How Outside Organizations Impact Policy Implementation: Comparing Dropout Prevention Systems in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York City

• In Event: Beyond Evaluation as Usual: New Approaches for Assessing Educational Innovations

Abstract

How do philanthropic, research, and nonprofit organizations help improve schools? Moreover, how do their local configurations impact policy implementation? While most studies on school improvement focus on state bureaucratic agencies and within-school dynamics, this research draws attention to these outside school organizations. Using comparative historical and organizational analyses of early warning indicators, I develop the concept of interorganizational coupling—highlighting how the dependence and (in)formal relations among local organizations influenced implementation speed, variation, and constraint. In Chicago, a loosely coupled system affected slow and varied implementation. In Philadelphia, the tightly coupled system shaped swift and uniform changes. In New York, the tightening system led to fast yet variable transformations. This research has implications for strategies used to spread innovation.

Author

• Jose Eos Trinidad, University of California - Berkeley
  Presenting Author