Gary Dworkin

University of Houston

Anthony Gary Dworkin is Professor of Sociology at the University of Houston, where he has been on the faculty since 1973. He received an A.B. degree in sociology and psychology from Occidental College (Los Angeles, 1964), M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in sociology from Northwestern University (1966 and 1970, respectively).

Dworkin’s teaching and research have been in the areas of the sociology of education and race/ethnic relations, as well as sociological theory and quantitative research methods. He is a co-founder of the Sociology of Education Research Group (SERG), which conducts analyses of the factors that affect standardized test performance of public school students in Texas and assesses school climate factors for school districts. Dworkin and his colleagues at SERG have received grants and contracts from the U.S. Department of Education, the Texas Education Agency, the Houston Endowment, and several school districts in the Houston metropolitan area. The SERG team has presented their work on public school grade retention to the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., which published two of the studies conducted by the team. In 2001, Dworkin was a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra, conducting research on a national survey of Australians and an assessment of teacher burnout. In the summer of 2010 Dworkin was elected President of the Sociology of Education Research Committee of the International Sociological Association, a UNESCO chartered organization with members from 167 nations. His term of office runs until summer 2014.

NEPC Publications

Review of Yearning to Break Free: Ohio Superintendents Speak Out

Catherine Horn and Gary Dworkin
Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the FDR Group
Yearning to Break Free: Ohio Superintendents Speak Out

The report, Yearning to Break Free: Ohio Superintendents Speak Out, describes findings of a survey of 246 Ohio school superintendents about critical issues facing the state’s educational system. In particular, the intent of the study was to examine how superintendents might do more with fewer resources. The authors conclude that Ohio districts need increased managerial authority and control over state revenue streams and other funds; transformed collective bargaining rights; and repeal of automatic increases in teacher salaries. Such efforts, they argue, are imperative to improve the educational opportunities of all children in the state. But the authors do not provide evidence to support this latter claim. The combined effects of non-representative sampling, loaded or inappropriately worded items, and the conflating of opinion and fact make the report’s conclusions problematic. Myriad factors contribute to student achievement, including home and community effects, campus resources (material and non-material), as well as teacher competence which are not examined or considered. And, despite the reported finding that superintendents prefer greater autonomy in personnel and school policies over increased funding, the majority of superintendents also contend that they would see a trade-off of more autonomy with a decrease in funding as undesirable. While the report’s main thrust is to justify flat or reduced spending, the report lacks sufficient rigor to make it useful to guide policy or practice.

Suggested Citation: Horn, C. & Dworkin, G. (2011). Review of “Yearning to Break Free: Ohio Superintendents Speak Out.” Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-ohio-superintendents

 

Note that Steve Farkas, an author of the Fordham report, replied to the review, available at http://www.educationgadfly.net/flypaper/2011/05/critics-of-fordham%E2%8…

Horn and Dworkin responded to this reply, available at http://nepc.colorado.edu/sites/default/files/NEPC-Yearning-Farkas-Respo…

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