in he school by
engendering a greaer level o employee rus in collaboraion han managemen
can creae on is own eachers are more willing o engage in collaboraive sruc-
ures and processes because hey have greaer rus in heir eleced union leaders
han hey do in managemen12
Tis repor ocuses specifically on he paterns o collaboraion beween eachers
and adminisraors ha ake place under union-managemen parnership arrange-
mens and heir relaionship o suden perormance Social-nework analysis is
used o look wihin public schools in order o examine changes in he paterns o
collaboraion and suden perormance ha occur in schools ha have developed
srong eacher-adminisraion parnering arrangemens Social-nework analysis
allows researchers o measure he srucure o relaionships beween eachers
and principals raher han simply individual atribues or atiudes Oher sudies
have applied social-nework analysis echniques o public schools o analyze hesepaterns empirically bu he auhors o his sudy are no aware o any previous
research ha has examined he links beween school reorm union-managemen
parnership arrangemens school-level collaboraion and suden perormance13
The research setting for this study was the ABC Unified School Dis-
trict which is 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles Over the past two
decades a partnership has been sustained between the teachers
union or the ABC Federation of Teachers and the districtrsquos adminis-
tration that has resulted in extensive collaboration and innovation
around instructional programs curriculum development textbook
selection and adoption recruiting and hiring of administrators and
teachers mentoring teacher evaluation and support and data-
based decision making to improve student performance This study
used surveys interviews student-performance data and social-net-
work analysis which analyzes the communication patterns within
and across organizations to examine the impact of this partnershipon school-level teacher collaboration student performance and the
structure of union-management relations The district employs more
than 1100 educators serving almost 21000 students and includes
30 schools of which 19 are elementary schools five are middle
schools five are high schools and one school is an adult school
that offers remedial education and career development for old
students Fourteen of the schools are Title I schools meaning t
have high percentages of children from low-income families a
receive federal funds to ensure these students receive extra su
Also 25 percent of the districtrsquos students are English language
ers or ELL and as with many urban school districts in the Uni
States a high percentage of the students are financially disadv
tagedmdashroughly 455 percent are eligible for the reduced-price
free lunch program Yet the district has consistently scored abo
the state average for the California Academic Performance Ind
API and has exceeded API targets for comparable districts set
state The API is a composite of tests and other measures that astudent achievement to be compared across schools and distr
Four of the districtrsquos schools were removed from the study sam
because of either demographic peculiarities or low response r
Therefore the sample used for this analysis consisted of 26 sch
which together employ roughly 900 teachers
Research setting
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8 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Teachers Unions andManagement PartnershipsHow Working Together
Improves Student Achievement
By Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy March 2014
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 528
1 Introduction and summary
5 Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
9 How partnerships affect communication
networks and student performance
15 Recommendations and conclusion
17 About the authors
19 Endnotes
Contents
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8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 728
Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Introduction and summary
For more han a decade he debae over public school reorm has creaed ricion
beween eachers unions adminisraors school boards parens policymakers
and oher sakeholders in public educaion and has ueled disagreemens over
how o improve he qualiy o eaching and learning or children While many
acors make consensus elusive when i comes o school reorm a key obsacle o
finding agreemen around educaional improvemens and bringing such improve-
mens o ruiion is ideological policy divisions1
Ye wihin some disrics and schools union leaders and school adminisraors
have ound an alernae pah o reorm991252one ha is based on building srong rela-
ionships ha aciliae collaboraion among educaors and is ocused on each-
ing qualiy and educaional improvemen or sudens Tis repor explores he
impac o school-level union-managemen insiuional parnerships on eacher
collaboraion and suden perormance Moreover i offers srong evidence or
his alernaive direcion o he policy debae on public school reorm by analyz-
ing he role o union-managemen relaions in educaional qualiy
ess can reveal deficiencies in suden knowledge bu can offer litle more
beyond alering parens and eachers o a problem Union-managemen parner-
ships because hey are problem ocused can ake he criical nex seps and help
drive hinking abou ways o increase suden learning Tese ypes o parner-
ships are designed o use collaboraion among educaors o find soluions o gaps
in suden achievemen and hen effecively implemen hose soluions because
hose closes o he problem991252wih aci knowledge o i991252are key sakeholders
in he improvemen process
An earlier repor or he Cener or American Progress ldquoReorming Public SchoolSysems hrough Susained Union-Managemen Collaboraionrdquo2 examined cases
o school reorm ha resuled rom collaboraive parnerships beween each-
ers unions and adminisraors working ogeher in innovaive ways o improve
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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2 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
eaching qualiy and suden perormance Ta repor analyzed hese cases o
ideniy he common elemens ha all disrics wih long-erm union-manage-
men parnerships shared in common Tis curren repor looks deeper ino hese
parnerships o examine he paterns o collaboraion ha occur wihin schools
beween eachers and adminisraors o see how hey affec suden perormance
Tis repor akes an organizaional perspecive looking a schools as sysems andexamining school governance paterns o communicaion and collaboraion
eacher paricipaion in decision making and indusrial relaions Paricular iner-
es is paid o he way eachers work wih each oher and how union represenaives
work wih principals a he school level
Tis laes sudy finds ha
bull Formal partnerships help improve student performance Te qualiy o ormal
parnerships beween eachers unions adminisraors and eachers a he school
level is a significan predicor o suden perormance as well as perormanceimprovemen afer povery and school ype are aken ino accoun
bull Partnerships lead to more extensive communication between teachers Higher-qualiy school-level eacher-adminisraor parnerships prediced more
exensive school-level collaboraion and communicaion around suden-
perormance daa curriculum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or grade-
o-grade inegraion sharing advising or learning abou insrucional pracices
and giving or receiving ormal or inormal menoring
bull More extensive communication improves student performance More exen-
sive communicaions around suden-perormance daa curriculum and ine-
graion insrucional pracice and menoring all prediced large and significan
gains in suden perormance or perormance improvemen
bull Partnership leads to more frequent and i nformal communication between
union representatives and principals Finally he qualiy o parnerships
prediced differen communicaion paterns beween union building represen-
aives and principals wih he communicaion in high-parnership schools
becoming more requen and less ormal han he communicaion in low-parnership schools
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Tis sudy conribues o our undersanding o he value ha union-managemen
parnerships can bring o organizaional perormance by creaing a posiive climae
or eacher collaboraion which leads o innovaion and an inrasrucure or prob-
lem solving Over he pas decade educaion researchers have encouraged greaer
levels o proessional collaboraion among eachers as a means o improve suden
achievemen3
However litle is currenly known abou he insiuional aneced-ens o proessional collaboraion paricularly in he conex o public educaion
Tis repor arges school-level union-managemen parnerships as poenial caa-
lyss or proessional collaboraion in public schools
Furhermore his research sheds ligh on he impac ha school-level union-man-
agemen parnerships and eacher collaboraion can have on suden perormance
Based on he findings o his repor i policymakers and educaors wan o creae
and suppor more long-erm parnership arrangemens in US school disrics
hey should underake he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o he developmen o curriculum and insrucional prac-
ice eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
bull Provide echnical and financial suppor o disrics ha are willing o pilo par-
nerships and innovaive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy
and suden perormance
bull Build learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih exensive
experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bull Creae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmen
in union-managemen parnerships and collaboraion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical assisance
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm effors ha have produced
resuls and share he findings widely
As unions eachers and adminisraors coninue o see he value o collaboraion
and deepen heir work ogeher on he design and implemenaion o our educa-
ion sysems eaching and learning can be more effecive and efficien
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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4 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
Research across a wide variey o indusries has long esablished ha as employees
are increasingly included in managerial planning problem solving and decision
making perormance and produciviy increases4 Tis increase in perormance
and produciviy resuls rom direcing more resources oward improvemen
effors culivaing soluions rom employees who are closes o he problems
using beter inormaion o aid in he decision-making process increasing effor
and moivaion and providing greaer suppor or he implemenaion o deci-
sions o hose involved in making hem Tis sudy exends hese ideas o publicschool reorm An earlier CAP repor on his issue ound ha schools ha sus-
ained high-qualiy union-managemen parnerships developed a culure o col-
laboraion hese schools also esablished organizaional srucures ha allowed
or greaer levels o eacher inpu ino planning problem solving and decision
making5 Tis repor builds on hose earlier findings by invesigaing wheher
hose schools wih sronger parnerships also have higher levels o perormance
and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and communication networks
Communicaions heory ells us ha he srucure and patern o relaionships
beween organizaional members will have an impac on heir behavior and
decisions Work sysems ha are more collaboraive break down hierarchies
and increase horizonal communicaion inormaion and knowledge sharing
and innovaion Tis resuls in greaer responsiveness and flexibiliy paricularly
in knowledge-inensive work6 Neworks wihin organizaions are increasingly
imporan or coordinaing work when inormaion is dispersed and when flex-
ibiliy responsiveness and problem solving are imporan or improving peror-mance7 Tis is rue across a variey o indusries For example nurses and docors
need o share inormaion abou paiens in hospials and eams o workers need
o come ogeher o solve qualiy problems in seel or auomobile manuacuring
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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6 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
Applying his ramework o public schools he auhors projec ha improved edu-
caional qualiy will resul rom praciioners analyzing suden perormance and
making adjusmens o curriculum and insrucional pracice o improve learning8
Tis however is no simply he work o individual eachers working alone bu
raher he resul o eachers ineracing wih one anoher and wih adminisra-
ors991252he social nework wihin schools Tis requires he inpu cooperaionand coordinaion o eachers and adminisraors across classrooms and depar-
mens In essence i requires an exensive communicaions nework ha osers
educaional effeciveness991252his is reerred o as he ldquodensiyrdquo o a communicaions
nework When here is requen and exensive communicaion beween each-
ers and wih adminisraors he nework is considered dense Furhermore he
srucure and characer o he social nework inside a school can be shaped by he
relaionship beween managemen and he union9
Te earlier CAP repor sudied union-managemen parnerships in six school
disrics across he Unied Saes in order o deermine how deep collaboraionis creaed and susained10 Te repor idenified a unique se o common charac-
erisics across hese disrics ha allowed hem o change union-managemen
relaionships and oser collaboraion beween eachers and adminisraors
a he school level In he case o he ABC Unified School Disric991252Aresia
Bloomfield and Carmenia991252in Souhern Caliornia ha is he basis or research
in his repor he union-managemen relaionship has osered a parnership ha
emphasizes shared responsibiliy or decision making and school improvemen
Tis sudy shows ha schools wih higher levels o union-managemen parner-
ship also have higher levels o communicaion and collaboraion Moreover
schools wih higher levels o collaboraion also have higher levels o suden
perormance and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and union-management relations
Earlier research has shown ha union-managemen parnerships can lead o
undamenal changes in union srucure and he srucure o union-managemen
communicaion11 Tereore schools wih sronger union-managemen parner-
ships are likely o have more exensive communicaions neworks and exhibidifferen paterns o collaboraion beween principals and school union represen-
aives In schools where union leaders and principals alk requenly and inor-
mally abou eaching and learning perormance is likely o improve Schools wih
srong union-managemen parnerships should have beter suden oucomes han
schools wihou good parnerships
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Furhermore as local unions aciliae communicaion hrough heir role in par-
nerships wih managemen hey help creae remendous value in he school by
engendering a greaer level o employee rus in collaboraion han managemen
can creae on is own eachers are more willing o engage in collaboraive sruc-
ures and processes because hey have greaer rus in heir eleced union leaders
han hey do in managemen12
Tis repor ocuses specifically on he paterns o collaboraion beween eachers
and adminisraors ha ake place under union-managemen parnership arrange-
mens and heir relaionship o suden perormance Social-nework analysis is
used o look wihin public schools in order o examine changes in he paterns o
collaboraion and suden perormance ha occur in schools ha have developed
srong eacher-adminisraion parnering arrangemens Social-nework analysis
allows researchers o measure he srucure o relaionships beween eachers
and principals raher han simply individual atribues or atiudes Oher sudies
have applied social-nework analysis echniques o public schools o analyze hesepaterns empirically bu he auhors o his sudy are no aware o any previous
research ha has examined he links beween school reorm union-managemen
parnership arrangemens school-level collaboraion and suden perormance13
The research setting for this study was the ABC Unified School Dis-
trict which is 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles Over the past two
decades a partnership has been sustained between the teachers
union or the ABC Federation of Teachers and the districtrsquos adminis-
tration that has resulted in extensive collaboration and innovation
around instructional programs curriculum development textbook
selection and adoption recruiting and hiring of administrators and
teachers mentoring teacher evaluation and support and data-
based decision making to improve student performance This study
used surveys interviews student-performance data and social-net-
work analysis which analyzes the communication patterns within
and across organizations to examine the impact of this partnershipon school-level teacher collaboration student performance and the
structure of union-management relations The district employs more
than 1100 educators serving almost 21000 students and includes
30 schools of which 19 are elementary schools five are middle
schools five are high schools and one school is an adult school
that offers remedial education and career development for old
students Fourteen of the schools are Title I schools meaning t
have high percentages of children from low-income families a
receive federal funds to ensure these students receive extra su
Also 25 percent of the districtrsquos students are English language
ers or ELL and as with many urban school districts in the Uni
States a high percentage of the students are financially disadv
tagedmdashroughly 455 percent are eligible for the reduced-price
free lunch program Yet the district has consistently scored abo
the state average for the California Academic Performance Ind
API and has exceeded API targets for comparable districts set
state The API is a composite of tests and other measures that astudent achievement to be compared across schools and distr
Four of the districtrsquos schools were removed from the study sam
because of either demographic peculiarities or low response r
Therefore the sample used for this analysis consisted of 26 sch
which together employ roughly 900 teachers
Research setting
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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8 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
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8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 528
1 Introduction and summary
5 Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
9 How partnerships affect communication
networks and student performance
15 Recommendations and conclusion
17 About the authors
19 Endnotes
Contents
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 728
Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Introduction and summary
For more han a decade he debae over public school reorm has creaed ricion
beween eachers unions adminisraors school boards parens policymakers
and oher sakeholders in public educaion and has ueled disagreemens over
how o improve he qualiy o eaching and learning or children While many
acors make consensus elusive when i comes o school reorm a key obsacle o
finding agreemen around educaional improvemens and bringing such improve-
mens o ruiion is ideological policy divisions1
Ye wihin some disrics and schools union leaders and school adminisraors
have ound an alernae pah o reorm991252one ha is based on building srong rela-
ionships ha aciliae collaboraion among educaors and is ocused on each-
ing qualiy and educaional improvemen or sudens Tis repor explores he
