This dissertation is a collection of three interrelated chapters that explore unique dimensions of hub-outlet school reform. This type of school reform, in which a central hub organization designs a model for instructional improvement meant to be implemented with fidelity across unique outlet school sites, has gained credibility in the crowded school reform marketplace as a way to improve instruction and, in turn, student achievement. These chapters describe a study of the implementation of one such school reform organization, the New Tech Network, and its work in three outlet high schools in Michigan. In particular, the chapters use different dimensions of an organizational analytical framework to understand variations in the ways New Tech's model for school reform is interpreted, supported, and applied in practice. Chapter 1 explores how New Tech's model for reform was interpreted through an interactive sensemaking process among hub and outlet actors, in which unique interpretations were then co-constructed in different ways across classrooms and schools. Chapter 2 investigates New Tech's supports for developing educational infrastructure and how those supports varied. Finally, Chapter 3 documents the extent to which practice changed in the first two years of implementation, analyzing influences on variation among the hub, model, and outlets. Taken together, these chapters begin to unravel the complexities of implementing hub-outlet school reform and provide important evidence that characteristics of hubs and outlets can heavily influence the likelihood of high fidelity implementation.
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