Under What Conditions Do School Districts Learn From External Partners? The Role of Absorptive Capacity
Item
Title
Under What Conditions Do School Districts Learn From External Partners? The Role of Absorptive Capacity
Abstract/Description
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.
Author/creator
Date
In publication
Volume
56
Issue
3
Pages
955-994
Resource type
Research/Scholarly Media
Resource status/form
Published Text
Scholarship genre
Empirical
Open access/full-text available
No
Peer reviewed
Yes
ISSN
0002-8312
Citation
Farrell, C. C., Coburn, C. E., & Chong, S. (2019). Under What Conditions Do School Districts Learn From External Partners? The Role of Absorptive Capacity. American Educational Research Journal, 56(3), 955–994. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218808219
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