impac o school-level union-managemen insiuional parnerships on eacher
collaboraion and suden perormance Moreover i offers srong evidence or
his alernaive direcion o he policy debae on public school reorm by analyz-
ing he role o union-managemen relaions in educaional qualiy
ess can reveal deficiencies in suden knowledge bu can offer litle more
beyond alering parens and eachers o a problem Union-managemen parner-
ships because hey are problem ocused can ake he criical nex seps and help
drive hinking abou ways o increase suden learning Tese ypes o parner-
ships are designed o use collaboraion among educaors o find soluions o gaps
in suden achievemen and hen effecively implemen hose soluions because
hose closes o he problem991252wih aci knowledge o i991252are key sakeholders
in he improvemen process
An earlier repor or he Cener or American Progress ldquoReorming Public SchoolSysems hrough Susained Union-Managemen Collaboraionrdquo2 examined cases
o school reorm ha resuled rom collaboraive parnerships beween each-
ers unions and adminisraors working ogeher in innovaive ways o improve
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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2 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
eaching qualiy and suden perormance Ta repor analyzed hese cases o
ideniy he common elemens ha all disrics wih long-erm union-manage-
men parnerships shared in common Tis curren repor looks deeper ino hese
parnerships o examine he paterns o collaboraion ha occur wihin schools
beween eachers and adminisraors o see how hey affec suden perormance
Tis repor akes an organizaional perspecive looking a schools as sysems andexamining school governance paterns o communicaion and collaboraion
eacher paricipaion in decision making and indusrial relaions Paricular iner-
es is paid o he way eachers work wih each oher and how union represenaives
work wih principals a he school level
Tis laes sudy finds ha
bull Formal partnerships help improve student performance Te qualiy o ormal
parnerships beween eachers unions adminisraors and eachers a he school
level is a significan predicor o suden perormance as well as perormanceimprovemen afer povery and school ype are aken ino accoun
bull Partnerships lead to more extensive communication between teachers Higher-qualiy school-level eacher-adminisraor parnerships prediced more
exensive school-level collaboraion and communicaion around suden-
perormance daa curriculum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or grade-
o-grade inegraion sharing advising or learning abou insrucional pracices
and giving or receiving ormal or inormal menoring
bull More extensive communication improves student performance More exen-
sive communicaions around suden-perormance daa curriculum and ine-
graion insrucional pracice and menoring all prediced large and significan
gains in suden perormance or perormance improvemen
bull Partnership leads to more frequent and i nformal communication between
union representatives and principals Finally he qualiy o parnerships
prediced differen communicaion paterns beween union building represen-
aives and principals wih he communicaion in high-parnership schools
becoming more requen and less ormal han he communicaion in low-parnership schools
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Tis sudy conribues o our undersanding o he value ha union-managemen
parnerships can bring o organizaional perormance by creaing a posiive climae
or eacher collaboraion which leads o innovaion and an inrasrucure or prob-
lem solving Over he pas decade educaion researchers have encouraged greaer
levels o proessional collaboraion among eachers as a means o improve suden
achievemen3
However litle is currenly known abou he insiuional aneced-ens o proessional collaboraion paricularly in he conex o public educaion
Tis repor arges school-level union-managemen parnerships as poenial caa-
lyss or proessional collaboraion in public schools
Furhermore his research sheds ligh on he impac ha school-level union-man-
agemen parnerships and eacher collaboraion can have on suden perormance
Based on he findings o his repor i policymakers and educaors wan o creae
and suppor more long-erm parnership arrangemens in US school disrics
hey should underake he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o he developmen o curriculum and insrucional prac-
ice eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
bull Provide echnical and financial suppor o disrics ha are willing o pilo par-
nerships and innovaive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy
and suden perormance
bull Build learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih exensive
experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bull Creae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmen
in union-managemen parnerships and collaboraion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical assisance
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm effors ha have produced
resuls and share he findings widely
As unions eachers and adminisraors coninue o see he value o collaboraion
and deepen heir work ogeher on he design and implemenaion o our educa-
ion sysems eaching and learning can be more effecive and efficien
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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4 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
Research across a wide variey o indusries has long esablished ha as employees
are increasingly included in managerial planning problem solving and decision
making perormance and produciviy increases4 Tis increase in perormance
and produciviy resuls rom direcing more resources oward improvemen
effors culivaing soluions rom employees who are closes o he problems
using beter inormaion o aid in he decision-making process increasing effor
and moivaion and providing greaer suppor or he implemenaion o deci-
sions o hose involved in making hem Tis sudy exends hese ideas o publicschool reorm An earlier CAP repor on his issue ound ha schools ha sus-
ained high-qualiy union-managemen parnerships developed a culure o col-
laboraion hese schools also esablished organizaional srucures ha allowed
or greaer levels o eacher inpu ino planning problem solving and decision
making5 Tis repor builds on hose earlier findings by invesigaing wheher
hose schools wih sronger parnerships also have higher levels o perormance
and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and communication networks
Communicaions heory ells us ha he srucure and patern o relaionships
beween organizaional members will have an impac on heir behavior and
decisions Work sysems ha are more collaboraive break down hierarchies
and increase horizonal communicaion inormaion and knowledge sharing
and innovaion Tis resuls in greaer responsiveness and flexibiliy paricularly
in knowledge-inensive work6 Neworks wihin organizaions are increasingly
imporan or coordinaing work when inormaion is dispersed and when flex-
ibiliy responsiveness and problem solving are imporan or improving peror-mance7 Tis is rue across a variey o indusries For example nurses and docors
need o share inormaion abou paiens in hospials and eams o workers need
o come ogeher o solve qualiy problems in seel or auomobile manuacuring
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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6 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
Applying his ramework o public schools he auhors projec ha improved edu-
caional qualiy will resul rom praciioners analyzing suden perormance and
making adjusmens o curriculum and insrucional pracice o improve learning8
Tis however is no simply he work o individual eachers working alone bu
raher he resul o eachers ineracing wih one anoher and wih adminisra-
ors991252he social nework wihin schools Tis requires he inpu cooperaionand coordinaion o eachers and adminisraors across classrooms and depar-
mens In essence i requires an exensive communicaions nework ha osers
educaional effeciveness991252his is reerred o as he ldquodensiyrdquo o a communicaions
nework When here is requen and exensive communicaion beween each-
ers and wih adminisraors he nework is considered dense Furhermore he
srucure and characer o he social nework inside a school can be shaped by he
relaionship beween managemen and he union9
Te earlier CAP repor sudied union-managemen parnerships in six school
disrics across he Unied Saes in order o deermine how deep collaboraionis creaed and susained10 Te repor idenified a unique se o common charac-
erisics across hese disrics ha allowed hem o change union-managemen
relaionships and oser collaboraion beween eachers and adminisraors
a he school level In he case o he ABC Unified School Disric991252Aresia
Bloomfield and Carmenia991252in Souhern Caliornia ha is he basis or research
in his repor he union-managemen relaionship has osered a parnership ha
emphasizes shared responsibiliy or decision making and school improvemen
Tis sudy shows ha schools wih higher levels o union-managemen parner-
ship also have higher levels o communicaion and collaboraion Moreover
schools wih higher levels o collaboraion also have higher levels o suden
perormance and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and union-management relations
Earlier research has shown ha union-managemen parnerships can lead o
undamenal changes in union srucure and he srucure o union-managemen
communicaion11 Tereore schools wih sronger union-managemen parner-
ships are likely o have more exensive communicaions neworks and exhibidifferen paterns o collaboraion beween principals and school union represen-
aives In schools where union leaders and principals alk requenly and inor-
mally abou eaching and learning perormance is likely o improve Schools wih
srong union-managemen parnerships should have beter suden oucomes han
schools wihou good parnerships
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Furhermore as local unions aciliae communicaion hrough heir role in par-
nerships wih managemen hey help creae remendous value in he school by
engendering a greaer level o employee rus in collaboraion han managemen
can creae on is own eachers are more willing o engage in collaboraive sruc-
ures and processes because hey have greaer rus in heir eleced union leaders
han hey do in managemen12
Tis repor ocuses specifically on he paterns o collaboraion beween eachers
and adminisraors ha ake place under union-managemen parnership arrange-
mens and heir relaionship o suden perormance Social-nework analysis is
used o look wihin public schools in order o examine changes in he paterns o
collaboraion and suden perormance ha occur in schools ha have developed
srong eacher-adminisraion parnering arrangemens Social-nework analysis
allows researchers o measure he srucure o relaionships beween eachers
and principals raher han simply individual atribues or atiudes Oher sudies
have applied social-nework analysis echniques o public schools o analyze hesepaterns empirically bu he auhors o his sudy are no aware o any previous
research ha has examined he links beween school reorm union-managemen
parnership arrangemens school-level collaboraion and suden perormance13
The research setting for this study was the ABC Unified School Dis-
trict which is 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles Over the past two
decades a partnership has been sustained between the teachers
union or the ABC Federation of Teachers and the districtrsquos adminis-
tration that has resulted in extensive collaboration and innovation
around instructional programs curriculum development textbook
selection and adoption recruiting and hiring of administrators and
teachers mentoring teacher evaluation and support and data-
based decision making to improve student performance This study
used surveys interviews student-performance data and social-net-
work analysis which analyzes the communication patterns within
and across organizations to examine the impact of this partnershipon school-level teacher collaboration student performance and the
structure of union-management relations The district employs more
than 1100 educators serving almost 21000 students and includes
30 schools of which 19 are elementary schools five are middle
schools five are high schools and one school is an adult school
that offers remedial education and career development for old
students Fourteen of the schools are Title I schools meaning t
have high percentages of children from low-income families a
receive federal funds to ensure these students receive extra su
Also 25 percent of the districtrsquos students are English language
ers or ELL and as with many urban school districts in the Uni
States a high percentage of the students are financially disadv
tagedmdashroughly 455 percent are eligible for the reduced-price
free lunch program Yet the district has consistently scored abo
the state average for the California Academic Performance Ind
API and has exceeded API targets for comparable districts set
state The API is a composite of tests and other measures that astudent achievement to be compared across schools and distr
Four of the districtrsquos schools were removed from the study sam
because of either demographic peculiarities or low response r
Therefore the sample used for this analysis consisted of 26 sch
which together employ roughly 900 teachers
Research setting
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8 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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1 Introduction and summary
5 Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
9 How partnerships affect communication
networks and student performance
15 Recommendations and conclusion
17 About the authors
19 Endnotes
Contents
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8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Introduction and summary
For more han a decade he debae over public school reorm has creaed ricion
beween eachers unions adminisraors school boards parens policymakers
and oher sakeholders in public educaion and has ueled disagreemens over
how o improve he qualiy o eaching and learning or children While many
acors make consensus elusive when i comes o school reorm a key obsacle o
finding agreemen around educaional improvemens and bringing such improve-
mens o ruiion is ideological policy divisions1
Ye wihin some disrics and schools union leaders and school adminisraors
have ound an alernae pah o reorm991252one ha is based on building srong rela-
ionships ha aciliae collaboraion among educaors and is ocused on each-
ing qualiy and educaional improvemen or sudens Tis repor explores he
impac o school-level union-managemen insiuional parnerships on eacher
collaboraion and suden perormance Moreover i offers srong evidence or
his alernaive direcion o he policy debae on public school reorm by analyz-
ing he role o union-managemen relaions in educaional qualiy
ess can reveal deficiencies in suden knowledge bu can offer litle more
beyond alering parens and eachers o a problem Union-managemen parner-
ships because hey are problem ocused can ake he criical nex seps and help
drive hinking abou ways o increase suden learning Tese ypes o parner-
ships are designed o use collaboraion among educaors o find soluions o gaps
in suden achievemen and hen effecively implemen hose soluions because
hose closes o he problem991252wih aci knowledge o i991252are key sakeholders
in he improvemen process
An earlier repor or he Cener or American Progress ldquoReorming Public SchoolSysems hrough Susained Union-Managemen Collaboraionrdquo2 examined cases
o school reorm ha resuled rom collaboraive parnerships beween each-
ers unions and adminisraors working ogeher in innovaive ways o improve
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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2 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
eaching qualiy and suden perormance Ta repor analyzed hese cases o
ideniy he common elemens ha all disrics wih long-erm union-manage-
men parnerships shared in common Tis curren repor looks deeper ino hese
parnerships o examine he paterns o collaboraion ha occur wihin schools
beween eachers and adminisraors o see how hey affec suden perormance
Tis repor akes an organizaional perspecive looking a schools as sysems andexamining school governance paterns o communicaion and collaboraion
eacher paricipaion in decision making and indusrial relaions Paricular iner-
es is paid o he way eachers work wih each oher and how union represenaives
work wih principals a he school level
Tis laes sudy finds ha
bull Formal partnerships help improve student performance Te qualiy o ormal
parnerships beween eachers unions adminisraors and eachers a he school
level is a significan predicor o suden perormance as well as perormanceimprovemen afer povery and school ype are aken ino accoun
bull Partnerships lead to more extensive communication between teachers Higher-qualiy school-level eacher-adminisraor parnerships prediced more
exensive school-level collaboraion and communicaion around suden-
perormance daa curriculum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or grade-
o-grade inegraion sharing advising or learning abou insrucional pracices
and giving or receiving ormal or inormal menoring
bull More extensive communication improves student performance More exen-
sive communicaions around suden-perormance daa curriculum and ine-
graion insrucional pracice and menoring all prediced large and significan
gains in suden perormance or perormance improvemen
bull Partnership leads to more frequent and i nformal communication between
union representatives and principals Finally he qualiy o parnerships
prediced differen communicaion paterns beween union building represen-
aives and principals wih he communicaion in high-parnership schools
becoming more requen and less ormal han he communicaion in low-parnership schools
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Tis sudy conribues o our undersanding o he value ha union-managemen
parnerships can bring o organizaional perormance by creaing a posiive climae
or eacher collaboraion which leads o innovaion and an inrasrucure or prob-
lem solving Over he pas decade educaion researchers have encouraged greaer
levels o proessional collaboraion among eachers as a means o improve suden
achievemen3
However litle is currenly known abou he insiuional aneced-ens o proessional collaboraion paricularly in he conex o public educaion
Tis repor arges school-level union-managemen parnerships as poenial caa-
lyss or proessional collaboraion in public schools
Furhermore his research sheds ligh on he impac ha school-level union-man-
agemen parnerships and eacher collaboraion can have on suden perormance
Based on he findings o his repor i policymakers and educaors wan o creae
and suppor more long-erm parnership arrangemens in US school disrics
hey should underake he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o he developmen o curriculum and insrucional prac-
ice eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
bull Provide echnical and financial suppor o disrics ha are willing o pilo par-
nerships and innovaive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy
and suden perormance
bull Build learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih exensive
experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bull Creae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmen
in union-managemen parnerships and collaboraion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical assisance
