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The notion of schools as ‘loosely coupled’ organizations has been widely discussed in the research literature. Many argue it is either a protective mechanism for schools to buffer external pressure or a barrier for implementing new reforms. Against the backdrop of systemic change and accountability, we applied a two-level hierarchical linear model to nationally representative data in the US, testing the ‘loosely coupled’ theory through examining the association between data-informed improvement efforts at the school level and data-informed instruction at the classroom level. Statistically significant associations were identified but with a small proportion of variance explained, indicating that the top-down systemic change strategy failed to tighten the system as intended. Alternatively, bottom-up strategies, such as professional learning communities, which operate under the assumption of working with loose coupling, should be considered.

Is the power relationship between public school teachers and principals a win-win situation or a zero-sum game? By applying hierarchical linear modeling to the 1999-2000 nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey data, we found that both the winwin and zero-sum-game theories had empirical evidence. The decision-making areas characterized by the win-win theory are much more than those characterized by the zero-sum-game theory. The practice of win-win is more prevalent at the elementary than at the secondary level. Whether it is win-win or zero-sum depends on the decision-making areas and the school level. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

This study examined the associations between public alternative schools' teacher job satisfaction and school processes. Based on a multilevel analysis of the national School and StaffingSurvey 2007-08 data, we found that among the seven school processes, public alternative schools' administrative support, staff collegiality, career and working condition, and positive student behavior had positive associations with teacher job satisfaction. More importantly, we noticed that higher level factors (e.g., administrative/resource support from school level or above) presented more impacts on teacher job satisfaction. Other factors' impacts on teacher job satisfaction and relevant implications were discussed as well.