TY  - JOUR
AB  - This article examines the loosely coupled nature of the US educational system and explores recent systemic reform initiatives designed to improve education through more tightly coupled education policy and practice. The utility and limitations of loose coupling as an organizational construct are examined and critiqued. A number of significant forces are exerting ever‐greater pressure on policymakers to more tightly couple US education, including environmental pressures, the emergence of powerful new institutional actors, an emergent institutional capacity, and institutional isomorphism. After reviewing the effectiveness of systemic reform initiatives in several states, the article concludes that education in the USA is moving toward a system of fragmented centralization in which policymakers have greater opportunity to craft more coherent, systemic education policy amidst competing demands for limited resources.
VL  - 40
IS  - 6
SN  - 0957-8234
DO  - 10.1108/09578230210446045
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230210446045
AU  - Fusarelli Lance D.
PY  - 2002
Y1  - 2002/01/01
TI  - Tightly coupled policy in loosely coupled systems: institutional capacity and organizational change
T2  - Journal of Educational Administration
PB  - MCB UP Ltd
SP  - 561
EP  - 575
Y2  - 2024/04/25
ER  -