IMPLEMENTING A FEDERALLY-FUNDED COLLEGE-BASED TEACHING MODEL IN AN URBAN PUBLIC SCHOOL (NEW YORK)

BERNICE MARIAN WILSON, Fordham University

Abstract

The present study is a retrospective evaluation of a college-based, federally-funded educational model in a New York City Public School. The program in the School was the result of a grant from the Bureau for the Education of the Handicapped to a college, for the purpose of preparing regular public school teachers to teach learning disabled children effectively in their classrooms. The College program to be implemented and researched, called the "clinical diagnostic teaching model," assumed that diagnosis should proceed from teaching rather than from testing. The original objectives of the present work were an investigation of the clinical diagnostic teaching method in the public school and an analysis of the problems in attempting to transfer an educational program developed in a college to a public school. An unexpected development during implementation, however, required a shift of focus. The public school program studied was designed for the final two years of a three year project, but the project was cut short half-way through. The dissolution of the program necessitated a broadening of focus to include the interrelationships of external policy variables and intra-organizational processes. A framework of policy theory was designed to make sense of all the events in the implementation process. The thesis of this work is that successful implementation is dependent primarily upon the harmonious interactions of major participants and upon substantive educational contributions, but that such interactions and contributions must be viewed against a framework of policy theory. The present study uses "an integrated research paradigm," developed by Bordier and Wilson (1982), a single theoretical framework, which attempts to encompass the process of implementation from the formulation of public policy, through the phases of governance, management and organizational processes to goal attainment. It is a method of holistic analysis of policy implementation as a process, which avoids viewing implementation as an over-generalized or uni-directed procedure. This work is offered in the hope of developing insights into the process of implementation by means of a comprehensive analysis of a case study of one such program through the integrated research paradigm.

Subject Area

Education

Recommended Citation

WILSON, BERNICE MARIAN, "IMPLEMENTING A FEDERALLY-FUNDED COLLEGE-BASED TEACHING MODEL IN AN URBAN PUBLIC SCHOOL (NEW YORK)" (1983). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI8314610.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI8314610

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