Reconstructing Conceptions of Local Capacity: The Local Education Agency’s Capacity for Ambitious Instructional Reform

Abstract

In this article, the authors argue that the notion of local capacity needs to be rethought in light of the extraordinary demands for learning imposed on local educators by the current wave of instructional reforms. Confining their discussion to the local education agency (LEA), the authors argue that the LEA’s capacity to support ambitious instruction consists to a large degree of LEA leaders’ ability to learn new ideas from external policy and professional sources and to help others within the district learn these ideas. Drawing on a study of nine school districts, they identify three interrelated dimensions of this capacity—human capital, social capital, and financial resources.