EPAA/AAPE Call for Papers

Special Topic: Understanding Policy Networks: Social Network Analysis as a Tool to Visualize and Predict the Politics of Education from the Local to the National Level
Guest-edited by Emily Hodge (Montclair State University), Joshua Childs (University of Texas at Austin) and Wayne Au (University of Washington Bothell)

Education Policy Analysis Archives (EPAA/AAPE) announces a call for  papers for a special issue exploring the utility of social network analysis as a tool to examine policy networks. Policy networks have become increasingly important to policymaking over the last several decades, as policymaking has become an expanded enterprise composed of a nebulous array of individuals, non-governmental organizations, philanthropies, and corporations. While social network analysis (SNA) is a powerful tool for understanding the politics and power relationships embedded within policy networks, the number of studies applying the tools of social network analysis to understanding policy networks in education is relatively small.

The Co-Editors seek manuscripts for this special issue that use SNA to examine the policy networks involved in contentious educational issues in the current political climate across the globe. In the U.S. context, for example, potential topics might include how the presidency of Donald Trump will shape the implementation of education policies such as ESSA, IDEA, restorative justice, and the Common Core. The Co-Editors also seek manuscripts that utilize innovative, mixed methods tools for network analysis, such as the Discourse Network Analyzer and predictive techniques appropriate for network data, such as Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP) regression. Using the tools of social network analysis to empirically describe and predict how policy networks provides an way to make power and influence in policy formation and implementation visible and better evaluate policy networks’ influence on equitable education policies.
Submission Information/Timeline: Interested contributors should submit their 400-word abstract byFebruary 1, 2019, to the special issue section, Understanding Policy Networks, at http://epaa.asu.edu/   All manuscripts should be submitted electronically through the EPAA website and follow the Journal’s submission guidelines.  For the full announcement, visit here.

Abstract submission deadline: February 1, 2019

Invitations to submit manuscripts: March 1, 2019

Invited article submission deadline: May 30, 2019

Anticipated publication: March 2020

Please direct any questions about this special issue to: Emily Hodge ( hodgee@montclair.edu), Joshua Childs (joshuachilds@austin.utexas.edu), or Wayne Au, Professor (wayneau@uwb.edu)