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UMI 300 N. Zecb Rd. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 POLICY AND CONVERSATION: A CASE STUDY OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A STATE TESTING POLICY llN A SCHOOL DISTRICT DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Nancy Carol Zajano, B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1990 Dissertation Committee: Approved by C. M. Galloway, Co-Chair B. L. Mitchell, Co-Chair Adviser R. W. Backoff College of Education R. Donmoyer 1 Copyright by Nancy Carol Zajano 1990 To Mike, Rachel, Maureen, and Emily Brad "Bill" and the Educators in "Foster" ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The work of this study has been sustained by many people. The care, concern and ongoing support of my family, friends, and intellectual mentors have allowed me to discover many possibilities within myself during my doctoral studies. For four years, Brad Mitchell has challenged me to find and use my own voice in academic endeavors. His tireless scholarship and personal courage in the pursuit of transformative ways of teaching, researching, and interacting have served as a powerful role model for my own efforts. I thank him for risking being simultaneously a professional and personal friend, and for balancing the two roles with grace and wisdom. In my exploration of organisational cultures, Charles Galloway helped me to understand the role of verbal and nonverbal expressions in defining the relationships between people. I have treasured our conversations on organizational life within the university. For his insights on which words of encouragement are needed when during the process of being a student and becoming a scholar, I am iii deeply grateful. As a student of Robert Backoff I was treated to a masterful combination of challenge and support through a thoughtful yet indirect approach to pedagogy. His deep regard for the intellectual possibilities of students brings them to challenge themselves to meet his unspoken but powerful expectations, I thank him for sharing his gifts of mind, spirit, and self in our classes and learning groups, My thanks to Robert Donmoyer, Donald Sanders, and Patti Lather for their teaching and examples of methodologically sound interpretive research. Because this particular way of knowing is both personally and professionally rewarding to me, 1 am grateful for their guidance. Robert Donmoyer is especially gifted at shining a flashlight into the dark corners of qualitative research where murky ideas benefit from his illumination. My friends Sue Rieger and Karen Fellows have made graduate student life a joy. The development of mind, self and voice could not have occurred with better company. As a peer debriefer, Pat Scharer explored with me the different paths and interpretations unfolding in this study. Her insight, wit and encouragement never wavered throughout the process. My friend Deb Voege continues to provide a model of a person who can give to others while maintaining strong iv goals for herself. To my kindred spirits in Rhode Island, Sharon Rallis and Doris Donovan, whose emotional support and intellectual challenges have sustained me for many years, I extend my deepest appreciation. The educators in the school district where I conducted my study opened their buildings, thoughts and feelings to my probing questions without regard for how the research might help or hurt them. For their unabashed willingness to share in my learning, I am deeply grateful. It is hard to know how to thank "Bill" for allowing me to put him under my research microscope and question his every action and interaction. He never flinched at my unrelenting questions; something my dearest friends have not endured for nearly as long. My husband Mike has been my closest friend for over 20 years. During these most recent graduate student years he never wavered in his care and encouragement. In addition to meeting the physical and emotional needs of our three daughters, he willingly explored whatever idea was intriguing me at the moment. His love and friendship have been an amazing grace. To Maureen, Emily and Rachel, for understanding that although Mom was perpetually "in her hole" in the basement office, she could share in their delightful and unfolding lives. v VITA November 13, 1946 Born, Aurora, Illinois 1968............. B.A., St. Norbert College West De Pere, Wisconsin 1970............. M.A., Roosevelt University Chicago, Illinois 1968-1971 ....... Teacher Chicago Public Schools 1971-1976....... Evaluation Specialist Wisconsin Research and Development Center for Cognitive Learning, University of Wisconsin-Madison 1976-1985........ Research Associate Center for Evaluation and Research, Rhode Island College, Providence, Rhode Island 1982-1985........ Acting Director Center for Evaluation and Research, Rhode Island College, Providence, Rhode Island 1986-1989.... Graduate Research Associate PROBE, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1989-1990........ Presidential Fellow The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio PUBLICATIONS Zajano, N. C,, & Mitchell, B. (1988). Schoolhouse blues: Tensions among research, policy and practice. Theory into Practice., 27_t 161-168. Zajano, N. C., Mitchell, B., Schiraldi, F. (1989). Principal policy in Ohio. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University, Policy Research for Ohio Based Education (PROBE). Zajano, N. C. (1989). Reading Recovery and ESEA Chapter 1: Issues and possibilities. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University, Policy Research for Ohio Based Education < PROBE). Zajano, N. C., & Mitchell, B. (1987). Students "At-Risk'1: Points to ponder for Ohio educational policy. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University, Policy Research for Ohio Based Education (PROBE). FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Education Studies in Policy Research: Dr. Brad Mitchell Dr. Robert Backoff Dr. Robert Donmoyer Studies in Communication: Dr. Charles Galloway Studies in Organizational Theory: Dr. Robert Backoff Dr. Brad Mitchell Studies in' Qualitative Research Dr. Robert Donmoyer Dr. Robert Backoff Dr. Brad Mitchell Dr. Patti Lather \ vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................... iii VITA.........................................................vi LIST OF TABLES...........................................xii CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION........................................ ..1 Background for the Study: Policy Implementation Literature. ....... .3 Statement of the Problem and Research Questions................................. 6 Methodology. ........................ 7 Rationale for the Inquiry......................... 9 Delimitations of the Inquiry.....................10 State Testing Policy........................ .....12 Community and Schools of Foster................. 19 Def initions........................................21 Overview of Chapters Two through Five...........24 II. THEORETICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL AND RESEARCH BACKGROUND...................................... .26 Introduction......................... 26 Language and Culture..............................28 Social Construction of Reality...... 31 Discourse........................ 3 7 Culture, Context and Discourse Rules......... 39 Organization and Culture......................... 42 Organizations as Relationships................ 44 Organizational Policies and Commun i cat i on................................. 47 Summary and Example from Schools............ ..51 Discourse/Conversation........... ............. .55 Policy............................................. 62 Policy Definitions and Types................. 62 Policy Analysis and Problem Setting.......... 67 Policy Implementation.................. 72 viii School Reform Policies: Top-down and/or Bottom-up..............................75 State Testing Policies.