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm effors ha have produced
resuls and share he findings widely
As unions eachers and adminisraors coninue o see he value o collaboraion
and deepen heir work ogeher on he design and implemenaion o our educa-
ion sysems eaching and learning can be more effecive and efficien
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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4 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
Research across a wide variey o indusries has long esablished ha as employees
are increasingly included in managerial planning problem solving and decision
making perormance and produciviy increases4 Tis increase in perormance
and produciviy resuls rom direcing more resources oward improvemen
effors culivaing soluions rom employees who are closes o he problems
using beter inormaion o aid in he decision-making process increasing effor
and moivaion and providing greaer suppor or he implemenaion o deci-
sions o hose involved in making hem Tis sudy exends hese ideas o publicschool reorm An earlier CAP repor on his issue ound ha schools ha sus-
ained high-qualiy union-managemen parnerships developed a culure o col-
laboraion hese schools also esablished organizaional srucures ha allowed
or greaer levels o eacher inpu ino planning problem solving and decision
making5 Tis repor builds on hose earlier findings by invesigaing wheher
hose schools wih sronger parnerships also have higher levels o perormance
and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and communication networks
Communicaions heory ells us ha he srucure and patern o relaionships
beween organizaional members will have an impac on heir behavior and
decisions Work sysems ha are more collaboraive break down hierarchies
and increase horizonal communicaion inormaion and knowledge sharing
and innovaion Tis resuls in greaer responsiveness and flexibiliy paricularly
in knowledge-inensive work6 Neworks wihin organizaions are increasingly
imporan or coordinaing work when inormaion is dispersed and when flex-
ibiliy responsiveness and problem solving are imporan or improving peror-mance7 Tis is rue across a variey o indusries For example nurses and docors
need o share inormaion abou paiens in hospials and eams o workers need
o come ogeher o solve qualiy problems in seel or auomobile manuacuring
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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6 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
Applying his ramework o public schools he auhors projec ha improved edu-
caional qualiy will resul rom praciioners analyzing suden perormance and
making adjusmens o curriculum and insrucional pracice o improve learning8
Tis however is no simply he work o individual eachers working alone bu
raher he resul o eachers ineracing wih one anoher and wih adminisra-
ors991252he social nework wihin schools Tis requires he inpu cooperaionand coordinaion o eachers and adminisraors across classrooms and depar-
mens In essence i requires an exensive communicaions nework ha osers
educaional effeciveness991252his is reerred o as he ldquodensiyrdquo o a communicaions
nework When here is requen and exensive communicaion beween each-
ers and wih adminisraors he nework is considered dense Furhermore he
srucure and characer o he social nework inside a school can be shaped by he
relaionship beween managemen and he union9
Te earlier CAP repor sudied union-managemen parnerships in six school
disrics across he Unied Saes in order o deermine how deep collaboraionis creaed and susained10 Te repor idenified a unique se o common charac-
erisics across hese disrics ha allowed hem o change union-managemen
relaionships and oser collaboraion beween eachers and adminisraors
a he school level In he case o he ABC Unified School Disric991252Aresia
Bloomfield and Carmenia991252in Souhern Caliornia ha is he basis or research
in his repor he union-managemen relaionship has osered a parnership ha
emphasizes shared responsibiliy or decision making and school improvemen
Tis sudy shows ha schools wih higher levels o union-managemen parner-
ship also have higher levels o communicaion and collaboraion Moreover
schools wih higher levels o collaboraion also have higher levels o suden
perormance and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and union-management relations
Earlier research has shown ha union-managemen parnerships can lead o
undamenal changes in union srucure and he srucure o union-managemen
communicaion11 Tereore schools wih sronger union-managemen parner-
ships are likely o have more exensive communicaions neworks and exhibidifferen paterns o collaboraion beween principals and school union represen-
aives In schools where union leaders and principals alk requenly and inor-
mally abou eaching and learning perormance is likely o improve Schools wih
srong union-managemen parnerships should have beter suden oucomes han
schools wihou good parnerships
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Furhermore as local unions aciliae communicaion hrough heir role in par-
nerships wih managemen hey help creae remendous value in he school by
engendering a greaer level o employee rus in collaboraion han managemen
can creae on is own eachers are more willing o engage in collaboraive sruc-
ures and processes because hey have greaer rus in heir eleced union leaders
han hey do in managemen12
Tis repor ocuses specifically on he paterns o collaboraion beween eachers
and adminisraors ha ake place under union-managemen parnership arrange-
mens and heir relaionship o suden perormance Social-nework analysis is
used o look wihin public schools in order o examine changes in he paterns o
collaboraion and suden perormance ha occur in schools ha have developed
srong eacher-adminisraion parnering arrangemens Social-nework analysis
allows researchers o measure he srucure o relaionships beween eachers
and principals raher han simply individual atribues or atiudes Oher sudies
have applied social-nework analysis echniques o public schools o analyze hesepaterns empirically bu he auhors o his sudy are no aware o any previous
research ha has examined he links beween school reorm union-managemen
parnership arrangemens school-level collaboraion and suden perormance13
The research setting for this study was the ABC Unified School Dis-
trict which is 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles Over the past two
decades a partnership has been sustained between the teachers
union or the ABC Federation of Teachers and the districtrsquos adminis-
tration that has resulted in extensive collaboration and innovation
around instructional programs curriculum development textbook
selection and adoption recruiting and hiring of administrators and
teachers mentoring teacher evaluation and support and data-
based decision making to improve student performance This study
used surveys interviews student-performance data and social-net-
work analysis which analyzes the communication patterns within
and across organizations to examine the impact of this partnershipon school-level teacher collaboration student performance and the
structure of union-management relations The district employs more
than 1100 educators serving almost 21000 students and includes
30 schools of which 19 are elementary schools five are middle
schools five are high schools and one school is an adult school
that offers remedial education and career development for old
students Fourteen of the schools are Title I schools meaning t
have high percentages of children from low-income families a
receive federal funds to ensure these students receive extra su
Also 25 percent of the districtrsquos students are English language
ers or ELL and as with many urban school districts in the Uni
States a high percentage of the students are financially disadv
tagedmdashroughly 455 percent are eligible for the reduced-price
free lunch program Yet the district has consistently scored abo
the state average for the California Academic Performance Ind
API and has exceeded API targets for comparable districts set
state The API is a composite of tests and other measures that astudent achievement to be compared across schools and distr
Four of the districtrsquos schools were removed from the study sam
because of either demographic peculiarities or low response r
Therefore the sample used for this analysis consisted of 26 sch
which together employ roughly 900 teachers
Research setting
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8 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
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8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 728
Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Introduction and summary
For more han a decade he debae over public school reorm has creaed ricion
beween eachers unions adminisraors school boards parens policymakers
and oher sakeholders in public educaion and has ueled disagreemens over
how o improve he qualiy o eaching and learning or children While many
acors make consensus elusive when i comes o school reorm a key obsacle o
finding agreemen around educaional improvemens and bringing such improve-
mens o ruiion is ideological policy divisions1
Ye wihin some disrics and schools union leaders and school adminisraors
have ound an alernae pah o reorm991252one ha is based on building srong rela-
ionships ha aciliae collaboraion among educaors and is ocused on each-
ing qualiy and educaional improvemen or sudens Tis repor explores he
impac o school-level union-managemen insiuional parnerships on eacher
collaboraion and suden perormance Moreover i offers srong evidence or
his alernaive direcion o he policy debae on public school reorm by analyz-
ing he role o union-managemen relaions in educaional qualiy
ess can reveal deficiencies in suden knowledge bu can offer litle more
beyond alering parens and eachers o a problem Union-managemen parner-
ships because hey are problem ocused can ake he criical nex seps and help
drive hinking abou ways o increase suden learning Tese ypes o parner-
ships are designed o use collaboraion among educaors o find soluions o gaps
in suden achievemen and hen effecively implemen hose soluions because
hose closes o he problem991252wih aci knowledge o i991252are key sakeholders
in he improvemen process
An earlier repor or he Cener or American Progress ldquoReorming Public SchoolSysems hrough Susained Union-Managemen Collaboraionrdquo2 examined cases
o school reorm ha resuled rom collaboraive parnerships beween each-
ers unions and adminisraors working ogeher in innovaive ways o improve
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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2 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
eaching qualiy and suden perormance Ta repor analyzed hese cases o
ideniy he common elemens ha all disrics wih long-erm union-manage-
men parnerships shared in common Tis curren repor looks deeper ino hese
parnerships o examine he paterns o collaboraion ha occur wihin schools
beween eachers and adminisraors o see how hey affec suden perormance
Tis repor akes an organizaional perspecive looking a schools as sysems andexamining school governance paterns o communicaion and collaboraion
eacher paricipaion in decision making and indusrial relaions Paricular iner-
es is paid o he way eachers work wih each oher and how union represenaives
work wih principals a he school level
Tis laes sudy finds ha
bull Formal partnerships help improve student performance Te qualiy o ormal
parnerships beween eachers unions adminisraors and eachers a he school
level is a significan predicor o suden perormance as well as perormanceimprovemen afer povery and school ype are aken ino accoun
bull Partnerships lead to more extensive communication between teachers Higher-qualiy school-level eacher-adminisraor parnerships prediced more
exensive school-level collaboraion and communicaion around suden-
perormance daa curriculum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or grade-
o-grade inegraion sharing advising or learning abou insrucional pracices
and giving or receiving ormal or inormal menoring
bull More extensive communication improves student performance More exen-
sive communicaions around suden-perormance daa curriculum and ine-
graion insrucional pracice and menoring all prediced large and significan
gains in suden perormance or perormance improvemen
bull Partnership leads to more frequent and i nformal communication between
union representatives and principals Finally he qualiy o parnerships
prediced differen communicaion paterns beween union building represen-
aives and principals wih he communicaion in high-parnership schools
becoming more requen and less ormal han he communicaion in low-parnership schools
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Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Tis sudy conribues o our undersanding o he value ha union-managemen
parnerships can bring o organizaional perormance by creaing a posiive climae
or eacher collaboraion which leads o innovaion and an inrasrucure or prob-
lem solving Over he pas decade educaion researchers have encouraged greaer
levels o proessional collaboraion among eachers as a means o improve suden
achievemen3
However litle is currenly known abou he insiuional aneced-ens o proessional collaboraion paricularly in he conex o public educaion
Tis repor arges school-level union-managemen parnerships as poenial caa-
lyss or proessional collaboraion in public schools
Furhermore his research sheds ligh on he impac ha school-level union-man-
agemen parnerships and eacher collaboraion can have on suden perormance
Based on he findings o his repor i policymakers and educaors wan o creae
and suppor more long-erm parnership arrangemens in US school disrics
hey should underake he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o he developmen o curriculum and insrucional prac-
ice eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
bull Provide echnical and financial suppor o disrics ha are willing o pilo par-
nerships and innovaive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy
and suden perormance
bull Build learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih exensive
experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bull Creae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmen
in union-managemen parnerships and collaboraion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical assisance
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm effors ha have produced
resuls and share he findings widely
As unions eachers and adminisraors coninue o see he value o collaboraion
and deepen heir work ogeher on he design and implemenaion o our educa-
ion sysems eaching and learning can be more effecive and efficien
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4 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 1128
Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
Research across a wide variey o indusries has long esablished ha as employees
are increasingly included in managerial planning problem solving and decision
making perormance and produciviy increases4 Tis increase in perormance
and produciviy resuls rom direcing more resources oward improvemen
effors culivaing soluions rom employees who are closes o he problems
using beter inormaion o aid in he decision-making process increasing effor
and moivaion and providing greaer suppor or he implemenaion o deci-
sions o hose involved in making hem Tis sudy exends hese ideas o publicschool reorm An earlier CAP repor on his issue ound ha schools ha sus-
ained high-qualiy union-managemen parnerships developed a culure o col-
laboraion hese schools also esablished organizaional srucures ha allowed
or greaer levels o eacher inpu ino planning problem solving and decision
making5 Tis repor builds on hose earlier findings by invesigaing wheher
hose schools wih sronger parnerships also have higher levels o perormance
and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and communication networks
Communicaions heory ells us ha he srucure and patern o relaionships
beween organizaional members will have an impac on heir behavior and
decisions Work sysems ha are more collaboraive break down hierarchies
and increase horizonal communicaion inormaion and knowledge sharing
and innovaion Tis resuls in greaer responsiveness and flexibiliy paricularly
in knowledge-inensive work6 Neworks wihin organizaions are increasingly
imporan or coordinaing work when inormaion is dispersed and when flex-
ibiliy responsiveness and problem solving are imporan or improving peror-mance7 Tis is rue across a variey o indusries For example nurses and docors
need o share inormaion abou paiens in hospials and eams o workers need
o come ogeher o solve qualiy problems in seel or auomobile manuacuring
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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6 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
Applying his ramework o public schools he auhors projec ha improved edu-
caional qualiy will resul rom praciioners analyzing suden perormance and
making adjusmens o curriculum and insrucional pracice o improve learning8
Tis however is no simply he work o individual eachers working alone bu
raher he resul o eachers ineracing wih one anoher and wih adminisra-
ors991252he social nework wihin schools Tis requires he inpu cooperaionand coordinaion o eachers and adminisraors across classrooms and depar-
mens In essence i requires an exensive communicaions nework ha osers
educaional effeciveness991252his is reerred o as he ldquodensiyrdquo o a communicaions
nework When here is requen and exensive communicaion beween each-
ers and wih adminisraors he nework is considered dense Furhermore he
srucure and characer o he social nework inside a school can be shaped by he
relaionship beween managemen and he union9
Te earlier CAP repor sudied union-managemen parnerships in six school
disrics across he Unied Saes in order o deermine how deep collaboraionis creaed and susained10 Te repor idenified a unique se o common charac-
erisics across hese disrics ha allowed hem o change union-managemen
relaionships and oser collaboraion beween eachers and adminisraors
a he school level In he case o he ABC Unified School Disric991252Aresia
Bloomfield and Carmenia991252in Souhern Caliornia ha is he basis or research
in his repor he union-managemen relaionship has osered a parnership ha
emphasizes shared responsibiliy or decision making and school improvemen
Tis sudy shows ha schools wih higher levels o union-managemen parner-
ship also have higher levels o communicaion and collaboraion Moreover
schools wih higher levels o collaboraion also have higher levels o suden
perormance and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and union-management relations
Earlier research has shown ha union-managemen parnerships can lead o
undamenal changes in union srucure and he srucure o union-managemen
communicaion11 Tereore schools wih sronger union-managemen parner-
ships are likely o have more exensive communicaions neworks and exhibidifferen paterns o collaboraion beween principals and school union represen-
aives In schools where union leaders and principals alk requenly and inor-
mally abou eaching and learning perormance is likely o improve Schools wih
srong union-managemen parnerships should have beter suden oucomes han
schools wihou good parnerships
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Furhermore as local unions aciliae communicaion hrough heir role in par-
nerships wih managemen hey help creae remendous value in he school by
