The Micropolitics of Implementing a Pay-for-Extra-Duties Initiative: Insights from Principals’ Decision-Making Process

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 1:45 pm - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Implementing Reform, Unraveling Futures: The Micropolitics and Meaning of Educational Change

Abstract

Numerous studies have examined policies to reduce teacher turnover, yet little attention has focused on uncompensated extra duties, a potential driver of attrition. To fill this gap, we examine the implementation of a teacher retention program providing teachers with pay for taking on duties outside the classroom in Rockingham County, North Carolina. Drawing on a micropolitical perspective, we examine how school principals made decisions when implementing the program by analysing interviews with principals and teachers. We find principals use covert strategies to legitimate their priorities while achieving organizational goals. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting principals’ critical role in policy enactment, with implications for how retention policies implementation influence the policy outcomes.

Authors

• So Ra Yoo, North Carolina State University

• Lam D. Pham, North Carolina State University