ERIC Number: ED199906
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1980-Aug
Pages: 52
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Complexity and Control: What Legislators and Administrators Can Do About Implementating Public Policy.
Elmore, Richard F.
Addressed primarily to practitioners--legislators, administrators, and their staffs--this monograph is structured around a series of hypothetical exchanges between legislators and administrators concerning the implementation of a basic skills program. The author asserts that the hierarchical control that legislators traditionally rely on for program implementation is contrary to the need for subordinates to exercise delegated control (individual responsibility, initiative, and discretion) over their own actions. Since the most important interaction in education takes place between students and teachers, he stresses the importance of focusing attention on the classroom in solving implementation problems. This approach is patterned on a programmatic view that emphasizes delegated control and service delivery capacity rather than a regulatory view that emphasizes hierarchical control and compliance. Backward mapping, based on the assumption that implementation begins at the bottom, not at the top, is presented as a logical, although not a foolproof, strategy. (Author/WD)
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, DC.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A