Skip to main content

The Organizational Context of Teaching and Learning

Changing Theoretical Perspectives

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Adajian, L. B. (1995). Teacher’s professional community and the teaching of mathematics. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, K. L., & Cook, M. A. (1982). Curricula and coursework: A surprise ending to a familiar story. American Sociological Review, 47, 626–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C. S. (1982). The search for school climate: A review of the research. Review of Educational Research, 52, 368–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C. W. (1996). Reform in teacher education as building systemic capacity to support the scholarship of teaching. Paper presented at the International Workshop on Reform Issues in Teacher Education, Taipei, Taiwan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barr, R., & Dreeben, R. (1983). How schools work. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barr, R., & Sadow, M. W. (1989). Influence of basal programs on fourth-grade reading instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 24, 44–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benavot, A., & Resh, N. (1998). Diversity within uniformity: Conflicting pressures in the costruction of implemented school curricula. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco, California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bidwell, C. E. (1965). The school as a formal organization. In J. G. March (Ed.), Handbook of organizations (pp. 922–1022). Chicago: Rand McNally.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bidwell, C. E., Frank, K. A., & Quiroz, P. A. (1997). Teacher types, workplace controls, and the organization of schools. Sociology of Education, 70, 285–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bidwell, C. E., & Kasarda, J. D. (1980). Conceptualizing and measuring the effects of school and schooling. American Journal of Education, 88, 401–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, J. H. (1998). The effect of curriculum-based external exit exams on student achievement. Journal of Economic Education, 29, 171–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blau, P. M., & Duncan, O. D. (1967). The American occupational structure. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borman, K., Cookson, P., Sadovnik, A., & Spade, J. Z. (Eds., 1996). Implementing federal legislation: Sociological perspectives on policy. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brophy, J., & Good, T. L. (1986). Teacher behavior and student achievement. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (3rd ed., pp. 315–375). New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryk, A. S., & Driscoll, M. E. (1988). The high school as community: Contextual influences, and consequences for students and teachers. Madison, WI: National Center on Effective Secondary Schools.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryk, A. S., Lee, V. E., & Holland, P. B. (1993). Catholic schools and the common good. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryk, A. S., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1992). Hierarchical linear models. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callahan, R. (1962). Education and the cult of efficiency. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, T. P., & Lehrer, R. (1999). Teaching and learning mathematics with understanding. In E. Fenneman & T. A. Romberg (Eds.), Mathematics classrooms that promote understanding (pp. 19–32). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, D. K. (1990). A revolution in one classroom: The case of Mrs. Oublier. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 12, 311–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, D. K., McLaughlin, M. W., & Talbert, J. E. (1993). Teaching for understanding. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, E. G., Deal, T. E., Meyer, J. W., & Scott, W. R. (1979). Technology and teaming in the elementary school. Sociology of Education, 52, 20–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95–S120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. S., Campbell, E., Hobson, C., McPartland, J., Mood, A., Weinfield, F., & York, R. (1966). Equality of educational opportunity. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. S., & Hoffer, T. (1987). Public and private high schools: The impact of communities. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, R. (1997). Organizational factors and the continuation of a complex instructional technology. In E. G. Cohen & R. A. Lotan (Eds.), Working for equity in heterogeneous classrooms: Sociological theory in practice (pp. 260–274). New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darling Hammond, L., & McLaughlin, M. W. (1996). Policies that support professional development in an era of reform. In Teacher learning: New policies, new practices (pp. 202–218). New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doyle, W. (1992). Curriculum and pedagogy. In P. W. Jackson (Ed.), Handbook of research on curriculum (pp. 486–516). New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edmonds, R. (1979). Effective schools for the urban poor. Educational Leadership, 37, 15–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. J., & Porter, A. C. (1989). Do textbooks dictate the content of mathematics instruction in elementary schools? American Educational Research Journal, 26, 403–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fullan, M. G. (1991). The new meaning of educational change. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, B. (1987). What school factors raise achievement in the Third World? Review of Educational Research, 57, 255–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, B., & Clarke, P. (1994). Raising school effects while ignoring culture? Local conditions and the influence of classroom tools, rules, and pedagogy. Review of Educational Research, 64, 119–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gahng, T.-J. (1993). A further search for school effects on achievement and intervening school experiences: An analysis of the Longitudinal Study of American Youth data. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamoran, A. (1987). The stratification of high school learning opportunities. Sociology of Education, 60, 135–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamoran, A. (1988). Resource allocation and the effects of schooling: A sociological perspective. In D. W. Monk & J. Underwood (Eds.). Microlevel school finance: Issues and implications for policy (pp. 207–232). Ninth Annual Yearbook of the American Educational Finance Association. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamoran, A. (1992). Social factors in education. In M. Alkin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Research (6th ed., pp. 1222–1229). New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamoran, A. (1996a). Curriculum standardization and equality of opportunity in Scottish secondary education, 1984–1990. Sociology of Education, 29, 1–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamoran, A. (1996b). Goals 2000 in organizational perspective: Will it make a difference for states, districts, and schools? In K. Borman, P. Cookson, A. Sadovnik, & J. Z. Spade (Eds.), Implementing federal legislation: Sociological perspectives on policy 429–443). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamoran, A. (1996c). Student achievement in public magnet, public comprehensive, and private city high schools. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 18, 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamoran, A., & Dreeben, R. (1986). Coupling and control in educational organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 31, 612–632.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamoran, A., Nystrand, M., Berends, M., & LePore, P. C. (1995). An organizational analysis of the effects of ability grouping. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 687–715.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamoran, A., Porter, A. C., & Gahng, T.-J. (1995). Teacher empowerment: A policy in search of theory and evidence. In W. J. Fowler, B. Levin, & H. J. Walberg (Eds.), Organizational Influences on Educational Productivity, Volume 5 (pp. 175–193). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamoran, A., Porter, A. C., Smithson, J., & White, P. A. (1997). Upgrading high school mathematics instruction: Improving learning opportunities for low-income, low-achieving youth. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. 19, 325–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamoran, A., & Weinstein, M. (1998). Differentiation and opportunity in restructured schools. American Journal of Education, 106, 385–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldenberg, C., & Gallimore, R. (1991, November). Changing teaching takes more than a one-shot workshop. Educational Leadership, 49, 69–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, H. (1995). Multilevel statistical models. New York: Halsted Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Good, T. L., & Brophy, J. E. (1986). School effects. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (3rd ed., pp. 570–602). New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodlad, J. (1984). A place called school. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald, R., Hedges, L., & Laine, R. D. (1996). The effects of school resources on student achievement. Review of Educational Research, 66, 361–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanushek, E. (1994). Making schools work: Improving performance and controlling costs. Washington, DC: Brookings.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanushek, E. (1997). Assessing the effects of school resources on student performance: An update. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 19, 141–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hemmings, A., & Metz, M. H. (1991). Real teaching: How high school teachers negotiate societal, local community, and student pressures when they define their work. In R. N. Page & L. Valli (Eds.), Curriculum differentiation: Interpretive studies in U.S. secondary schools (pp. 91–112). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heyneman, S., & Loxley, W. (1983). The effects of primary-school quality on academic achievement across twenty-nine high-and low-income countries. American Journal of Sociology, 88, 1162–1194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, E. D. (1993). The core knowledge curriculum: What’s behind its success? Educational Leadership, 50, 23–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, E. D. (1996). The schools we need and why we don’t have them. New York: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodgson, G. (1975). Do schools make a difference? In D. M. Levine & M. J. Bane (Eds.), The inequality controversy (pp. 24–44). New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, P. A. (1968). Life in classrooms. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jencks, C. L., Smith, M., Acland, H., Bane, M. J., Cohen, D. K., Gintis, H., Heyns, B., & Michelson, S. (1972). Inequality: A reassessment of the effects of family and schooling in America. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilgore, S. B., & Pendelton, W. W. (1993). The organizational context of learning: Framework for understanding the acquisition of knowledge. Sociology of Education, 66, 63–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, V. E., & Smith, J. B. (1995). Effects of high school restructuring and size on early gains in achievement and engagement. Sociology of Education, 68, 241–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, V. E., & Smith, J. B. (1996). Collective responsibility for learning and its effects on gains in achievement for early secondary students. American Journal of Education, 104, 103–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, V. E., & Smith, J. B. (1997). How high school organization influences the equitable distribution of learning in mathematics and science. Sociology of Education, 70, 128–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, A. (1996). Practices that support teacher development: Transforming conceptions of professional learning. In Teacher learning: New policies, new practices (pp. 185–201). New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Little, J. W. (1986). Seductive images and organizational realities in professional development. In A. Lieberman (Ed.), Rethinking school improvement (pp. 26–45). New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Little, J. W. (1990). Conditions of professional development in secondary schools. In M. W. McLaughlin, J. E. Talbert, & N. Bascia, The contexts of teaching in secondary schools: Teachers’ realities (pp. 187–223). New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lotan, R. A., Cohen, E. G., & Morphew, C C. (1997). Principals, colleagues, staff developers: The case for organizational support. In E. G. Cohen & R. A. Lotan (Eds.), Working for equity in heterogeneous classrooms: Sociological theory in practice (pp. 223–239). New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Louis, K. S., Kruse, S. D., & Marks, H. M. (1996). Schoolwide professional community. In F. M. Newmann & Associates, Authentic achievement: Restructuring schools for intellectual quality (pp. 179–203). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loveless, T. (1994). The influence of subject areas on middle school tracking policies. Research in Sociology of Education and Socialization, 10, 147–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNeil, L. (1986). Contradictions of control. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehan, H. (1979). Learning lessons: Social organization in the classroom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J. W. (1977). The effects of education as an institution. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 55–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 340–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1978). The structure of educational organizations. In M. Meyer & Associates, Environments and organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metz, M. H. (1989). Real school: A universal drama amid disparate experiences. Politics of Education Association Yearbook, 1989, 75–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monk, D. H. (1992). Education productivity research: An update and assessment of is role in education finance reform. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 14, 307–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mosteller, F. W., & Moynihan, D. P. (1972). On equality of educational opportunity. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newmann, F. M. (1998). How secondary schools contribute to academic success. In K. Borman & B. Schneider (Eds.), The adolescent years: Social influences and educational challenges. National Society for the Study of Education Yearbook 97:1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newmann, F. M., & Associates. (1996). Authentic achievement: Restructuring schools for intellectual quality. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nystrand, M. (1997). Opening dialogue. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nystrand, M., Gamoran, A., & Heck, M. J. (1993). Using small groups for response to and thinking about literature. English Journal, 82, 14–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oakes, J., Gamoran, A., & Page, R. N. (1992). Curriculum differentiation: Opportunities, outcomes, and meanings. In P. W. Jackson (Ed.), Handbook of research on curriculum (pp. 570–608). New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pallas, A. (1988). School climate in American high schools, Teachers College Record, 89, 541–554.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, B.-J. (1998). Teacher empowerment and its effects on teachers’ lives and student achievement in the U.S. high school. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, T. (1963). Structure and process in modern societies. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, P. L., McCarthey, S. J., & Elmore, R. F. (1996). Learning from school restructuring. American Educational Research Journal, 33, 119–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pressman, J. L., & Wildavsky, A. (1979). Implementation (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Purkey, S. C., & Smith, M. S. (1983). Effective schools: A review. Elementary School Journal, 83, 427–452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowan, B. (1990). Commitment and control: Alternative strategies for the organizational design of schools. In C. Cazden (Ed.), Review of Research in Education, Vol., 16 (pp. 353–389). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowan, B., & Miracle, A. W., Jr. (1983). Systems of ability grouping and the stratification of achievement in elementary schools. Sociology of Education, 56, 133–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowan, B., & Miskel, C. (1999). Institutional theory and the study of educational organizations. In J. Murphy & K. S. Louis (Eds.), Handbook of research in educational administration. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowan, B., Raudenbush, S. W., & Cheong, Y. F. (1993). Teaching as a non-routine task: Implications for the management of schools. Educational Administration Quarterly, 29, 479–500.

