Reputation in America's Graduate Schools of Education

Abstract

This study explored the perceptions and influences of the respondents to the U.S. News &amp World Report's (USNWR) reputational survey for graduate schools of education (GSOEs). These respondents represent two unique stakeholder groups for graduate programs of education: GSOE deans and school superintendents. The existing literature regarding the USNWR rankings has been predominantly quantitative, with an emphasis on methodological problems with the rankings. This study employed mixed methods: quantitative analysis to determine the weight of the reputational surveys in the rankings, and qualitative to explore the perceptions of the raters of reputation for GSOEs. This study highlights several unique challenges in the ranking of GSOEs, including the multiple missions and widely varying programs across schools of education. In particular the rankings fail to distinguish between the GSOE predominant dual purposes of preparing researchers and preparing practitioners. The rankings may be contributing to the divide between research and practice in the academy. This study confirms with the GSOE deans that the rankings do matter, on and off campus, influencing the public perception of their programs. At a weighting of 40%, as stated by USWNR, reputation carries the greatest weight of all categories of input variables in the rankings. In terms of the reputational survey respondent groups, this study finds a significant difference between their levels of engagement with the rankings. This study finds a lack of meaningful participation in the rankings by the superintendents, resulting in an input variable that is biased, methodologically flawed, and contributing to erroneous fluctuations in rank. In contrast, this study finds the GSOE deans are reluctant but active participants in the rankings. They are vested competitors in the rankings business. The results indicate that the dean holds a critical role in the reputation management of their programs. These findings suggest that the rankings steer the role of the deanship toward an external focus, with an emphasis on publicizing the scholarship and scholars of the GSOE, to establish and maintain a degree of prominence among peer GSOE deans.