Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Summary
The Sylvan organization was able to gain and retain a foothold in the Baltimore
Public School System despite resistance surrounding privatization.
Main Points:
• The authors suggest that this case study illuminated important aspects of
a broader phenomenon, namely, the complex process through which
particular types of organizations might establish and maintain legitimacy in
new markets and challenging environments.
Context:
• Throughout the 1990’s, the Baltimore Public School system, like other
urban public school systems, was plagued by chronic resource shortages,
complex educational demands, and intense pressures to improve school
performance.
• The system as a whole was not doing well on broadly publicized indicators
of school performance.
Political Strategies:
• Private Negotiations with Local Elites: In April 1992, Sylvan responded to
Baltimore school system’s request for proposals to provide Chapter 1
services for nonpublic school students who were under contract for those
services with the Baltimore public school system. Although Sylvan
executives did not win this bid, they did secure access to school officials
and influentials.
Conclusion:
• This study generated unanticipated findings about the manner in which the
specific strategies used to enact, implement, and continue that partnership
may be manifestations of a broader dynamic, namely the legitimation of an
organization that sought to privatize instructional services in public school
systems.
Discussion Questions:
1. Could you ever for see a similar situation happening in your school
district?