How State Educational Agency Coordinators Navigate Logics of Local Control in Standards Implementation

Abstract

State educational agency content coordinators commonly experience tensions in their professional roles related to distinct sets of beliefs, or logics, about who “should” control what students learn: the state bureaucracy, the local community, or the broader profession. Using an institutional logics frame and drawing on interviews with coordinators for English/language arts representing about a third of U.S. states, we illustrate how individuals navigate these competing traditions of decision-making. Multiple logics shaped coordinators’ perceptions of their job responsibilities and goals, as well as the actions they felt were possible for them to take in creating and providing resources, communicating those resources to local stakeholders, and providing professional development. More consistent messaging to coordinators about the types of outreach the state views as acceptable would better support high-quality literacy instruction.