State education policies and changing school practices: Evidence from the national longitudinal study of schools, 1980-1993

Since the early 1980s states have implemented numerous policies designed to change school practices. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Schools, a nationally representative sample of public high schools, we examine the relationship between three state policies and changes in school practices between the early 1980s and 1993. In states with greater high school graduation requirements, high schools are more likely to increase course requirements but are not more likely to change course offerings. Dissemination of school test score policies are associated with an increase in the percentage of students enrolled in the academic track and a decrease in general track enrollments. State policies encouraging site-based management are associated with increases in the influence of teachers and school councils in decision making and with decreases in the influence of the central office. These findings suggest that state policies influence school practices in policy specific domains, rather than having diffuse effects on the organization of schools. These policy effects illustrate the need for more theoretically grounded studies of the complex linkages between state policies and school practices.