When school improvement becomes a commercial good: An ecological analysis of re-positionings and critical issues. In M. Camphuijsen (Chair), Public-Private Entanglements in Education: Privatization, Partnerships and How to Safeguard Public Values [Symposium].

März, Virginie;Simons, Maarten;Berghmans, Mieke
(2025) European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) — Location: Belgrade, Serbia (9.September.2025)

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  • März, Virginieorcid-logoUCLouvain
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  • Simons, MaartenKULeuven
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  • Berghmans, MiekeKULeuven
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Abstract
This paper studies the transformation of school improvement into a commercial good within the context of neoliberal policies, focusing on the ecological and critical issues arising from this shift. The study investigates how market mechanisms, accountability, and decentralization have fostered the emergence of for-profit actors in the traditionally non-commercial domain of school improvement (Rowan, 2002; Verelst et al., 2025). While this phenomenon has been well-documented in the United States (Burch, 2009; Rowan, 2006; VanGronigen et al., 2022), it remains underexplored in Flanders, where unique conditions—such as significant school autonomy, a minimally controlling government, and a strong government-subsidized non-profit sector—create an empirically rich context for analysis. Theoretically, this paper advances the conceptual understanding of the school improvement ecosystem by analyzing how the entry of private actors affects the dynamics among existing stakeholders and the overall process of school improvement (Trinidad, 2023). Empirically, it draws on an exploratory study conducted in Flanders, comprising three focus group discussions with 20 participants, including school principals, teacher leaders, and both traditional and new school improvement actors. The analysis is underpinned by a theoretical framework that combines positioning theory (Depperman, 2015) with a heuristic focus on the work of school improvement actors (Trinidad, 2023). The findings reveal a hybrid ecosystem where traditional non-profit pedagogical advisors coexist with for-profit organizations, blurring the boundaries between public and private roles (see also Karré, 2023). This coexistence challenged the legitimacy of non-profit actors, it triggered them to actively reinvent themselves and compelled them to specialize in core curriculum domains and targeted themes. Policy shifts have also redirected traditional advisors to prioritize performance-oriented support for weaker schools, leaving stronger schools to seek external expertise. Schools now face a competitive "supermarket" of improvement services and are required to navigate a complex landscape of disembedded innovations and diverse providers. This has led to a reassessment and reassertion of schools’ policy-making and leadership roles as they seek external expertise tailored to their needs. The study highlights three critical issues in the evolving ecosystem: ensuring high-quality support (Cowan et al., 2024), forming effective partnerships in a competitive environment (Trinidad, 2023), and balancing internal leadership with external contributions. The rise of commercial actors has disrupted traditional roles, presenting challenges in managing change processes and maintaining control over school improvement initiatives. Addressing these issues requires a clear quality framework and careful re-consideration of what is in need of (a new) ‘publicness’ in this new ecology. References: Burch, P. (2009). Hidden markets: The new education privatization. Routledge. Cowan, J., Sperka, L., Hogan, A., & Enright, E. (2024). An audit of commercialisation and outsourcing across the primary school curriculum. Teachers and Teaching, 1-17. Deppermann, A. (2015). Positioning. The handbook of narrative analysis, 369-387. Karré, P.M. (2023). The thumbprint of a hybrid organization—a multidimensional model for analysing public/private hybrid organizations. Public Organization Review, 23(2), 777–91. Rowan, B. (2002). The ecology of school improvement: Notes on the school improvement industry in the United States. Journal of Educational Change, 3(3), 283-314. Trinidad, J. E. (2023). Rethinking school improvement organizations: Understanding their variety, benefits, risks, and future directions. Educational Researcher, 52(6), 377-384. VanGronigen, B.A., Meyers, C.V., Scott, C., Fantz, T., & Dunn, L.D. (2022). Soliciting, vetting, monitoring, and evaluating: A study of state education agencies’ use of external providers for school improvement efforts. Journal of Educational Change, 23, 1-32. Verelst, S., Simons, M., & Berghmans, M. (2025). The play of education and market: A literature review on the roles commercial actors play for K-12 education. Policy Futures in Education, 23(1), 106-126.
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März, V., Simons, M., & Berghmans, M. (2025). When school improvement becomes a commercial good: An ecological analysis of re-positionings and critical issues. In M. Camphuijsen (Chair), Public-Private Entanglements in Education: Privatization, Partnerships and How to Safeguard Public Values [Symposium]. European Conference on Educational Research (ECER), Belgrade, Serbia. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/256074