| The 1980s were characterized by intense pressure for educational reform in the United States. One reform strategy that gained national prominence was comprehensive school restructuring. This dissertation examines external influences on school restructuring for authentic achievement---how agents outside schools act through policy tools to support or impede school innovation.; Data for the dissertation come from 24 schools that participated in the School Restructuring Study, conducted by Fred Newmann and Associates, from 1990--1995. An analytic framework is used to characterize the policy tools of external agents according to the attributes of specificity, consistency, power, and authority. The dissertation hypothesizes that policy influence on school actors tends to rise as policies embody increasingly greater levels of the four tool attributes. Policies are also located in relation to broader strategies external agents my draw upon to stimulate or support restructuring. In addition to depending on the tools and strategies of external agents, policy effects are expected to be contingent on how school actors perceive and respond to external messages.; States, districts, and independent reform networks were found to be especially prominent among 16 categories of external agents observed. Among 25 policy tools observed the most heavily used were assessments, funding, mandates, and professional development. External influences tended to be strongest and in a positive direction when agents used policies measuring high on the four attributes in connection with a strategy featuring sustained support for comprehensive restructuring. External policies were generally found to be moderately specific and consistent. External agents appealed more to authority than power to make policies important to school actors.; Principals and teacher leaders often acted as intermediaries to help school actors gain access to and internalize potentially helpful external supports and resources. Also, policy tools perceived by school actors to provide strong support for restructuring for authentic achievement operated on and through school professional community. Professional development was an especially important avenue for bringing about the transfer of important technical knowledge about restructuring and authentic teaching and learning form external to internal school actors. |