engendering a greaer level o employee rus in collaboraion han managemen
can creae on is own eachers are more willing o engage in collaboraive sruc-
ures and processes because hey have greaer rus in heir eleced union leaders
han hey do in managemen12
Tis repor ocuses specifically on he paterns o collaboraion beween eachers
and adminisraors ha ake place under union-managemen parnership arrange-
mens and heir relaionship o suden perormance Social-nework analysis is
used o look wihin public schools in order o examine changes in he paterns o
collaboraion and suden perormance ha occur in schools ha have developed
srong eacher-adminisraion parnering arrangemens Social-nework analysis
allows researchers o measure he srucure o relaionships beween eachers
and principals raher han simply individual atribues or atiudes Oher sudies
have applied social-nework analysis echniques o public schools o analyze hesepaterns empirically bu he auhors o his sudy are no aware o any previous
research ha has examined he links beween school reorm union-managemen
parnership arrangemens school-level collaboraion and suden perormance13
The research setting for this study was the ABC Unified School Dis-
trict which is 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles Over the past two
decades a partnership has been sustained between the teachers
union or the ABC Federation of Teachers and the districtrsquos adminis-
tration that has resulted in extensive collaboration and innovation
around instructional programs curriculum development textbook
selection and adoption recruiting and hiring of administrators and
teachers mentoring teacher evaluation and support and data-
based decision making to improve student performance This study
used surveys interviews student-performance data and social-net-
work analysis which analyzes the communication patterns within
and across organizations to examine the impact of this partnershipon school-level teacher collaboration student performance and the
structure of union-management relations The district employs more
than 1100 educators serving almost 21000 students and includes
30 schools of which 19 are elementary schools five are middle
schools five are high schools and one school is an adult school
that offers remedial education and career development for old
students Fourteen of the schools are Title I schools meaning t
have high percentages of children from low-income families a
receive federal funds to ensure these students receive extra su
Also 25 percent of the districtrsquos students are English language
ers or ELL and as with many urban school districts in the Uni
States a high percentage of the students are financially disadv
tagedmdashroughly 455 percent are eligible for the reduced-price
free lunch program Yet the district has consistently scored abo
the state average for the California Academic Performance Ind
API and has exceeded API targets for comparable districts set
state The API is a composite of tests and other measures that astudent achievement to be compared across schools and distr
Four of the districtrsquos schools were removed from the study sam
because of either demographic peculiarities or low response r
Therefore the sample used for this analysis consisted of 26 sch
which together employ roughly 900 teachers
Research setting
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8 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
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Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Introduction and summary
For more han a decade he debae over public school reorm has creaed ricion
beween eachers unions adminisraors school boards parens policymakers
and oher sakeholders in public educaion and has ueled disagreemens over
how o improve he qualiy o eaching and learning or children While many
acors make consensus elusive when i comes o school reorm a key obsacle o
finding agreemen around educaional improvemens and bringing such improve-
mens o ruiion is ideological policy divisions1
Ye wihin some disrics and schools union leaders and school adminisraors
have ound an alernae pah o reorm991252one ha is based on building srong rela-
ionships ha aciliae collaboraion among educaors and is ocused on each-
ing qualiy and educaional improvemen or sudens Tis repor explores he
impac o school-level union-managemen insiuional parnerships on eacher
collaboraion and suden perormance Moreover i offers srong evidence or
his alernaive direcion o he policy debae on public school reorm by analyz-
ing he role o union-managemen relaions in educaional qualiy
ess can reveal deficiencies in suden knowledge bu can offer litle more
beyond alering parens and eachers o a problem Union-managemen parner-
ships because hey are problem ocused can ake he criical nex seps and help
drive hinking abou ways o increase suden learning Tese ypes o parner-
ships are designed o use collaboraion among educaors o find soluions o gaps
in suden achievemen and hen effecively implemen hose soluions because
hose closes o he problem991252wih aci knowledge o i991252are key sakeholders
in he improvemen process
An earlier repor or he Cener or American Progress ldquoReorming Public SchoolSysems hrough Susained Union-Managemen Collaboraionrdquo2 examined cases
o school reorm ha resuled rom collaboraive parnerships beween each-
ers unions and adminisraors working ogeher in innovaive ways o improve
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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2 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
eaching qualiy and suden perormance Ta repor analyzed hese cases o
ideniy he common elemens ha all disrics wih long-erm union-manage-
men parnerships shared in common Tis curren repor looks deeper ino hese
parnerships o examine he paterns o collaboraion ha occur wihin schools
beween eachers and adminisraors o see how hey affec suden perormance
Tis repor akes an organizaional perspecive looking a schools as sysems andexamining school governance paterns o communicaion and collaboraion
eacher paricipaion in decision making and indusrial relaions Paricular iner-
es is paid o he way eachers work wih each oher and how union represenaives
work wih principals a he school level
Tis laes sudy finds ha
bull Formal partnerships help improve student performance Te qualiy o ormal
parnerships beween eachers unions adminisraors and eachers a he school
level is a significan predicor o suden perormance as well as perormanceimprovemen afer povery and school ype are aken ino accoun
bull Partnerships lead to more extensive communication between teachers Higher-qualiy school-level eacher-adminisraor parnerships prediced more
exensive school-level collaboraion and communicaion around suden-
perormance daa curriculum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or grade-
o-grade inegraion sharing advising or learning abou insrucional pracices
and giving or receiving ormal or inormal menoring
bull More extensive communication improves student performance More exen-
sive communicaions around suden-perormance daa curriculum and ine-
graion insrucional pracice and menoring all prediced large and significan
gains in suden perormance or perormance improvemen
bull Partnership leads to more frequent and i nformal communication between
union representatives and principals Finally he qualiy o parnerships
prediced differen communicaion paterns beween union building represen-
aives and principals wih he communicaion in high-parnership schools
becoming more requen and less ormal han he communicaion in low-parnership schools
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Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Tis sudy conribues o our undersanding o he value ha union-managemen
parnerships can bring o organizaional perormance by creaing a posiive climae
or eacher collaboraion which leads o innovaion and an inrasrucure or prob-
lem solving Over he pas decade educaion researchers have encouraged greaer
levels o proessional collaboraion among eachers as a means o improve suden
achievemen3
However litle is currenly known abou he insiuional aneced-ens o proessional collaboraion paricularly in he conex o public educaion
Tis repor arges school-level union-managemen parnerships as poenial caa-
lyss or proessional collaboraion in public schools
Furhermore his research sheds ligh on he impac ha school-level union-man-
agemen parnerships and eacher collaboraion can have on suden perormance
Based on he findings o his repor i policymakers and educaors wan o creae
and suppor more long-erm parnership arrangemens in US school disrics
hey should underake he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o he developmen o curriculum and insrucional prac-
ice eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
bull Provide echnical and financial suppor o disrics ha are willing o pilo par-
nerships and innovaive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy
and suden perormance
bull Build learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih exensive
experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bull Creae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmen
in union-managemen parnerships and collaboraion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical assisance
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm effors ha have produced
resuls and share he findings widely
As unions eachers and adminisraors coninue o see he value o collaboraion
and deepen heir work ogeher on he design and implemenaion o our educa-
ion sysems eaching and learning can be more effecive and efficien
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4 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
Research across a wide variey o indusries has long esablished ha as employees
are increasingly included in managerial planning problem solving and decision
making perormance and produciviy increases4 Tis increase in perormance
and produciviy resuls rom direcing more resources oward improvemen
effors culivaing soluions rom employees who are closes o he problems
using beter inormaion o aid in he decision-making process increasing effor
and moivaion and providing greaer suppor or he implemenaion o deci-
sions o hose involved in making hem Tis sudy exends hese ideas o publicschool reorm An earlier CAP repor on his issue ound ha schools ha sus-
ained high-qualiy union-managemen parnerships developed a culure o col-
laboraion hese schools also esablished organizaional srucures ha allowed
or greaer levels o eacher inpu ino planning problem solving and decision
making5 Tis repor builds on hose earlier findings by invesigaing wheher
hose schools wih sronger parnerships also have higher levels o perormance
and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and communication networks
Communicaions heory ells us ha he srucure and patern o relaionships
beween organizaional members will have an impac on heir behavior and
decisions Work sysems ha are more collaboraive break down hierarchies
and increase horizonal communicaion inormaion and knowledge sharing
and innovaion Tis resuls in greaer responsiveness and flexibiliy paricularly
in knowledge-inensive work6 Neworks wihin organizaions are increasingly
imporan or coordinaing work when inormaion is dispersed and when flex-
ibiliy responsiveness and problem solving are imporan or improving peror-mance7 Tis is rue across a variey o indusries For example nurses and docors
need o share inormaion abou paiens in hospials and eams o workers need
o come ogeher o solve qualiy problems in seel or auomobile manuacuring
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6 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
Applying his ramework o public schools he auhors projec ha improved edu-
caional qualiy will resul rom praciioners analyzing suden perormance and
making adjusmens o curriculum and insrucional pracice o improve learning8
Tis however is no simply he work o individual eachers working alone bu
raher he resul o eachers ineracing wih one anoher and wih adminisra-
ors991252he social nework wihin schools Tis requires he inpu cooperaionand coordinaion o eachers and adminisraors across classrooms and depar-
mens In essence i requires an exensive communicaions nework ha osers
educaional effeciveness991252his is reerred o as he ldquodensiyrdquo o a communicaions
nework When here is requen and exensive communicaion beween each-
ers and wih adminisraors he nework is considered dense Furhermore he
srucure and characer o he social nework inside a school can be shaped by he
relaionship beween managemen and he union9
Te earlier CAP repor sudied union-managemen parnerships in six school
disrics across he Unied Saes in order o deermine how deep collaboraionis creaed and susained10 Te repor idenified a unique se o common charac-
erisics across hese disrics ha allowed hem o change union-managemen
relaionships and oser collaboraion beween eachers and adminisraors
a he school level In he case o he ABC Unified School Disric991252Aresia
Bloomfield and Carmenia991252in Souhern Caliornia ha is he basis or research
in his repor he union-managemen relaionship has osered a parnership ha
emphasizes shared responsibiliy or decision making and school improvemen
Tis sudy shows ha schools wih higher levels o union-managemen parner-
ship also have higher levels o communicaion and collaboraion Moreover
schools wih higher levels o collaboraion also have higher levels o suden
perormance and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and union-management relations
Earlier research has shown ha union-managemen parnerships can lead o
undamenal changes in union srucure and he srucure o union-managemen
communicaion11 Tereore schools wih sronger union-managemen parner-
ships are likely o have more exensive communicaions neworks and exhibidifferen paterns o collaboraion beween principals and school union represen-
aives In schools where union leaders and principals alk requenly and inor-
mally abou eaching and learning perormance is likely o improve Schools wih
srong union-managemen parnerships should have beter suden oucomes han
schools wihou good parnerships
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Furhermore as local unions aciliae communicaion hrough heir role in par-
nerships wih managemen hey help creae remendous value in he school by
engendering a greaer level o employee rus in collaboraion han managemen
can creae on is own eachers are more willing o engage in collaboraive sruc-
ures and processes because hey have greaer rus in heir eleced union leaders
han hey do in managemen12
Tis repor ocuses specifically on he paterns o collaboraion beween eachers
and adminisraors ha ake place under union-managemen parnership arrange-
mens and heir relaionship o suden perormance Social-nework analysis is
used o look wihin public schools in order o examine changes in he paterns o
collaboraion and suden perormance ha occur in schools ha have developed
srong eacher-adminisraion parnering arrangemens Social-nework analysis
allows researchers o measure he srucure o relaionships beween eachers
and principals raher han simply individual atribues or atiudes Oher sudies
have applied social-nework analysis echniques o public schools o analyze hesepaterns empirically bu he auhors o his sudy are no aware o any previous
research ha has examined he links beween school reorm union-managemen
parnership arrangemens school-level collaboraion and suden perormance13
The research setting for this study was the ABC Unified School Dis-
trict which is 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles Over the past two
decades a partnership has been sustained between the teachers
union or the ABC Federation of Teachers and the districtrsquos adminis-
tration that has resulted in extensive collaboration and innovation
around instructional programs curriculum development textbook
selection and adoption recruiting and hiring of administrators and
teachers mentoring teacher evaluation and support and data-
based decision making to improve student performance This study
used surveys interviews student-performance data and social-net-
work analysis which analyzes the communication patterns within
and across organizations to examine the impact of this partnershipon school-level teacher collaboration student performance and the
structure of union-management relations The district employs more
than 1100 educators serving almost 21000 students and includes
30 schools of which 19 are elementary schools five are middle
schools five are high schools and one school is an adult school
that offers remedial education and career development for old
students Fourteen of the schools are Title I schools meaning t
have high percentages of children from low-income families a
receive federal funds to ensure these students receive extra su
Also 25 percent of the districtrsquos students are English language
ers or ELL and as with many urban school districts in the Uni
States a high percentage of the students are financially disadv
tagedmdashroughly 455 percent are eligible for the reduced-price
free lunch program Yet the district has consistently scored abo
the state average for the California Academic Performance Ind
API and has exceeded API targets for comparable districts set
state The API is a composite of tests and other measures that astudent achievement to be compared across schools and distr
Four of the districtrsquos schools were removed from the study sam
because of either demographic peculiarities or low response r
Therefore the sample used for this analysis consisted of 26 sch
which together employ roughly 900 teachers
Research setting
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8 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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2 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
eaching qualiy and suden perormance Ta repor analyzed hese cases o
ideniy he common elemens ha all disrics wih long-erm union-manage-
men parnerships shared in common Tis curren repor looks deeper ino hese
parnerships o examine he paterns o collaboraion ha occur wihin schools
beween eachers and adminisraors o see how hey affec suden perormance
Tis repor akes an organizaional perspecive looking a schools as sysems andexamining school governance paterns o communicaion and collaboraion
eacher paricipaion in decision making and indusrial relaions Paricular iner-
es is paid o he way eachers work wih each oher and how union represenaives
work wih principals a he school level
Tis laes sudy finds ha
bull Formal partnerships help improve student performance Te qualiy o ormal
parnerships beween eachers unions adminisraors and eachers a he school
level is a significan predicor o suden perormance as well as perormanceimprovemen afer povery and school ype are aken ino accoun
bull Partnerships lead to more extensive communication between teachers Higher-qualiy school-level eacher-adminisraor parnerships prediced more
exensive school-level collaboraion and communicaion around suden-
perormance daa curriculum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or grade-
o-grade inegraion sharing advising or learning abou insrucional pracices
and giving or receiving ormal or inormal menoring
bull More extensive communication improves student performance More exen-
sive communicaions around suden-perormance daa curriculum and ine-
graion insrucional pracice and menoring all prediced large and significan
gains in suden perormance or perormance improvemen
bull Partnership leads to more frequent and i nformal communication between
