A comparison of three urban school systems suggests that district offices can influence teaching through professional development. District leaders can structure their programs to provide coherent and content-focused professional development. The district orientation (vision, emphasis on professional development, use of human resources) set by the…

Reviews eight years of history of one school-university partnership and detailed fieldwork for three years offers some insights into this undertheorized organizational arrangement. Work points to divergent interests and resources within each participating organization. Suggests that those in boundary-spanning roles are especially well placed to…

Teacher thinking research examines teachers' thought processes and makes suggestions for training. Organizational analysis stresses the importance of teacher commitment and redesign of existing schools in increasing teacher collegiality and participation. This article juxtaposes these two literatures and suggests ways to combine divergent images…

The finding reported previously in this journal (EJ 265 763), that elementary schools conform more to the image of the rational bureaucracy while secondary schools fit that of the anarchy or loosely coupled system, is reinforced and extended using a large sample, more reliable measures, and more elaborate techniques. (Author)

Principals can influence teachers and instructional behavior by working through linkage mechanisms within the organizational structure of the school. Two types of linkages are identified: bureaucratic and cultural. Principals have access to linkages of both kinds; using linkages effectively, they can generate a common purpose in their schools. (MD)

Two competing images present schools as either rational bureaucracies or loosely coupled systems. Teachers in 13 Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) schools were surveyed on two dimensions distinguishing these images: goal consensus and influence centralization. The results suggest that high schools fit the loosely coupled image and elementary schools the…

Using two case studies, this article amends Gouldner's findings about the effects of executive succession on bureaucracy in three ways. First, introducing an outside chief executive can lead to increased professionalism instead of increased bureaucracy. Also, superintendents cannot unilaterally determine the outcomes of change. Formal structural…