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Correlates And Effects Of Data-Informed Decision-Making: An Empirical Examination Of The Loose Coupling Theory Using A National Data Set, Xingyuan Gao

Dissertations

The notion of schools as “loosely-coupled” organizations has been widely discussed in the research literature. Many argue that the loose coupling is either a protective mechanism for schools to buffer external pressure or a barrier to implementing new reforms. Against the backdrop of standards-based reform and accountability policies in the last 15 years, which focus on tightening the system as the way to improve K-12 schools, I conducted three related studies to empirically test the loose coupling theory by applying two-level hierarchical linear models to nationally representative data in the US.

In the first study I evaluated the loose coupling …