The goal of new accountability educational policy
is that schools, as the unit of analysis and
responsibility, will seek to improve student
performance. That is, that the schools will
efficiently seek ways to improve the output of its
organization. Efficiency is a central concept in the
study and theory of organizations. Yet, schools are
widely regarded as institutional organizations that
seek to maximize legitimacy rather than efficiency.
Bureaucratic theory asserts that schools will adopt
structural changes that enhance the attainment of
productivity goals while institutional theory
predicts that environmental legitimacy will outweigh
productivity as the criterion for structural change.
This study contrasts the bureaucratic and
institutional accounts of organizational behavior to
test which best interpret secondary school level
behavior and decisions. It analyzes differences in
school level behavior in response to pressure
generated by California s school accountability system.
is that schools, as the unit of analysis and
responsibility, will seek to improve student
performance. That is, that the schools will
efficiently seek ways to improve the output of its
organization. Efficiency is a central concept in the
study and theory of organizations. Yet, schools are
widely regarded as institutional organizations that
seek to maximize legitimacy rather than efficiency.
Bureaucratic theory asserts that schools will adopt
structural changes that enhance the attainment of
productivity goals while institutional theory
predicts that environmental legitimacy will outweigh
productivity as the criterion for structural change.
This study contrasts the bureaucratic and
institutional accounts of organizational behavior to
test which best interpret secondary school level
behavior and decisions. It analyzes differences in
school level behavior in response to pressure
generated by California s school accountability system.