union representatives and principals Finally he qualiy o parnerships
prediced differen communicaion paterns beween union building represen-
aives and principals wih he communicaion in high-parnership schools
becoming more requen and less ormal han he communicaion in low-parnership schools
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Tis sudy conribues o our undersanding o he value ha union-managemen
parnerships can bring o organizaional perormance by creaing a posiive climae
or eacher collaboraion which leads o innovaion and an inrasrucure or prob-
lem solving Over he pas decade educaion researchers have encouraged greaer
levels o proessional collaboraion among eachers as a means o improve suden
achievemen3
However litle is currenly known abou he insiuional aneced-ens o proessional collaboraion paricularly in he conex o public educaion
Tis repor arges school-level union-managemen parnerships as poenial caa-
lyss or proessional collaboraion in public schools
Furhermore his research sheds ligh on he impac ha school-level union-man-
agemen parnerships and eacher collaboraion can have on suden perormance
Based on he findings o his repor i policymakers and educaors wan o creae
and suppor more long-erm parnership arrangemens in US school disrics
hey should underake he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o he developmen o curriculum and insrucional prac-
ice eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
bull Provide echnical and financial suppor o disrics ha are willing o pilo par-
nerships and innovaive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy
and suden perormance
bull Build learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih exensive
experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bull Creae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmen
in union-managemen parnerships and collaboraion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical assisance
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm effors ha have produced
resuls and share he findings widely
As unions eachers and adminisraors coninue o see he value o collaboraion
and deepen heir work ogeher on he design and implemenaion o our educa-
ion sysems eaching and learning can be more effecive and efficien
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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4 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 1128
Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
Research across a wide variey o indusries has long esablished ha as employees
are increasingly included in managerial planning problem solving and decision
making perormance and produciviy increases4 Tis increase in perormance
and produciviy resuls rom direcing more resources oward improvemen
effors culivaing soluions rom employees who are closes o he problems
using beter inormaion o aid in he decision-making process increasing effor
and moivaion and providing greaer suppor or he implemenaion o deci-
sions o hose involved in making hem Tis sudy exends hese ideas o publicschool reorm An earlier CAP repor on his issue ound ha schools ha sus-
ained high-qualiy union-managemen parnerships developed a culure o col-
laboraion hese schools also esablished organizaional srucures ha allowed
or greaer levels o eacher inpu ino planning problem solving and decision
making5 Tis repor builds on hose earlier findings by invesigaing wheher
hose schools wih sronger parnerships also have higher levels o perormance
and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and communication networks
Communicaions heory ells us ha he srucure and patern o relaionships
beween organizaional members will have an impac on heir behavior and
decisions Work sysems ha are more collaboraive break down hierarchies
and increase horizonal communicaion inormaion and knowledge sharing
and innovaion Tis resuls in greaer responsiveness and flexibiliy paricularly
in knowledge-inensive work6 Neworks wihin organizaions are increasingly
imporan or coordinaing work when inormaion is dispersed and when flex-
ibiliy responsiveness and problem solving are imporan or improving peror-mance7 Tis is rue across a variey o indusries For example nurses and docors
need o share inormaion abou paiens in hospials and eams o workers need
o come ogeher o solve qualiy problems in seel or auomobile manuacuring
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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6 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
Applying his ramework o public schools he auhors projec ha improved edu-
caional qualiy will resul rom praciioners analyzing suden perormance and
making adjusmens o curriculum and insrucional pracice o improve learning8
Tis however is no simply he work o individual eachers working alone bu
raher he resul o eachers ineracing wih one anoher and wih adminisra-
ors991252he social nework wihin schools Tis requires he inpu cooperaionand coordinaion o eachers and adminisraors across classrooms and depar-
mens In essence i requires an exensive communicaions nework ha osers
educaional effeciveness991252his is reerred o as he ldquodensiyrdquo o a communicaions
nework When here is requen and exensive communicaion beween each-
ers and wih adminisraors he nework is considered dense Furhermore he
srucure and characer o he social nework inside a school can be shaped by he
relaionship beween managemen and he union9
Te earlier CAP repor sudied union-managemen parnerships in six school
disrics across he Unied Saes in order o deermine how deep collaboraionis creaed and susained10 Te repor idenified a unique se o common charac-
erisics across hese disrics ha allowed hem o change union-managemen
relaionships and oser collaboraion beween eachers and adminisraors
a he school level In he case o he ABC Unified School Disric991252Aresia
Bloomfield and Carmenia991252in Souhern Caliornia ha is he basis or research
in his repor he union-managemen relaionship has osered a parnership ha
emphasizes shared responsibiliy or decision making and school improvemen
Tis sudy shows ha schools wih higher levels o union-managemen parner-
ship also have higher levels o communicaion and collaboraion Moreover
schools wih higher levels o collaboraion also have higher levels o suden
perormance and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and union-management relations
Earlier research has shown ha union-managemen parnerships can lead o
undamenal changes in union srucure and he srucure o union-managemen
communicaion11 Tereore schools wih sronger union-managemen parner-
ships are likely o have more exensive communicaions neworks and exhibidifferen paterns o collaboraion beween principals and school union represen-
aives In schools where union leaders and principals alk requenly and inor-
mally abou eaching and learning perormance is likely o improve Schools wih
srong union-managemen parnerships should have beter suden oucomes han
schools wihou good parnerships
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Furhermore as local unions aciliae communicaion hrough heir role in par-
nerships wih managemen hey help creae remendous value in he school by
engendering a greaer level o employee rus in collaboraion han managemen
can creae on is own eachers are more willing o engage in collaboraive sruc-
ures and processes because hey have greaer rus in heir eleced union leaders
han hey do in managemen12
Tis repor ocuses specifically on he paterns o collaboraion beween eachers
and adminisraors ha ake place under union-managemen parnership arrange-
mens and heir relaionship o suden perormance Social-nework analysis is
used o look wihin public schools in order o examine changes in he paterns o
collaboraion and suden perormance ha occur in schools ha have developed
srong eacher-adminisraion parnering arrangemens Social-nework analysis
allows researchers o measure he srucure o relaionships beween eachers
and principals raher han simply individual atribues or atiudes Oher sudies
have applied social-nework analysis echniques o public schools o analyze hesepaterns empirically bu he auhors o his sudy are no aware o any previous
research ha has examined he links beween school reorm union-managemen
parnership arrangemens school-level collaboraion and suden perormance13
The research setting for this study was the ABC Unified School Dis-
trict which is 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles Over the past two
decades a partnership has been sustained between the teachers
union or the ABC Federation of Teachers and the districtrsquos adminis-
tration that has resulted in extensive collaboration and innovation
around instructional programs curriculum development textbook
selection and adoption recruiting and hiring of administrators and
teachers mentoring teacher evaluation and support and data-
based decision making to improve student performance This study
used surveys interviews student-performance data and social-net-
work analysis which analyzes the communication patterns within
and across organizations to examine the impact of this partnershipon school-level teacher collaboration student performance and the
structure of union-management relations The district employs more
than 1100 educators serving almost 21000 students and includes
30 schools of which 19 are elementary schools five are middle
schools five are high schools and one school is an adult school
that offers remedial education and career development for old
students Fourteen of the schools are Title I schools meaning t
have high percentages of children from low-income families a
receive federal funds to ensure these students receive extra su
Also 25 percent of the districtrsquos students are English language
ers or ELL and as with many urban school districts in the Uni
States a high percentage of the students are financially disadv
tagedmdashroughly 455 percent are eligible for the reduced-price
free lunch program Yet the district has consistently scored abo
the state average for the California Academic Performance Ind
API and has exceeded API targets for comparable districts set
state The API is a composite of tests and other measures that astudent achievement to be compared across schools and distr
Four of the districtrsquos schools were removed from the study sam
because of either demographic peculiarities or low response r
Therefore the sample used for this analysis consisted of 26 sch
which together employ roughly 900 teachers
Research setting
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8 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
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Introduction and summary | wwwamericanprogress
Tis sudy conribues o our undersanding o he value ha union-managemen
parnerships can bring o organizaional perormance by creaing a posiive climae
or eacher collaboraion which leads o innovaion and an inrasrucure or prob-
lem solving Over he pas decade educaion researchers have encouraged greaer
levels o proessional collaboraion among eachers as a means o improve suden
achievemen3
However litle is currenly known abou he insiuional aneced-ens o proessional collaboraion paricularly in he conex o public educaion
Tis repor arges school-level union-managemen parnerships as poenial caa-
lyss or proessional collaboraion in public schools
Furhermore his research sheds ligh on he impac ha school-level union-man-
agemen parnerships and eacher collaboraion can have on suden perormance
Based on he findings o his repor i policymakers and educaors wan o creae
and suppor more long-erm parnership arrangemens in US school disrics
hey should underake he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o he developmen o curriculum and insrucional prac-
ice eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
bull Provide echnical and financial suppor o disrics ha are willing o pilo par-
nerships and innovaive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy
and suden perormance
bull Build learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih exensive
experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bull Creae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmen
in union-managemen parnerships and collaboraion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical assisance
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm effors ha have produced
resuls and share he findings widely
As unions eachers and adminisraors coninue o see he value o collaboraion
and deepen heir work ogeher on he design and implemenaion o our educa-
ion sysems eaching and learning can be more effecive and efficien
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4 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
Research across a wide variey o indusries has long esablished ha as employees
are increasingly included in managerial planning problem solving and decision
making perormance and produciviy increases4 Tis increase in perormance
and produciviy resuls rom direcing more resources oward improvemen
effors culivaing soluions rom employees who are closes o he problems
using beter inormaion o aid in he decision-making process increasing effor
and moivaion and providing greaer suppor or he implemenaion o deci-
sions o hose involved in making hem Tis sudy exends hese ideas o publicschool reorm An earlier CAP repor on his issue ound ha schools ha sus-
ained high-qualiy union-managemen parnerships developed a culure o col-
laboraion hese schools also esablished organizaional srucures ha allowed
or greaer levels o eacher inpu ino planning problem solving and decision
making5 Tis repor builds on hose earlier findings by invesigaing wheher
hose schools wih sronger parnerships also have higher levels o perormance
and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and communication networks
Communicaions heory ells us ha he srucure and patern o relaionships
beween organizaional members will have an impac on heir behavior and
decisions Work sysems ha are more collaboraive break down hierarchies
and increase horizonal communicaion inormaion and knowledge sharing
and innovaion Tis resuls in greaer responsiveness and flexibiliy paricularly
in knowledge-inensive work6 Neworks wihin organizaions are increasingly
imporan or coordinaing work when inormaion is dispersed and when flex-
ibiliy responsiveness and problem solving are imporan or improving peror-mance7 Tis is rue across a variey o indusries For example nurses and docors
need o share inormaion abou paiens in hospials and eams o workers need
o come ogeher o solve qualiy problems in seel or auomobile manuacuring
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6 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
Applying his ramework o public schools he auhors projec ha improved edu-
caional qualiy will resul rom praciioners analyzing suden perormance and
making adjusmens o curriculum and insrucional pracice o improve learning8
Tis however is no simply he work o individual eachers working alone bu
raher he resul o eachers ineracing wih one anoher and wih adminisra-
ors991252he social nework wihin schools Tis requires he inpu cooperaionand coordinaion o eachers and adminisraors across classrooms and depar-
mens In essence i requires an exensive communicaions nework ha osers
educaional effeciveness991252his is reerred o as he ldquodensiyrdquo o a communicaions
nework When here is requen and exensive communicaion beween each-
ers and wih adminisraors he nework is considered dense Furhermore he
srucure and characer o he social nework inside a school can be shaped by he
relaionship beween managemen and he union9
Te earlier CAP repor sudied union-managemen parnerships in six school
disrics across he Unied Saes in order o deermine how deep collaboraionis creaed and susained10 Te repor idenified a unique se o common charac-
erisics across hese disrics ha allowed hem o change union-managemen
relaionships and oser collaboraion beween eachers and adminisraors
a he school level In he case o he ABC Unified School Disric991252Aresia
Bloomfield and Carmenia991252in Souhern Caliornia ha is he basis or research
in his repor he union-managemen relaionship has osered a parnership ha
emphasizes shared responsibiliy or decision making and school improvemen
Tis sudy shows ha schools wih higher levels o union-managemen parner-
ship also have higher levels o communicaion and collaboraion Moreover
schools wih higher levels o collaboraion also have higher levels o suden
perormance and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and union-management relations
Earlier research has shown ha union-managemen parnerships can lead o
undamenal changes in union srucure and he srucure o union-managemen
communicaion11 Tereore schools wih sronger union-managemen parner-
ships are likely o have more exensive communicaions neworks and exhibidifferen paterns o collaboraion beween principals and school union represen-
aives In schools where union leaders and principals alk requenly and inor-
mally abou eaching and learning perormance is likely o improve Schools wih
srong union-managemen parnerships should have beter suden oucomes han
schools wihou good parnerships
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Furhermore as local unions aciliae communicaion hrough heir role in par-
nerships wih managemen hey help creae remendous value in he school by
engendering a greaer level o employee rus in collaboraion han managemen
can creae on is own eachers are more willing o engage in collaboraive sruc-
ures and processes because hey have greaer rus in heir eleced union leaders
han hey do in managemen12
Tis repor ocuses specifically on he paterns o collaboraion beween eachers
and adminisraors ha ake place under union-managemen parnership arrange-
mens and heir relaionship o suden perormance Social-nework analysis is
used o look wihin public schools in order o examine changes in he paterns o
collaboraion and suden perormance ha occur in schools ha have developed
srong eacher-adminisraion parnering arrangemens Social-nework analysis
allows researchers o measure he srucure o relaionships beween eachers
and principals raher han simply individual atribues or atiudes Oher sudies
have applied social-nework analysis echniques o public schools o analyze hesepaterns empirically bu he auhors o his sudy are no aware o any previous
research ha has examined he links beween school reorm union-managemen
parnership arrangemens school-level collaboraion and suden perormance13
The research setting for this study was the ABC Unified School Dis-
trict which is 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles Over the past two
decades a partnership has been sustained between the teachers
union or the ABC Federation of Teachers and the districtrsquos adminis-
tration that has resulted in extensive collaboration and innovation
around instructional programs curriculum development textbook
selection and adoption recruiting and hiring of administrators and
teachers mentoring teacher evaluation and support and data-
based decision making to improve student performance This study
used surveys interviews student-performance data and social-net-
work analysis which analyzes the communication patterns within
and across organizations to examine the impact of this partnershipon school-level teacher collaboration student performance and the
structure of union-management relations The district employs more
than 1100 educators serving almost 21000 students and includes
30 schools of which 19 are elementary schools five are middle
schools five are high schools and one school is an adult school
that offers remedial education and career development for old
