Breaking Up Isn’t Hard to Do: Exploring the Dissolution of Teachers’ and School Leaders’ Work-Related Ties

Abstract

Purpose: School leaders are central to the development of work-related ties among school staff. Although prior work has examined the predictors of the presence of work-related ties, little is known about the breakup or dissolution of ties among school staff. This study examines the extent of tie dissolution among school staff, as well as both the individual- and organizational-level predictors of the breakup of ties. Research Methods: This study uses social network analysis of 4 years of survey data from 14 elementary schools in one suburban U.S. district. Social network models predict the likelihood of the breakup of a tie between school staff in three types of networks: close colleague networks, and instructional advice networks in mathematics and language arts. Findings: Work-related ties between school staff dissolve at high rates from year to year, and ties that dissolve generally do not re-form. Aspects of the formal school organization—particularly changing grade levels and losing leadership positions—predict the breakup of ties, while individual-level factors such as commitment to the school, perceptions of school leadership, and beliefs about instruction generally do not predict tie dissolution. Implications for Research and Practice: School leaders should carefully consider grade reassignments and changes in leadership positions, as these changes strongly predict the breakup of ties between school staff. School leaders should also invest in the promotion and maintenance of cross-grade ties after changes to grade-level assignments.

Strengthening networks: A social network intervention among higher education teachers

“…Future intervention studies should further grasp the extent to which teachers acted more intentionally on their networks, and/or grew increased awareness about their networks. Future (qualitative) work could also grasp the processes underlying tie formation, maintenance and dissolution (Spillane & Shirrell, 2017) to further understand the different meanings and reasons for network development.…”

Of Teams and Ties: Examining the Relationship Between Formal and Informal Instructional Support Networks

“…School leaders' role in teacher tie formation is multifaceted. School principals in particular are key to supporting teachers' tie formation through formal means, most notably by assigning teachers to leadership roles within the school (Spillane, Hopkins, & Sweet, 2015;Spillane, Kim, & Frank, 2012), assigning teachers to particular grade levels (Spillane & Shirrell, 2017), and by implementing and sustaining collaborative teaming structures (Coburn et al, 2010;Coburn & Russell, 2008). Numerous studies have supported the idea that collaborative teacher teams are important school-level factors for teacher learning (Jackson & Bruegmann, 2009;Moolenaar et al, 2012;Pounder, 1999;Ronfeldt, Owens Farmer, McQueen, & Grissom, 2015;Sun et al, 2017) though few have looked specifically at the extent to which formal teams may be directly related to teachers' "natural" and voluntary instrumental ties.…”

“…that have formed without a "network intervention" (Van Waes, De Maeyer, Moolenaar, Van Petegem, & Van den Bossche, 2018). Informal ties that form voluntarily between teachers have been found to dissolve at high rates each year and do not tend to re-form (Spillane & Shirrell, 2017). Few studies have explored if and how effective nonvoluntary support networks form.…”

Experimental Effects of Program Management Approach on Teachers’ Professional Ties and Social Capital

“…In one study examining tie formation in a school setting, Spillane and colleagues (2012) found that shared individual characteristics such as race and gender predicted teachers’ advice ties (a common phenomenon known as homophily), but teachers’ organizational positions, such as shared grade-level assignment and holding a formal leadership position, were more important predictors. Relatedly, a change in grade-level assignment predicts the dissolution of ties with former grade-level colleagues (Spillane & Shirrell, 2017). In the context of accountability pressures, teachers are more likely to seek advice from high, rather than low, value-added teachers (Wilhelm, Chen, Smith, & Frank, 2016).…”