This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 0002831208320573v1 46/1/9    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Olsen, B. Articles by Sexton, D. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Threat Rigidity, School Reform, and How Teachers View Their Work Inside Current Education Policy Contexts

University of California, Santa Cruz

This article reports on a study of teachers at one reforming high school. Though it is not their task to debate No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the authors locate their investigation inside the current policy context to which NCLB is attached. Specifically, they present their analysis through the organizational behavior lens of threat rigidity to discuss the ways that current federal and state policy contexts influence schools and how those affected schools in turn adopt corresponding reforms that influence teachers’ work. The analysis demonstrates that on both levels, such influence occurs in similar ways: by centralizing and restricting the flow of information, by constricting control, by emphasizing routinized and simplified instructional/assessment practices, and by applying strong pressure for school personnel to conform.

Key Words: educational policy • educational reform • qualitative research • teaching context

This version was published on March 1, 2009

American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 46, No. 1, 9-44 (2009)
DOI: 10.3102/0002831208320573


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?