Characterizing Organizational Response Strategies: The Role of Resources and Compound Pressures in Science Education

• In Event: 52.085 - Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: 52.085-8 - Organizational Theory in Science Education

Abstract

This study responds to a call for more research on the factors that mediate organizational coupling, producing variety in organizational responses to the institutional field (Boxenbaum & Jonsson, 2008). Drawing on focus group interviews regarding elementary science education across three districts in high, medium, and low poverty contexts, this paper highlights new response categories that help to resolve theoretical inconsistencies regarding agency within institutions. Schools and districts in lower poverty contexts were much more likely to engage in compromise strategies in service of their organizational goals, leveraging complex external resources. Schools and districts in higher poverty contexts were more likely to engage in acquiescence strategies, characterized by fragmented responses to immediate and compounded pressures.

Author

• Kathryn N. Hayes, California State University - East Bay