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Drawing on interviews, observations of policymaking, and collected artifacts, the analysis shows that meanings (discourses) about school mathematics constrain which policy issues are treated as relevant, often centering student achievement concerns. Policies framed as subject-neutral may still be enacted through mathematics-specific pathways, while equity-minded efforts can be excluded. 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[https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero)  \nPolicy Boundaries in School Districts: When and How School Mathematics Enters the Policy Conversation  \nPhi Nguyen  \nLearning Sciences Research Institute & Department of Mathematics, Statistics & Computer Science,  \nUniversity of Illinois, Chicago.  \nThis multicase study of two school districts examined the policy boundaries educational leaders frame to define and demarcate the policy issues relevant to mathematics. Drawing on interviews with district leaders, observations of policymaking, and collection of artifacts, I found that meanings (or discourses) about the school subject constrained policymaking for mathematics to student achievement concerns. Subject-neutral policies that treat all subjects equally or ignore subject-matter were sometimes enacted in mathematics-specific ways, but other subject-neutral policies—including equity-minded efforts—were excludedfrom mathematics. These findings show how even seemingly subject-neutral policies are sensitive to the school subject and the ways meanings about the subject render some policy issues relevant to mathematics while excluding others. The results of this study have implications for how educational leaders and researchers partnering with schools might challenge andreconstruct policy boundaries, especially in ways that allow for more equity-minded policies.  \nKeywords: education policy, mathematics education, equity, leadership, case studies, qualitative research, subject-matter, policy boundaries, educational leaders  \nWe get comments from the community all the time, and not just [RockCity] schools, everywhere. Well,“you guys are doing things that—you should just be focusing on achievement. You’re doing all this stuff around mental health and restorative practices and all these other things. And you don’t need to be doing that.”  \n—RockCity district leader  \nFor Stone (2011),“Every idea about policy draws boundaries. It tells what or who is included or excluded in a category” (p. 36) . Policy boundaries define, demarcate, and legitimize which policy issues are relevant to schools. In the opening quote, the district leader described some community members’ policy boundaries that include a focus on achievement while delegitimizing work on mental health and restorative practices. As another example, recent debates regarding equity, race, and gender in education legitimize certain topics as appropriate for schools while excluding other topics. Although education leaders are most powerful in influencing the direction of work (e.g., Coburn, 2006; Penuel et al., 2013), we know little about how they define policy boundaries for the educational systems they oversee. Greater understanding of the policy boundaries operating in schools can inform how education leaders and researchers partnering with schools might challenge and reconstruct boundaries, especially in ways that allow for more equityminded policies.  \nResearch has highlighted the role of the school subject in education policymaking (e.g., Burch & Spillane, 2003, 2005) and the ways the specific meanings, traditions, and histories of the subject shape how education leaders design and enact policy (Grossman et al., 2004) . For example, scholars have described how the “new math” reforms that developed around the world beginning in the 1960s (Davison & Mitchell, 2008) were informed by each country’s “unique school mathematics—a product of its history, culture, and traditions, and conforming to its social, political, and educational systems”(Kilpatrick, 2012, p. 569) . However, this emerging body of research, while offering insight into the complexities of policymaking in particular subjects, has not yet e","cbCaidXfGICOFimg","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaidXfGICOFimg","pdf",1022657,21,"English","# Policy Boundaries in School Districts: When and How School Mathematics Enters the Policy Conversation\n## Conceptual Framings\n## Policymaking and Boundary Framing","[{\"question\":\"What does the study examine about school policy?\",\"answer\":\"The study examines the policy boundaries educational leaders use to define and demarcate which policy issues are relevant to school mathematics.\"},{\"question\":\"How do leaders' meanings about mathematics affect policymaking?\",\"answer\":\"Meanings (discourses) about mathematics constrain policymaking by shaping which concerns become relevant, often focusing on student achievement and excluding other issues.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the significance of subject-neutral policies in the findings?\",\"answer\":\"Subject-neutral policies can still unfold differently for mathematics, with some mathematics-specific enactments emerging and some equity-minded efforts excluded.\"}]","Policy Boundaries in School Districts: When and How School Mathematics Enters the Policy Conversation | PDF",1792069312,53]