students Fourteen of the schools are Title I schools meaning t
have high percentages of children from low-income families a
receive federal funds to ensure these students receive extra su
Also 25 percent of the districtrsquos students are English language
ers or ELL and as with many urban school districts in the Uni
States a high percentage of the students are financially disadv
tagedmdashroughly 455 percent are eligible for the reduced-price
free lunch program Yet the district has consistently scored abo
the state average for the California Academic Performance Ind
API and has exceeded API targets for comparable districts set
state The API is a composite of tests and other measures that astudent achievement to be compared across schools and distr
Four of the districtrsquos schools were removed from the study sam
because of either demographic peculiarities or low response r
Therefore the sample used for this analysis consisted of 26 sch
which together employ roughly 900 teachers
Research setting
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8 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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4 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 1128
Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
Research across a wide variey o indusries has long esablished ha as employees
are increasingly included in managerial planning problem solving and decision
making perormance and produciviy increases4 Tis increase in perormance
and produciviy resuls rom direcing more resources oward improvemen
effors culivaing soluions rom employees who are closes o he problems
using beter inormaion o aid in he decision-making process increasing effor
and moivaion and providing greaer suppor or he implemenaion o deci-
sions o hose involved in making hem Tis sudy exends hese ideas o publicschool reorm An earlier CAP repor on his issue ound ha schools ha sus-
ained high-qualiy union-managemen parnerships developed a culure o col-
laboraion hese schools also esablished organizaional srucures ha allowed
or greaer levels o eacher inpu ino planning problem solving and decision
making5 Tis repor builds on hose earlier findings by invesigaing wheher
hose schools wih sronger parnerships also have higher levels o perormance
and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and communication networks
Communicaions heory ells us ha he srucure and patern o relaionships
beween organizaional members will have an impac on heir behavior and
decisions Work sysems ha are more collaboraive break down hierarchies
and increase horizonal communicaion inormaion and knowledge sharing
and innovaion Tis resuls in greaer responsiveness and flexibiliy paricularly
in knowledge-inensive work6 Neworks wihin organizaions are increasingly
imporan or coordinaing work when inormaion is dispersed and when flex-
ibiliy responsiveness and problem solving are imporan or improving peror-mance7 Tis is rue across a variey o indusries For example nurses and docors
need o share inormaion abou paiens in hospials and eams o workers need
o come ogeher o solve qualiy problems in seel or auomobile manuacuring
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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6 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
Applying his ramework o public schools he auhors projec ha improved edu-
caional qualiy will resul rom praciioners analyzing suden perormance and
making adjusmens o curriculum and insrucional pracice o improve learning8
Tis however is no simply he work o individual eachers working alone bu
raher he resul o eachers ineracing wih one anoher and wih adminisra-
ors991252he social nework wihin schools Tis requires he inpu cooperaionand coordinaion o eachers and adminisraors across classrooms and depar-
mens In essence i requires an exensive communicaions nework ha osers
educaional effeciveness991252his is reerred o as he ldquodensiyrdquo o a communicaions
nework When here is requen and exensive communicaion beween each-
ers and wih adminisraors he nework is considered dense Furhermore he
srucure and characer o he social nework inside a school can be shaped by he
relaionship beween managemen and he union9
Te earlier CAP repor sudied union-managemen parnerships in six school
disrics across he Unied Saes in order o deermine how deep collaboraionis creaed and susained10 Te repor idenified a unique se o common charac-
erisics across hese disrics ha allowed hem o change union-managemen
relaionships and oser collaboraion beween eachers and adminisraors
a he school level In he case o he ABC Unified School Disric991252Aresia
Bloomfield and Carmenia991252in Souhern Caliornia ha is he basis or research
in his repor he union-managemen relaionship has osered a parnership ha
emphasizes shared responsibiliy or decision making and school improvemen
Tis sudy shows ha schools wih higher levels o union-managemen parner-
ship also have higher levels o communicaion and collaboraion Moreover
schools wih higher levels o collaboraion also have higher levels o suden
perormance and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and union-management relations
Earlier research has shown ha union-managemen parnerships can lead o
undamenal changes in union srucure and he srucure o union-managemen
communicaion11 Tereore schools wih sronger union-managemen parner-
ships are likely o have more exensive communicaions neworks and exhibidifferen paterns o collaboraion beween principals and school union represen-
aives In schools where union leaders and principals alk requenly and inor-
mally abou eaching and learning perormance is likely o improve Schools wih
srong union-managemen parnerships should have beter suden oucomes han
schools wihou good parnerships
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Furhermore as local unions aciliae communicaion hrough heir role in par-
nerships wih managemen hey help creae remendous value in he school by
engendering a greaer level o employee rus in collaboraion han managemen
can creae on is own eachers are more willing o engage in collaboraive sruc-
ures and processes because hey have greaer rus in heir eleced union leaders
han hey do in managemen12
Tis repor ocuses specifically on he paterns o collaboraion beween eachers
and adminisraors ha ake place under union-managemen parnership arrange-
mens and heir relaionship o suden perormance Social-nework analysis is
used o look wihin public schools in order o examine changes in he paterns o
collaboraion and suden perormance ha occur in schools ha have developed
srong eacher-adminisraion parnering arrangemens Social-nework analysis
allows researchers o measure he srucure o relaionships beween eachers
and principals raher han simply individual atribues or atiudes Oher sudies
have applied social-nework analysis echniques o public schools o analyze hesepaterns empirically bu he auhors o his sudy are no aware o any previous
research ha has examined he links beween school reorm union-managemen
parnership arrangemens school-level collaboraion and suden perormance13
The research setting for this study was the ABC Unified School Dis-
trict which is 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles Over the past two
decades a partnership has been sustained between the teachers
union or the ABC Federation of Teachers and the districtrsquos adminis-
tration that has resulted in extensive collaboration and innovation
around instructional programs curriculum development textbook
selection and adoption recruiting and hiring of administrators and
teachers mentoring teacher evaluation and support and data-
based decision making to improve student performance This study
used surveys interviews student-performance data and social-net-
work analysis which analyzes the communication patterns within
and across organizations to examine the impact of this partnershipon school-level teacher collaboration student performance and the
structure of union-management relations The district employs more
than 1100 educators serving almost 21000 students and includes
30 schools of which 19 are elementary schools five are middle
schools five are high schools and one school is an adult school
that offers remedial education and career development for old
students Fourteen of the schools are Title I schools meaning t
have high percentages of children from low-income families a
receive federal funds to ensure these students receive extra su
Also 25 percent of the districtrsquos students are English language
ers or ELL and as with many urban school districts in the Uni
States a high percentage of the students are financially disadv
tagedmdashroughly 455 percent are eligible for the reduced-price
free lunch program Yet the district has consistently scored abo
the state average for the California Academic Performance Ind
API and has exceeded API targets for comparable districts set
state The API is a composite of tests and other measures that astudent achievement to be compared across schools and distr
Four of the districtrsquos schools were removed from the study sam
because of either demographic peculiarities or low response r
Therefore the sample used for this analysis consisted of 26 sch
which together employ roughly 900 teachers
Research setting
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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8 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2728
| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Union-management partnerships
and organizational performance
Research across a wide variey o indusries has long esablished ha as employees
are increasingly included in managerial planning problem solving and decision
making perormance and produciviy increases4 Tis increase in perormance
and produciviy resuls rom direcing more resources oward improvemen
effors culivaing soluions rom employees who are closes o he problems
using beter inormaion o aid in he decision-making process increasing effor
and moivaion and providing greaer suppor or he implemenaion o deci-
sions o hose involved in making hem Tis sudy exends hese ideas o publicschool reorm An earlier CAP repor on his issue ound ha schools ha sus-
ained high-qualiy union-managemen parnerships developed a culure o col-
laboraion hese schools also esablished organizaional srucures ha allowed
or greaer levels o eacher inpu ino planning problem solving and decision
making5 Tis repor builds on hose earlier findings by invesigaing wheher
hose schools wih sronger parnerships also have higher levels o perormance
and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and communication networks
Communicaions heory ells us ha he srucure and patern o relaionships
beween organizaional members will have an impac on heir behavior and
decisions Work sysems ha are more collaboraive break down hierarchies
and increase horizonal communicaion inormaion and knowledge sharing
and innovaion Tis resuls in greaer responsiveness and flexibiliy paricularly
in knowledge-inensive work6 Neworks wihin organizaions are increasingly
imporan or coordinaing work when inormaion is dispersed and when flex-
ibiliy responsiveness and problem solving are imporan or improving peror-mance7 Tis is rue across a variey o indusries For example nurses and docors
need o share inormaion abou paiens in hospials and eams o workers need
o come ogeher o solve qualiy problems in seel or auomobile manuacuring
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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6 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
Applying his ramework o public schools he auhors projec ha improved edu-
caional qualiy will resul rom praciioners analyzing suden perormance and
making adjusmens o curriculum and insrucional pracice o improve learning8
Tis however is no simply he work o individual eachers working alone bu
raher he resul o eachers ineracing wih one anoher and wih adminisra-
ors991252he social nework wihin schools Tis requires he inpu cooperaionand coordinaion o eachers and adminisraors across classrooms and depar-
mens In essence i requires an exensive communicaions nework ha osers
educaional effeciveness991252his is reerred o as he ldquodensiyrdquo o a communicaions
nework When here is requen and exensive communicaion beween each-
ers and wih adminisraors he nework is considered dense Furhermore he
srucure and characer o he social nework inside a school can be shaped by he
relaionship beween managemen and he union9
Te earlier CAP repor sudied union-managemen parnerships in six school
disrics across he Unied Saes in order o deermine how deep collaboraionis creaed and susained10 Te repor idenified a unique se o common charac-
erisics across hese disrics ha allowed hem o change union-managemen
relaionships and oser collaboraion beween eachers and adminisraors
a he school level In he case o he ABC Unified School Disric991252Aresia
Bloomfield and Carmenia991252in Souhern Caliornia ha is he basis or research
in his repor he union-managemen relaionship has osered a parnership ha
emphasizes shared responsibiliy or decision making and school improvemen
Tis sudy shows ha schools wih higher levels o union-managemen parner-
ship also have higher levels o communicaion and collaboraion Moreover
schools wih higher levels o collaboraion also have higher levels o suden
perormance and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and union-management relations
Earlier research has shown ha union-managemen parnerships can lead o
undamenal changes in union srucure and he srucure o union-managemen
communicaion11 Tereore schools wih sronger union-managemen parner-
ships are likely o have more exensive communicaions neworks and exhibidifferen paterns o collaboraion beween principals and school union represen-
aives In schools where union leaders and principals alk requenly and inor-
mally abou eaching and learning perormance is likely o improve Schools wih
srong union-managemen parnerships should have beter suden oucomes han
schools wihou good parnerships
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Furhermore as local unions aciliae communicaion hrough heir role in par-
nerships wih managemen hey help creae remendous value in he school by
engendering a greaer level o employee rus in collaboraion han managemen
can creae on is own eachers are more willing o engage in collaboraive sruc-
ures and processes because hey have greaer rus in heir eleced union leaders
han hey do in managemen12
Tis repor ocuses specifically on he paterns o collaboraion beween eachers
and adminisraors ha ake place under union-managemen parnership arrange-
mens and heir relaionship o suden perormance Social-nework analysis is
used o look wihin public schools in order o examine changes in he paterns o
collaboraion and suden perormance ha occur in schools ha have developed
srong eacher-adminisraion parnering arrangemens Social-nework analysis
allows researchers o measure he srucure o relaionships beween eachers
and principals raher han simply individual atribues or atiudes Oher sudies
have applied social-nework analysis echniques o public schools o analyze hesepaterns empirically bu he auhors o his sudy are no aware o any previous
research ha has examined he links beween school reorm union-managemen
parnership arrangemens school-level collaboraion and suden perormance13
The research setting for this study was the ABC Unified School Dis-
trict which is 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles Over the past two
decades a partnership has been sustained between the teachers
union or the ABC Federation of Teachers and the districtrsquos adminis-
tration that has resulted in extensive collaboration and innovation
around instructional programs curriculum development textbook
selection and adoption recruiting and hiring of administrators and
teachers mentoring teacher evaluation and support and data-
based decision making to improve student performance This study
used surveys interviews student-performance data and social-net-
work analysis which analyzes the communication patterns within
and across organizations to examine the impact of this partnershipon school-level teacher collaboration student performance and the
structure of union-management relations The district employs more
than 1100 educators serving almost 21000 students and includes
30 schools of which 19 are elementary schools five are middle
schools five are high schools and one school is an adult school
that offers remedial education and career development for old
students Fourteen of the schools are Title I schools meaning t
have high percentages of children from low-income families a
receive federal funds to ensure these students receive extra su
Also 25 percent of the districtrsquos students are English language
ers or ELL and as with many urban school districts in the Uni
States a high percentage of the students are financially disadv
tagedmdashroughly 455 percent are eligible for the reduced-price
free lunch program Yet the district has consistently scored abo
the state average for the California Academic Performance Ind
API and has exceeded API targets for comparable districts set
state The API is a composite of tests and other measures that astudent achievement to be compared across schools and distr
Four of the districtrsquos schools were removed from the study sam
because of either demographic peculiarities or low response r
Therefore the sample used for this analysis consisted of 26 sch
which together employ roughly 900 teachers
Research setting
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8 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 1528
How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
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6 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
Applying his ramework o public schools he auhors projec ha improved edu-
caional qualiy will resul rom praciioners analyzing suden perormance and
making adjusmens o curriculum and insrucional pracice o improve learning8
Tis however is no simply he work o individual eachers working alone bu
raher he resul o eachers ineracing wih one anoher and wih adminisra-
ors991252he social nework wihin schools Tis requires he inpu cooperaionand coordinaion o eachers and adminisraors across classrooms and depar-
mens In essence i requires an exensive communicaions nework ha osers
educaional effeciveness991252his is reerred o as he ldquodensiyrdquo o a communicaions
nework When here is requen and exensive communicaion beween each-
ers and wih adminisraors he nework is considered dense Furhermore he
srucure and characer o he social nework inside a school can be shaped by he
relaionship beween managemen and he union9
Te earlier CAP repor sudied union-managemen parnerships in six school
disrics across he Unied Saes in order o deermine how deep collaboraionis creaed and susained10 Te repor idenified a unique se o common charac-
erisics across hese disrics ha allowed hem o change union-managemen
relaionships and oser collaboraion beween eachers and adminisraors
a he school level In he case o he ABC Unified School Disric991252Aresia
Bloomfield and Carmenia991252in Souhern Caliornia ha is he basis or research
in his repor he union-managemen relaionship has osered a parnership ha
emphasizes shared responsibiliy or decision making and school improvemen
Tis sudy shows ha schools wih higher levels o union-managemen parner-
ship also have higher levels o communicaion and collaboraion Moreover
schools wih higher levels o collaboraion also have higher levels o suden
perormance and perormance improvemen
Partnerships and union-management relations
