ANALYSIS OF DISCOURSE AND RHETORIC IN PERFORMANCE MEASURES .

ANALYSIS OF DISCOURSE AND RHETORIC IN PERFORMANCE MEASURES FORRESEARCH INSTITUTIONS IN KANSASbyTRISHA GOTTB.A., Kansas State University, 2007M.S., Kansas State University, 2011AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATIONsubmitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degreeDoctor of EducationDepartment of Educational LeadershipCollege of EducationKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITYManhattan, Kansas2016

AbstractThis qualitative discourse analysis examines discourse related to performance-basedmeasures such as, state of the state speeches, policy documents, reports, and other discourse toexplore the purpose(s) higher education has in Kansas, as manifested in discourse from 1997 to2015. The research explores discourse produced by elected and appointed state level officials’related to higher education policy, purpose, and governance, with a specific focus onperformance-based measures in Kansas. The purpose of this research was to understand morefully how discourse shapes and reflects understanding of the role and purpose of highereducation in the state of Kansas. This study explored the power of discourse to shape a narrativein a state and influence policy and governance. Using discourse analysis as the methodologicalframework, this qualitative study included analysis of policy documents, speeches, reports,budgets, and other discourse related to performance-measures in Kansas. Discourse analysis,informed by political and critical discourse analysis were the primary approach to this research.Using a multiperspective approach to data analysis and coding, data was examined for themes ofpower, social, economic, and political influences. The study has implications for highereducation policy and for policymakers, administrators, and other actors in higher education inKansas.

ANALYSIS OF DISCOURSE AND RHETORIC IN PERFORMANCE MEASURES FORRESEARCH INSTITUTIONS IN KANSASbyTRISHA GOTTB.A., Kansas State University, 2007M.S., Kansas State University, 2011A DISSERTATIONsubmitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degreeDOCTOR OF EDUCATIONDepartment of Educational LeadershipCollege of EducationKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITYManhattan, Kansas2016Approved by:Co-Major ProfessorDr. David ThompsonApproved by:Co-Major ProfessorDr. Mary TolarApproved by:Co-Major ProfessorDr. Kakali Bhattacharya

CopyrightTRISHA GOTT2016

AbstractThis qualitative discourse analysis examines discourse related to performance-basedmeasures such as, state of the state speeches, policy documents, reports, and other discourse toexplore the purpose(s) higher education has in Kansas, as manifested in discourse from 1997 to2015. The research explores discourse produced by elected and appointed state level officials’related to higher education policy, purpose, and governance, with a specific focus onperformance-based measures in Kansas. The purpose of this research was to understand morefully how discourse shapes and reflects understanding of the role and purpose of highereducation in the state of Kansas. This study explored the power of discourse to shape a narrativein a state and influence policy and governance. Using discourse analysis as the methodologicalframework, this qualitative study included analysis of policy documents, speeches, reports,budgets, and other discourse related to performance-measures in Kansas. Discourse analysis,informed by political and critical discourse analysis were the primary approach to this research.Using a multiperspective approach to data analysis and coding, data was examined for themes ofpower, social, economic, and political influences. The study has implications for highereducation policy and for policymakers, administrators, and other actors in higher education inKansas.

Table of ContentsList of Figures . ixList of Tables . xAcknowledgements . xiDedication . xiiChapter 1 - Introduction . 1Researcher Subjectivity . 1Context for the Study . 4Rationale for the Study . 7Research Purpose and Questions . 9Methodological Framework . 10Qualitative Approaches to Discourse Analysis . 10Social Construction . 13Critical Discourse Analysis . 15Political Discourse Analysis . 16Substantive Framework . 17Limitations . 19Significance of the Study . 20Operationalization of Constructs . 21Summary . 23Literature Review. 24The Public Purposes of Higher Education . 25Shifting Identities of Public Higher Education . 27The Intersection of Public Good and Neoliberalism in Education . 29Neoliberalism . 30Challenges of Neoliberalism in Education . 31Academic Capitalism and the New Economy . 34Neoliberalism and Education Policy. 35Performance-Based Measures . 36A Brief History of Performance-Measures . 39Challenges to Performance-Based Outcomes . 42vi

