Journal Article

Under What Conditions Do School Districts Learn From External Partners? The Role of Absorptive Capacity

Coburn, Cynthia E., Chong, Seenae, Farrell, Caitlin C.

2019

Overview

School district central offices regularly engage with external partners in improvement efforts, but these partnerships are not always productive. Indeed, little is known about under what conditions partnerships are likely to lead to organizational learning outcomes. We conducted a longitudinal comparative case study of two departments in one urban school district central office, both working with the same external partner. Data included 131 interviews and 372 hours of observations as well as artifacts and social network data. While one department did not incorporate the partner's ideas into policies and routines, the other demonstrated greater integration. We argue this difference is due to organizational conditions that foster absorptive capacity and to the nature of department-partner interactions.

• Publisher: SAGE Publishing,SAGE Publications,American Educational Research Association
• Subject: Absorptive capacity / Administrator Role / Board of Education Policy / Central Office Administrators / Common Core State Standards / Departments / Educational Administration / Educational research / English Language Learners / Expertise / Faculty Development / Guidance / Interaction / Learning Processes / Mathematics Curriculum / Meetings / Organization theory / Organizational Change / Organizational Climate / Organizational learning / Outcomes of Education / Partnerships in Education / Policy Formation / Prior Learning / School Districts / School Effectiveness / Social Networks / Strategic Planning / Urban Schools