Earlier research has shown ha union-managemen parnerships can lead o
undamenal changes in union srucure and he srucure o union-managemen
communicaion11 Tereore schools wih sronger union-managemen parner-
ships are likely o have more exensive communicaions neworks and exhibidifferen paterns o collaboraion beween principals and school union represen-
aives In schools where union leaders and principals alk requenly and inor-
mally abou eaching and learning perormance is likely o improve Schools wih
srong union-managemen parnerships should have beter suden oucomes han
schools wihou good parnerships
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 1328
Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Furhermore as local unions aciliae communicaion hrough heir role in par-
nerships wih managemen hey help creae remendous value in he school by
engendering a greaer level o employee rus in collaboraion han managemen
can creae on is own eachers are more willing o engage in collaboraive sruc-
ures and processes because hey have greaer rus in heir eleced union leaders
han hey do in managemen12
Tis repor ocuses specifically on he paterns o collaboraion beween eachers
and adminisraors ha ake place under union-managemen parnership arrange-
mens and heir relaionship o suden perormance Social-nework analysis is
used o look wihin public schools in order o examine changes in he paterns o
collaboraion and suden perormance ha occur in schools ha have developed
srong eacher-adminisraion parnering arrangemens Social-nework analysis
allows researchers o measure he srucure o relaionships beween eachers
and principals raher han simply individual atribues or atiudes Oher sudies
have applied social-nework analysis echniques o public schools o analyze hesepaterns empirically bu he auhors o his sudy are no aware o any previous
research ha has examined he links beween school reorm union-managemen
parnership arrangemens school-level collaboraion and suden perormance13
The research setting for this study was the ABC Unified School Dis-
trict which is 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles Over the past two
decades a partnership has been sustained between the teachers
union or the ABC Federation of Teachers and the districtrsquos adminis-
tration that has resulted in extensive collaboration and innovation
around instructional programs curriculum development textbook
selection and adoption recruiting and hiring of administrators and
teachers mentoring teacher evaluation and support and data-
based decision making to improve student performance This study
used surveys interviews student-performance data and social-net-
work analysis which analyzes the communication patterns within
and across organizations to examine the impact of this partnershipon school-level teacher collaboration student performance and the
structure of union-management relations The district employs more
than 1100 educators serving almost 21000 students and includes
30 schools of which 19 are elementary schools five are middle
schools five are high schools and one school is an adult school
that offers remedial education and career development for old
students Fourteen of the schools are Title I schools meaning t
have high percentages of children from low-income families a
receive federal funds to ensure these students receive extra su
Also 25 percent of the districtrsquos students are English language
ers or ELL and as with many urban school districts in the Uni
States a high percentage of the students are financially disadv
tagedmdashroughly 455 percent are eligible for the reduced-price
free lunch program Yet the district has consistently scored abo
the state average for the California Academic Performance Ind
API and has exceeded API targets for comparable districts set
state The API is a composite of tests and other measures that astudent achievement to be compared across schools and distr
Four of the districtrsquos schools were removed from the study sam
because of either demographic peculiarities or low response r
Therefore the sample used for this analysis consisted of 26 sch
which together employ roughly 900 teachers
Research setting
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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8 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
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Union-management partnerships and organizational per formance | wwwamericanprogress
Furhermore as local unions aciliae communicaion hrough heir role in par-
nerships wih managemen hey help creae remendous value in he school by
engendering a greaer level o employee rus in collaboraion han managemen
can creae on is own eachers are more willing o engage in collaboraive sruc-
ures and processes because hey have greaer rus in heir eleced union leaders
han hey do in managemen12
Tis repor ocuses specifically on he paterns o collaboraion beween eachers
and adminisraors ha ake place under union-managemen parnership arrange-
mens and heir relaionship o suden perormance Social-nework analysis is
used o look wihin public schools in order o examine changes in he paterns o
collaboraion and suden perormance ha occur in schools ha have developed
srong eacher-adminisraion parnering arrangemens Social-nework analysis
allows researchers o measure he srucure o relaionships beween eachers
and principals raher han simply individual atribues or atiudes Oher sudies
have applied social-nework analysis echniques o public schools o analyze hesepaterns empirically bu he auhors o his sudy are no aware o any previous
research ha has examined he links beween school reorm union-managemen
parnership arrangemens school-level collaboraion and suden perormance13
The research setting for this study was the ABC Unified School Dis-
trict which is 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles Over the past two
decades a partnership has been sustained between the teachers
union or the ABC Federation of Teachers and the districtrsquos adminis-
tration that has resulted in extensive collaboration and innovation
around instructional programs curriculum development textbook
selection and adoption recruiting and hiring of administrators and
teachers mentoring teacher evaluation and support and data-
based decision making to improve student performance This study
used surveys interviews student-performance data and social-net-
work analysis which analyzes the communication patterns within
and across organizations to examine the impact of this partnershipon school-level teacher collaboration student performance and the
structure of union-management relations The district employs more
than 1100 educators serving almost 21000 students and includes
30 schools of which 19 are elementary schools five are middle
schools five are high schools and one school is an adult school
that offers remedial education and career development for old
students Fourteen of the schools are Title I schools meaning t
have high percentages of children from low-income families a
receive federal funds to ensure these students receive extra su
Also 25 percent of the districtrsquos students are English language
ers or ELL and as with many urban school districts in the Uni
States a high percentage of the students are financially disadv
tagedmdashroughly 455 percent are eligible for the reduced-price
free lunch program Yet the district has consistently scored abo
the state average for the California Academic Performance Ind
API and has exceeded API targets for comparable districts set
state The API is a composite of tests and other measures that astudent achievement to be compared across schools and distr
Four of the districtrsquos schools were removed from the study sam
because of either demographic peculiarities or low response r
Therefore the sample used for this analysis consisted of 26 sch
which together employ roughly 900 teachers
Research setting
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8 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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8 Center for American Progress | Teacher s Unions and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogress
How partnerships affect
communication networks
and student performance
The overarching question that drove this investigation was whether
union-management partnerships influence how educators in a
particular school collaborate and communicate and how this affects
student performance Thus a way was needed to determine the level
of partnership in a school This was accomplished by measuring the
quality of union-management partnerships using three questions
from a district-wide survey administered in January 2011 that dealt
with union-management communications collaboration among
staff and openness to input from all educators Schools that had
higher partnership-quality measures were schools where there was
more union-management communications where teachers exhibited
more collaboration and where there were greater opportunities for
teachers to have voice in decision making
In a social-network survey conducted in April 2011 the researchers
asked teachers and administrators with whom they communicatedand specifically if those communications were for the following
purposes to discuss student-performance data to discuss curriculum
development and cross-subject integration and articulation to share
advise and learn about instructional practices and to give or receive
formal and informal mentoring The overall response rate to the
survey was 69 percent Those data allowed for a detailed examination
of the communications network among educators
To determine the level of communication and collaboration in a
school the authors calculated ldquodensityrdquo which is the fraction of exist-
ing ties between educators in a school out of the total number of ties
possible in the school To determine a schoolrsquos density of communi-
cations the authors measured the number of educators in a school
who were in communication with one another They also calcu
the total number of possible ties between educators in a schoo
based on the total number of educators employed there Final
authors determined the actual proportion of communications
that existed in relation to the total number of possible ties In t
study therefore the higher the density value the more educat
school reported communicating with others in their building
There was also interest in assessing the structure of school-leve
union-management partnershipsmdashspecifically how frequentl
school-building union representatives reported communicatin
their principals and whether this communication relationship w
primarily formal or informal To measure the frequency of com
cation union representatives were asked to indicate their com
cation patterns with their principalsmdashspecifically whether the
munications with their principals occurred daily weekly montnot at all Representatives were also asked to indicate whether
communications with their principals occurred formally inform
both formally and informally
As mentioned above the authors also looked at student achi
ment to determine if stronger partnerships were related to hi
achievement They used the California Academic Performance
or API as a composite performance measure that reflects stud
achievement in a variety of assessments including the Califo
Standards Tests or CSTs the California Alternate Performance
Assessment or CAPA the California Modified Assessment and
for high school students the California High School Exit Exam
tion or CAHSEE Graduation and drop-out rates are also facto
Methods for analyzing social networks and school and student performance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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10 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Partnerships lead to greater student achievement
Tis invesigaion o union-managemen parnerships showed ha sudens achieve
more when hey atend schools wih sronger parnerships When comparingschools on he parnership-qualiy survey scale o one o our a one-poin increase
in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded wih roughly 25 more poins in a
schoolrsquos API score in 2012 afer conrolling or povery Furhermore parnership
qualiy in 2011 has a posiive and saisically significan associaion wih peror-
mance improvemen rom he 2011 o 2012 school year For insance a one-poin
increase in parnership qualiy in 2011 corresponded o roughly a 15-poin increase
in suden achievemen as measured by API scores rom 2011 o 2012 afer con-
rolling or he previous yearrsquos API score and povery (see Figure 1 below)
Furhermore i was deermined ha srong parnerships can improve suden
learning even in schools wih many disadvanaged sudens On is own povery
has a negaive and saisically significan associaion wih API scores in 2011
and improvemen rom 2011 o 2012 Tis shows ha school-perormance ou-
comes are impaced by he socioeconomic saus o he school communiy Since
his sudy conrolled or povery however i was also demonsraed ha hose
schools where managemen and unions have buil srong parnerships are more
likely o have higher achievemen han similar schools wih comparable povery
raes bu wihou parnerships
For purposes o illusraion he graph below racks parnership qualiy agains
perormance improvemen or he 26 schools in his sudy API improvemen
scores ranged rom -18 poins o 58 poins Te graph shows ha as he qualiy
o parnerships increases so does improvemen o suden perormance Tese
resuls are saisically significan
into the scores State officials in California have used API
scores as a primary means to monitor and rank the relative
performance of schools and school districts and publicize
district- and school-level scores which they report online14
API scores range from 200 to 1000 This study examined API
performance or the overall API score a school received for the2011-12 school year as well as API performance improvement
which represents the overall change in a schoolrsquos API score
from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year
The authors of this report also took into account variation in
communication patterns by school typemdashelementary middle
and high schoolmdashas well as the level of poverty in each school
by controlling for these differences when they measured therelationship between the strength of union-management part-
nerships collaboration and student achievement
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 1728
How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 1828
12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
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14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
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16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
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About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
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18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
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Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2728
| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
Figure 1 shows he associaion beween par-
nership qualiy and suden-achievemen gains
conrolling or povery in each school
Te auhors also examined he relaionship
beween parnership qualiy and densiy oeachers communicaion in schools Tey
ound ha parnership qualiy was relaed o
he amoun o eacher communicaion around
our opics suden-perormance daa curricu-
lum developmen cross-subjec inegraion or
grade-o-grade inegraion sharing advising
and learning abou insrucional pracices and
giving or receiving ormal or inormal menor-
ing Since he patern was he same across all
our opics he auhors averaged hem ogeherin he bar char below o illusrae he relaion-
ship (see Figure 2) Te char shows ha he
schools wih he highes levels o parnership
had on average almos wice he communi-
caion densiy99125230 percen991252han did he
schools wih he lowes levels o parner-
ship99125217 percen Tese findings srongly
sugges ha high-parnership schools are char-
acerized by more widespread collaboraion
hroughou he school as a whole
In examining he relaionship beween hese
school communicaion densiies and suden
achievemen using he API suden-peror-
mance measure i was ound ha schools wih
denser communicaions around hese same
our opics991252suden perormance curriculum
insrucional pracices and menoring991252had
higher API perormance scores and greaerimprovemen in scores rom he 2010-11
school year o he 2011-12 school year Te differences beween schools wih
higher- and lower-densiy communicaions were saisically significan For
example using he averages rom he bar char above (see Figure 2) a school wih
a communicaion densiy measure o 17 percen would have an API perormance
Low partnership quality High partnership q
L e s s i m p r o v e m e n t
M o r e i m p r o v e m e n t
FIGURE 1
Partnership quality and student performance 2011 to 2
Association between partnership quality and student achievement
gains controlling for poverty in each school
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
S t u d e n t - p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t 2 0 1 1 t o 2 0 1 2
Partnership quality
0 5 10 15 20 25
School communications density
Percentage of teachers with regular communication ties to each other
Low partnership(lower third)
High partnership(upper third)
17
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
FIGURE 2
Density of school communications
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 1928
How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2028
14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2128
Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2228
16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2328
About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2428
18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2528
Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2728
| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
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12 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
score 9 poins lower han a school wih a 30 percen densiy mea-
sure Tis shows ha increases in he densiy o school-level com-
municaions around hese opics improve suden perormance
Looking at changes in principal and unioncommunications
Tis sudy also ound ha here was a relaionship beween par-
nership qualiy and he requency o communicaion beween
union school-building represenaives and principals Te higher
he parnership qualiy he greaer he chance ha principals and
union represenaives have requen communicaion In addiion
in schools wih high parnership qualiy hese communicaions
are more inormal han in schools wih low parnership qualiy
Figures 3 and 4 illusrae he relaionship beween he communi-
caion requency and ormaliy o union school-building repre-
senaives and principals
As shown in Figure 3 high-parnership schools are characer-
ized by more requen communicaions beween principals and
union school-building represenaives991252occurring daily and
weekly991252compared o low-parnership schools where hese
communicaions are more likely o be less requen occurring
weekly or monhly
Figure 4 illusraes ha he communicaions beween principals
and union school-building represenaives in high-parnership
schools are boh ormal and inormal while in low-parnership
schools hese communicaions end o be more ormal From
hese findings he sudy concluded ha here is a srucural
difference in he union-managemen relaions in schools wih
sronger parnerships compared o he relaions in schools wih
