Instructional Policy Implementation Through Nested Networks: The Role of Public Intermediary Organizations

• In Event: Roundtable Session 21
  In Roundtable Session: Political and Practical Issues in Standards Implementation

Abstract

Drawing on case study methodology this study investigates how one public intermediary organization engaged in ambitious instructional policy implementation over a ten-year period. These policy implementation efforts were intended to help motivate and promote a regional approach to addressing achievement gaps both before and after the Common Core State Standards’ adoption. Our findings extend understanding about the role public intermediary organizations can play in instructional policy implementation through "nested" networks. This study further suggests that, particularly in the current, politically fragmented educational environment, public intermediary organizations have considerable potential to shape the priority given to educational equity concerns over time and across diverse local contexts, district boundaries, and diverse democracies.

Authors

• Angeline Kathryn Spain, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

• Julie R Freeman, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor