This dissertation examines the basis for adoption and development of elective English programs in the school district of Philadelphia's 21 comprehensive senior high schools. Personal, structured, executive interviews conducted in the work setting with English department heads were the source of data for the study. It was hypothesized that elective English programs must find their basis in the field of English; that the field of English is at least constrained by the rules that characterize language and literature; that elective English programs must be based on problems endemic to language and literature; and that an occupation is constrained by the distinctive sources that characterize language and literature. It was found that the formulations of language and literature are independent activities; that occupations and the problematic are dependent on the distinctive formulations that constrain language and literature; and that the Philadelphia program adoption and development was not based on a rationale. The conclusions of this study and the accompanying implications for program development must be verified by replication. (Author/RB)