PBMs in K – 20 . 46Corporate Influence in Education . 47The Movement for Accountability. 48Methods of Initiation . 50Adoption in Kansas . 52A Metaphor for Policy . 53Neoliberalism, Discourse Analysis and This Study . 55Justification of Documents . 56Summary . 58Methodology . 59Research Questions . 59Research Scope . 59The Role of Qualitative Research . 60Discourse Analysis . 62Methodological Framework . 66Critical and Political Discourse Analysis . 68Research Design. 71Pilot Study. 72Document Selection and Gaining Access . 74Membership Role . 76Data Collection Methods . 77Archival Documents as Data . 77Data Management . 79Data Analysis . 79Context is Reflexive Tool . 82Building Tasks and Building Tools . 83Ethical Considerations . 86Data Representation . 86Trustworthiness and Rigor . 87Summary . 93Findings. 95vii

General Organization of Data Representation . 95Policy Dictates Access to and in Higher Education. 97Success and Persistence in Higher Education is Dictated by Policy . 110Production Drives Higher Education Outputs . 116Social Outputs of Higher Education . 122Experiential Outputs of Higher Education. 126Workforce Development as an Output of Higher Education . 131Production as the Economic Outputs of Higher Education . 140State Mandated Accountability for Higher Education . 150Summary of Findings . 157Summary . 159Chapter 5 - Summary, Discussion, and Implications . 161Response to Research Questions and Contributions to Literature . 161Ideologies of Politicians’ . 162Ideologies of the Economic Value of Personhood and Access . 167Ideologies of Mechanism of sharing information about higher education . 174Implications for Practice . 178Developing a New Discourse . 178Contextualized and Longitudinal Measures . 180Who is at the Table . 182Understanding Personal Ideologies . 183Future Research . 185Conclusions . 188References . 189Appendix A - Proposed Timeline for Study . 200Appendix B - Data Proposition . 204Appendix C - Document Analysis Protocol. 206Appendix D - Memo Writing and Peer Debriefing Notes . 208Appendix E - IRB Approval . 211viii

List of FiguresFigure 1. Discourse Analysis in Qualitative Research. . 62Figure 2. The Methodological Framework. . 70Figure 3. The Coding Cycle for the Study. . 85Figure 4. Criteria for Discourse Analysis. . 92Figure 5. Production Continuum. . 121Figure 6. Production: People as Fuel. . 138Figure 7. The Intersection of Workforce and Economic Outputs. . 149Figure 8. Directionality of Production. 156ix

List of TablesTable 1 . 53Table 2 . 84Table 3 . 200Table 4 . 204Table 5 . 204Table 6 . 205Table 7 . 206x

AcknowledgementsI would like to thank the three scholars who co-chaired my dissertation committee. Dr.David Thompson, thank you for taking me on as a doctoral student and encouraging me toconsider a shared chair-ship for this program. Your wisdom, passion for education, and keenknowledge of the academic process has made a world of difference for me as I navigateacademic scholarship. Dr. Tolar, thank you for the honor of being your first doctoral student.Your support through time, encouragement, and a critical review of the writing and logic in thisprocess has been essential to my success in the program. Dr. Thompson and Dr. Tolar, your workas engaged higher education administrators and scholars has inspired this work. Dr.Bhattacharya, thank you for your work with the methodology and data analysis in this study.You encouraged me to engage in new ways of thinking about the process of this work and youoffered invaluable tools for me to organize and advance this study. Your passion for criticaltheory in education has cemented my own commitment as a higher education professional toworking for populations without access. Finally, Dr. Holloway-Libel, thank you for your neverending encouragement. Your time spent orienting me to my own approaches to discourseanalysis helped me find an academic passion.Thank you all for the time, the encouragement, and for challenging me as a writer,researcher, as a scholar. You’ve made all of the difference to me.xi

DedicationI dedicate this work to my family. To my parents and sisters, your example and ability toground me is how I ended up here in the first place. Thank you for instilling a passion foreducation in my heart from a young age.To my mother-in-law Katie and my Staley School of Leadership Studies family – thankyou for the time to work. Without your constant support (through meals cooked, childrenwatched, laughter and jokes shared, coffee brewed, and check-in chats), this would not have beenpossible.Thank you to my writing partner Chance. You kept me motivated and on a plan. Youallowed me to drop in to share ideas, frustrations, and goals. You bought me coffee – lots ofcoffee (shout out thank you to Arrow Coffee Co. and Radina’s for caffeinating this endeavor).Graduate school is easier with colleagues and friends like you who provi

ANALYSIS OF DISCOURSE AND RHETORIC IN PERFORMANCE MEASURES FOR RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS IN KANSAS by TRISHA GOTT B.A., Kansas State University, 2007 M.S., Kansas State University, 2011 AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education Department of Educational Leadership College of Education KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan .