School Culture and Instructional Variation: Centralization and Decentralization at Charter Management Organizations

• In Event: From Rural to Urban: Examining the Effectiveness of Innovative School Forms

Abstract

Using qualitative and quantitative methods, researchers studied the replication strategies for three high-performing charter management organizations funded under the Texas High School Project. With expansion, CMO leaders became increasingly concerned with the consistency and quality of programming across their respective school systems. Charting their efforts to balance appropriate levels of centralization and decentralization through central office policy and supports, this paper explores how the resulting instructional variation within consistently strong school cultures interacted to help the CMOs maintain relatively high performance. The study has implications not only for smaller CMOs eyeing expansion but also for traditional school districts attempting to improve equity and performance across their schools.

Authors

• Viki M. Young, SRI International

• Victoria Tse, SRI International