    Google Scholar 

  • Secada, W. G., & Adajian, L. B. (1997). Mathematics teachers’ change in the context of their professional communities. In L. Fennema & B. S. Nelson (Eds.), Mathematics teachers in transition (pp. 193–219). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shulman, L. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slavin, R. E. (1989). Class size and student achievement: Small effects of small classes. Educational Psychologist, 24, 99–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slavin, R. E. (1990). Class size and student achievement: Is smaller better? Contemporary Education, 62, 6–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sparks, D., & Loucks-Horsley, S. (1989). Five models of staff development for teachers. Journal of Staff Development, 10, 40–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spillane, J., & Thompson, C. (1997). Reconstructing conceptions of local capacity: The local education agency’s capacity for ambitious educational reform. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 19, 185–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson, D., & Baker, D. (1991). State control of the curriculum and classroom instruction. Sociology of Education, 64, 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stodolsky, S. (1988). The subject matters. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stodolsky, S., & Grossman, P. (1995). The impact of subject matter on curricular activity: An analysis of five academic subjects. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 227–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Talbert, J. E. (1995). Boundaries of teachers’ professional communities in U. S. high schools: Power and precariousness of the subject department. In L. S. Siskin & J. W. Little (Eds.), The subjects in question (pp. 68–94). New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Talbert, J. E., & McLaughlin, M. W. (1994). Teacher professionalism in local school contexts. American Journal of Education, 102, 123–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tharp, R. G., & Gallimore, R. (1988). Rousing minds to life. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weick, K. E. (1976). Educational organizations as loosely coupled systems. Administrative Science Quarterly, 21, 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weick, K. E. (1982). Administering education in loosely coupled systems. Phi Delta Kappan, 63, 673–675.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells, A. S., & Serna, I. (1996). The politics of culture: Understanding local political resistance to detracking in racially mixed schools. Harvard Educational Review, 66, 93–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, T. P. (1996). Reaching for a better standard. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Gamoran, A., Secada, W.G., Marrett, C.B. (2000). The Organizational Context of Teaching and Learning. In: Hallinan, M.T. (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of Education. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Boston, MA . https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-36424-2_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-36424-2_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-32517-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-36424-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics