More than mundane matters: an exploration of how schools organize professional learning teams

Figures & data

Table 1. Sample descriptions.

School leaders	Descriptive	Data
	Male/Female	5 male (50%)/5 female (50%)
	Age (in years)	M= 55,2 SD = 7,1 (range: 42–63)
	leadership experience (in years)	M = 14,7 SD = 8,1 (range: 7–30)
Teachers	Descriptive	Data
	Male/Female	2 male (13, 3%)/13 female (86, 7%)
	Age (in years)	M= 42.9, SD = 11,9 (range: 27–59)
	Teaching experience (in years)	M = 15,1, SD = 10,1 (range: 5–35)
	Teacher qualification	M.Ed.: n = 7 (46, 7%)
		B.Ed.: n= 8 (53, 3%)
	Main teaching subject	Dutch n = 9 (60%)
		Math n = 6 (40%)

Table 2. Characteristics of the nine case study schools.

School¹	Size	Interviews (N)		LS groups formed
		School/Team leaders	Teachers
Greenfield	1316	1	1	1
Park West	281	2	3	1
Bakersfield	1361	1	1	1
Mayfair	305	1	1	1
Adams	920	1	3	3
Franklin	1100	1	2	1
Palmdale	1381	2	2	2
Inglewood	1004	0	1	4
Glendale	2051	1	1	1

¹ School names are all pseudonyms

Table 3. Operationalizations of the aspects of data analysis.

Data analysis aspects	Operationalization
Tightly coupled organizational tasks and processes	School leadership controls tasks and processes by administrative orders and sets them up in a top-down manner (Shen et al., 2017).
Loosely coupled organizational tasks and processes	School leadership delegates setting up the organizational tasks and processes to teachers and refrains from being involved (Hautala et al., 2018).
Balanced coupling of organizational tasks and processes	School leaders and teachers are both involved and communicated and collaborated how to set-up the work (Hökkä & Vähäsantanen, 2014).
Positive experience of organizational tasks and processes	School leaders and teachers are satisfied and content with the set-up of the organizational task or process
Negative experience of organizational tasks and processes	School leaders and teachers are not satisfied and not content with the set-up of the organizational task or process.
Tightly coupled departments or teams	Department or teams collaborate frequently
Loosely coupled departments or teams	Department or teams work in isolation
Tightly coupled PD	Schools hold teachers accountable for PD hours and there was a PD plan for the staff
Loosely coupled PD	Schools do not hold teachers accountable for PD hours and there is no PD plan for the staff

Table 4. Overview of coupling of organizational tasks and process in the nine schools.

School	Recruitment of participants	Credit for time-investment	Scheduling meetings
Greenfield	Loose	Tight	Loose
Park West	Tight	Tight	Tight
Bakersfield	Loose	Balanced	Loose
Mayfair	Loose	Balanced	Loose
Adams	Tight	Tight	Tight
Franklin	Loose	Balanced	Balanced
Palmdale	Loose	Tight	Loose
Inglewood	Loose	Tight	Loose
Glendale	Loose	Balanced	Loose

Shen, J., Gao, X., & Xia, J. (2017). School as a loosely coupled organization? an empirical examination using national SASS 2003–04 data. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 45(4), 657–681. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143216628533

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Hautala, T., Helander, J., & Korhonen, V. (2018). Loose and tight coupling in educational organizations–an integrative literature review. Journal of Educational Administration, 56(2), 236–258. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-03-2017-0027

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Hökkä, P., & Vähäsantanen, K. (2014). Agency-centred coupling—a better way to manage an educational organization? International Journal of Leadership in Education, 17(2), 131–153. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2013.783932

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