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No Small Thing: School District Central Office Bureaucracies and the Implementation of New Small Autonomous Schools InitiativesUniversity of Washington
New small autonomous schools initiatives are relatively recent educational change strategies that in some urban districts aim to remake how district central offices function as institutions. In this article, the author draws on theories of organizational innovation and learning to reveal how central office administrators participate in these change processes, what outcomes are associated with their efforts, and the conditions that help or hinder their work. The data came from a 3-year qualitative investigation of these dynamics in two districts. The results show that particular bridging and buffering activities by certain central office administrators were consistent with policy goals and linked to increasing district supports for implementation. Particular dimensions of the institutional environments of central offices shaped central office administrators’ choices and actions.
Key Words: district central offices • implementation • new small autonomous schools • organizational learning theory
This version was published on June
1, 2009 American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 46, No. 2,
387-422 (2009) 
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