ERIC Number: EJ1296744
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-May
Pages: 29
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0195-6744
EISSN: N/A
In the NIC of Time: How Sustainable Are Networked Improvement Communities?
Joshi, Ela; Redding, Christopher; Cannata, Marisa
American Journal of Education, v127 n3 p369-397 May 2021
Networked improvement communities (NICs) mark a promising approach to address the challenges of sustaining school reform. Whereas NICs are intended to help scale and sustain reforms, there is little evidence on how this works, as few NICs have existed long enough to be described over time. This study uses social network theory to understand what happened after the removal of external supports for a NIC regarding the sustainability of the improvement efforts as well as the NIC itself. We use social network data and interviews conducted with about 70 school and district leaders within the NIC to examine changes in the organizational infrastructure that maintained or changed network features. Our findings indicate that, upon the withdrawal of external supports, the network constricted, though core network features were maintained. However, changes to the infrastructure, such as a reliance on teacher-leaders and a focus on school-level empowerment, present challenges to the long-term sustainability of the NIC.
Descriptors: Communities of Practice, Social Networks, Educational Improvement, Educational Change, Sustainability, Teacher Leadership, Empowerment
University of Chicago Press. Journals Division, P.O. Box 37005, Chicago, IL 60637. Tel: 877-705-1878; Tel: 773-753-3347; Fax: 877-705-1879; Fax: 773-753-0811; e-mail: subscriptions@press.uchicago.edu; Web site: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/journals/aje/about
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A