ERIC Number: EJ1098148
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-May
Pages: 29
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0195-6744
EISSN: N/A
Duet or Duel? A Portrait of Two Logics of Reading Instruction in an Urban School District
Woulfin, Sarah L.
American Journal of Education, v122 n3 p337-365 May 2016
This article presents findings on the institutional logics of reading instruction in an urban school district, portraying how district leaders and coaches enacted two logics. Findings are grounded in observation, interview, and document data on district leaders and literacy coaches from a 13-month period. Using neoinstitutional theory, this article highlights the interrelationship between macrolevel structures and microlevel practices, particularly discussing the "lived logics" used throughout the implementation of a new reading program. I explicate two logics of reading instruction: Accountability First and Just Read, which coexisted within the district to provide formal and informal rules to structure action. To reveal the complexities of educators' enactment of logics, this article portrays how district leaders advanced each logic. It also depicts how coaches hybridized the logics, with consequences for the direction of reform. It shows how educators in different leadership positions engage together with logics. The findings have implications for structure-agency theory, district leadership, and school reform.
Descriptors: Urban Schools, School Districts, Reading Instruction, Administrators, Coaching (Performance), Literacy, Reading Programs, Educational Change, Observation, Interviews, Organizational Theories, Educational Practices
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A