weaker parnerships
FIGURE 3
Communication frequencies between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools
Daily 58
Weekly 42
Monthly 0
Low-partnership schools
15Daily
54Weekly
31Monthly
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
Low-partnership schools
25 Formal
0 Informal
75Both
High-partnership schools
Formal 0
Informal 8
Both 92
FIGURE 4
Communication formality between
principals and union school-building
representatives by high- and
low-partnership schools
High-partnership schools fell in the top half for partnership quality
low-partnership schools fell in the bottom half
Source Authorsrsquo calculations
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 1928
How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2028
14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2128
Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2228
16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2328
About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2428
18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2528
Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2628
20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2728
| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 1928
How partnerships affect communication networks and student performance | wwwamericanprogresso
What union-management partnerships mean
for school collaboration and student performance
Te resuls o his sudy show ha he qualiy o union-managemen parnerships
beween eachers and adminisraors a he school level has had an imporan and
significan associaion wih educaor collaboraion and suden achievemen as well as greaer achievemen gains rom one year o he nex When parnerships
are sronger school-level collaboraion is higher and so is suden perormance
While povery remains a key predicor o suden achievemen he daa sugges
ha suden perormance can be improved by insiuional union-managemen
parnerships and he increased school-level collaboraion ha resuls rom hem
Noneheless he effec o povery on suden achievemen canno be ignored ye
some o he organizaional soluions sudied here ocus atenion on wha eachers
and adminisraors can uniquely do in high-povery schools o improve learning
Tese findings are imporan because hey direc atenion beyond he evalua-ion o individual eachers o he qualiy o he insiuional relaionship beween
he eachers union is members and he adminisraion Tis research demon-
sraes ha unions can ake a leading role in school reorm by parnering wih
adminisraors o improve eaching and learning in a dramaic way Te degree o
which unions and managemen help creae and mainain hese parnerships adds
remendous value o school disrics seeking o improve and susain high levels o
suden achievemen
Furhermore he resuls o his sudy show ha higher-qualiy union-manage-
men parnerships predic greaer levels o communicaion among educaors
when i comes o he ollowing
bull Evaluaing suden-perormance daa
bull Developing curriculum cross-subjec inegraion and grade-o-grade inegraion
bull Sharing advising and learning abou insrucional pracices
bull Giving and receiving menoring
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2028
14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2128
Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2228
16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2328
About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2428
18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2528
Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2628
20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2728
| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2028
14 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
In urn he densiy o communicaion around hese areas was a significan predic-
or o suden perormance and perormance improvemen in API scores Tese
resuls provide evidence ha srong union-managemen parnerships a he school
level help creae an environmen and srucure or denser aculy communicaion
and ha his communicaion improves eaching qualiy and hereore suden
perormance
In schools wih higher-qualiy union-managemen parnerships union leaders a
he building level had srucurally differen paterns o communicaion wih heir
principals han did building-level union leaders in schools wih lower-qualiy
parnerships Tis mean ha here was more requen and less ormal communi-
caion in he high-parnership schools Tese daa sugges ha srong parnerships
enhance communicaion by creaing a school climae in which union represena-
ives and principals are more comorable alking o each oher requenly and
inormally991252seeking each oher ou o alk raher han waiing or ormal saff
meeings o do so Tis kind o communicaion allows union leaders and princi-pals he abiliy o plan and work ogeher and i gives hem he opporuniy o
resolve issues beore hey become larger problems
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2128
Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2228
16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2328
About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2428
18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2528
Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2628
20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2728
| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2128
Recommendations and conclusion | wwwamericanprogresso
Recommendations and conclusion
Tis research suggess ha union-managemen parnerships can significanly
improve collaboraion in schools and suden perormance More sudies need o
be done o confirm hese resuls991252and more schools and more disrics includ-
ing hose wihou parnership arrangemens need o be examined While school
reorm policy iniiaives such as charer schools and eacher evaluaions based
on suden es scores have received a grea deal o suppor research o dae has
no shown ha on average hese approaches improve suden perormance in a
consisen and sysemaic way In conras he research presened in his repor builds a srong case or effors o expand collaboraive parnerships as a vehicle
or school reorm and improvemen ha can direcly impac suden perormance
However i is unlikely ha collaboraive school reorm can be susained or insi-
uionalized wihou widespread suppor rom sae and ederal policy I policy-
makers and educaors wan o creae and suppor more long-erm parnership
arrangemens in US school disrics he auhors sugges he ollowing iniiaives
bull Provide incenives or disrics o esablish union-managemen parnerships and
collaboraive approaches o developing curriculum and insrucional pracice
eacher evaluaion proessional developmen menoring and peer review
School reorm mus no be jus op down ways mus be ound o build upon
suppor and culivae local disric innovaion as well Research on union-man-
agemen parnerships and collaboraive reorm in he US seel indusry in he
1990s or example showed ha he mos effecive innovaions benefied rom
policies and conrac language ha enabled innovaion raher han polices and
conrac language ha were overly prescripive15 Te lesson or public school
reorm is ha innovaion around collaboraive parnerships should be devel-
oped locally around he needs and culures o local school disrics and local
unions wih suppor rom he sae and ederal levels
bull Provide grans o disrics ha are willing o pilo parnerships and innova-
ive collaboraive approaches o improving eaching qualiy and suden
perormance
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2228
16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2328
About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2428
18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2528
Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2628
20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2728
| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2228
16 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
bull Build dense learning neworks o proessional educaors across disrics wih
exensive experience in parnerships and collaboraive approaches o reorm
and link hem wih inexperienced disrics ha are looking or bes-pracice
models and suppor
bullCreae sae-level insiuions o offer leadership raining and skill developmenin parnerships and collaboraive managemen Tese insiuions can build
capaciy aciliae organizaional change and innovaion and provide muli-
sakeholder oversigh o school reorm innovaion and regulaion
bull Convene sae and regional conerences o highligh bes-pracice parnerships
and collaboraive approaches o school improvemen and provide echnical
assisance across disrics
bull Suppor research on collaboraive school reorm innovaion ha produces
resuls and share he findings widely
Te auhors hope his sudy encourages more research on he impac o insiu-
ional union-managemen parnerships on eacher collaboraion eaching qualiy
and suden perormance and ha i conribues in some way o broadening he
debae on effecive approaches o public school reorm A his momen i is hard
o imagine more imporan prioriies or our economy and sociey
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2328
About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2428
18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2528
Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2628
20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2728
| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2328
About the authors | wwwamericanprogresso
About the authors
Saul A Rubinstein holds a docorae rom he Massachusets Insiue o
echnology and a maserrsquos degree in educaion and a maserrsquos degree in busi-
ness adminisraion rom Harvard Universiy A proessor a he School o
Managemen and Labor Relaions a Rugers Universiy he is also he direcoro he Program on Collaboraive School Reorm His research has ocused on
changes in firm governance managemen and local unions ha have resuled
rom join union-managemen effors o ransorm indusrial relaions work
sysems and perormance in a wide variey o indusries His work exends o
union-managemen parnerships a he sraegic level and sudying he changes in
paterns o coordinaion and communicaion as organizaions adop eam-based
work srucures His curren research has ocused on union-managemen collab-
oraive effors o reorm public educaion and he impac o hese parnerships on
suden perormance His work has been widely published and unded by he Bill
and Melinda Gaes Foundaion he Naional Science Foundaion he Alred PSloan Foundaion and he Rober Wood Johnson Foundaion
John E McCarthy is a docoral candidae a he School o Managemen and Labor
Relaions a Rugers Universiy and is a visiing scholar and Norhrop Grumman
research ellow a he Wharon Business School a he Universiy o Pennsylvania
His research appears in leading journals including Personnel Psychology he British
Journal of Industrial Relations and Advances in Industrial amp Labor Relations and
has been unded by he US Deparmen o Labor and he Bill and Melinda Gaes
Foundaion
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2428
18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2528
Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2628
20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2728
| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2428
18 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
Acknowledgements
Tis repor has benefied rom he suppor o many people Te auhors wan
o hank ABC Unified School Disric and he ABC Federaion o eachers or
he exraordinary access ha made his sudy possible In paricular hey wan
o hank Dr Mary Sieu Ray Gaer Dr Carol Hansen Dr Valencia Mayfield DrCheryl Bodger Richard Saldana Ruben Mancillas JoAnn Goosree Laura Rico
and Dr Gary Smus or heir help guidance and insigh Tey also hank Tomas
Kochan Fris Pil Charles Heckscher Doug Kruse Fran Lawrence and Kahy
Buzad or heir houghul commens and suggesions on earlier drafs o his
paper Finally hey are graeul o he lae Casey Ichniowski or his generosiy and
advice Te Bill and Melinda Gaes Foundaion provided unding or his research
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2528
Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2628
20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2728
| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2528
Endnotes | wwwamericanprogresso
Endnotes
1 Fra nk Bruni ldquoTeachers on the DefensiverdquoThe New YorkTimes August 18 2012 p SR1 available at httpwwwnytimescom20120819opinionsundaybruni-teachers-on-the-defensivehtml_r=0 ArthurLevine ldquoThe Plight of the Teachersrsquo Unionsrdquo EducationWeek May 8 2013 p 36 available at httpwww
edweekorgewarticles2013050830levine_eph32html Andrew J Rotherham and Jane HannawayldquoFive myths about teachers unionsrdquo The WashingtonPost September 14 2012 available at httpwwwwashingtonpostcomopinionsfive-myths-about-teachers-unions201209144753244e-fdbc-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_storyhtml
2 Saul A Rubinstein and John E McCarthy ldquoReformingPublic School Systems through Sustained Union-Management Collaborationrdquo (Washington Centerfor American Progress 2011) available at httpwwwamericanprogressorgissueseducationreport201107139976reforming-public-school-systems-through-sustained-union-management-collaboration
3 Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker Professional LearningCommunities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Stu-
dent Achievement (Bloomington IN Solution Tree Press1998) Richard DuFour Robert Eaker and RebeccaDuFour Revisiting Professional Learning Communitiesat Work New Insights for Improving Schools (Blooming-ton IN Solution Tree Press 2008) Yvonne L GoddardRoger D Goddard and Meghan Tschannen-MoranldquoA Theoretical and Empirical I nvestigation of TeacherCollaboration for School Improvement and StudentAchievement in Public Elementary Schoolsrdquo The Teach-ers College Record 109 (4) (2007) 877ndash896 Carrie RLeana and Frits K Pil ldquoSocial Capital and OrganizationalPerformance Evidence from Urban Public SchoolsrdquoOrganization Science 17 (3) (2006) 353ndash366
4 Richard B Freeman and Joel Rogers What Workers Want (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1999) David Levineand Laura DrsquoAndrea Tyson ldquoParticipation Productivityand the Firmrsquos Environmentrdquo In Alan S Blinder ed Pay-ing for Productivity (Washington Brookings Institution
1990) Bruce E Kaufman ldquoThe Employee ParticipationRepresentation Gap An Assessment and ProposedSolutionrdquo University of Pennsylvania Journal of Laborand Employment Law 3 (3) (2001) 491ndash550 John PaulMacDuffie ldquoHuman Resource Bundles and Manufactur-ing Performance Organizational Logic and FlexibleProduction Systems in the World Auto Industryrdquo Indus-trial and Labor Relations Review 48 (2) (1995) 197ndash221Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt The New American Workplace Transforming Work Systems in theUnited States (Ithaca NY Cornell University Press 1994)Saul A Rubinstein and Thomas A Kochan Learningfrom Saturn Possibilities for Corporate Governance andEmployee Relations (Ithaca NY ILR Press 2001) Saul ARubinstein Michael Bennett and Thomas Kochan ldquoTheSaturn Partnership Co-Management and the Reinven-tion of the Local Un ionrdquo In Bruce Kaufman and MorrisKleiner eds Employee Representation Alternatives andFuture Directions (Madison WI IRRA Press 1993)
5 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
6 Eric Trist ldquoThe Evolution of Socio-Technical SystemsA Conceptual Frameworkrdquo In Andrew H Van de Venand William Joyce eds Perspectives on OrganizationalDesign and Behaviour (New York Wiley Interscience1981) Haruo Shimada and John Paul MacDuffieldquoIndustrial Relations and lsquoHumanwarersquordquo Working Paper
1855-87 (Cambridge MA MIT Sloan School of Manage-ment 1986) John Paul MacDuffie and John KrafcikldquoIntegrating Technology and Human Resources forHigh Performance Manufacturing Evidence from theInternational Auto Industryrdquo In Thomas Kochan andMichael Useem eds Transforming Organizations (NewYork Oxford University Press 1992)
7 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoUnions as Value-Adding NetworksPossibilities for the Future of US Unionismrdquo Journal ofLabor Research 22 (3) (2001) 581ndash598
8 Leana and Pil ldquoSocial Capital and Organizational Perfor-mancerdquo
9 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management onQuality Performance The Case of the Saturn Corpora-tionrdquo Industrial and Labor Relations Review 53 (2) (2000)197ndash218 Saul A Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union
Balancing Co-Management and RepresentationrdquoIndus-trial Relations 40 (2) (2001) 163ndash203 Saul A RubinsteinldquoPartnerships of steel Forging high involvement worksystems in the US steel industry a view from the localunionsrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 12(2003) 115ndash144 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearningfrom Saturnrdquo Saul A Rubinstein and Adrienne A EatonldquoThe effects of h igh-involvement work systems onemployee and union-management communicationsnetworksrdquo Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations 16(2009) 109ndash135
10 Rubinstein and McCarthy ldquoReforming Public SchoolSystems through Sustained Union-Management Col-laborationrdquo
11 Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of Union Balancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo Saul A RubinsteinldquoThe Local Union Revisited New Voices from the Front
Linesrdquo Industrial Relations 40 (3) (2001) 405ndash435 SusanC Eaton Saul A Rubinstein and Robert B McKersieldquoBuilding and Sustaining Labor-Management Partner-ships Recent Experiences in the USrdquo Advances in Indus-trial and Labor Relations 13 (2004) 139ndash159 AdrienneEaton and Saul A R ubinstein ldquoTracking Local UnionsInvolved in Managerial Decision-MakingrdquoLabor Studies Journal 31 (2) (2006) 1ndash30
12 Rubinstein and Kochan ldquoLearning from SaturnrdquoRubinstein ldquoThe Impact of Co-Management on QualityPerformancerdquo Rubinstein ldquoA Different Kind of UnionBalancing Co-Management and Representationrdquo
13 Carrie R Leana and Frits K Pil ldquoApplying organizationalresearch to public school reform The effects of teacherhuman and social capital on student performancerdquo The Academy of Management Journal Archive 52 (6) (2009)1101ndash1124
14 California Department of Education ldquoAcademic Perfor-mance Index (API)rdquo available at httpwwwcdecagovtaacap (last accessed March 2014)
15 Rubinstein ldquoPartnerships of Steelrdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2628
20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2728
| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2628
20 Center for American Progress | Teachers Unio ns and Managem ent Partners hips
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2728
| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2728
| wwwamericanprogresso
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo
8212019 Teachers Unions and Management Partnerships How Working Together Improves Student Achievement
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullteachers-unions-and-management-partnerships-how-working-together-improves 2828
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute
dedicated to promoting a strong just and free America that ensures opportunity
for all We believe that Americans are bound together by a common commitment to
these values and we aspire to ensure that our national policies reflect these values
We work to find progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and
international problems and develop policy proposals that foster a government that
is ldquoof the people by the people and for the peoplerdquo