This research examines Florida school districts' adoption of Reading First legislation passed into law as part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This research attempts to answer the fundamental question pertinent to the policy adoption process: Why do some school districts readily adopt the Reading First innovation while others do not adopt it? This research will test key factors based on the following explanations: 1) Political Institutions, 2) Need and District Characteristics, 3) Education Ideology, 4) Policy Entrepreneurs and Networks, and 5) Diffusion. A multivariate model representing the five competing explanations was created to determine what drives local governments (school districts) to adopt Reading First policy using Event History Analysis. The results show two significant variables, reading scores (need) and diffusion. School districts with fewer proficient readers are more likely to be early adopters of Reading First. The diffusion variable was also significant but unexpectedly had a negative relationship finding that districts with fewer contiguous districts that have adopted Reading First are more likely to be early adopters. While unexpected, it may be the result of the short timeline of the adoption process and the pressure by the media, political actors, and district personnel to be an early adopter. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2005. / October 6, 2005. / Reading First, Innovation, Event History Analysis, Diffusion, Florida / Includes bibliographical references. / Frances Stokes Berry, Professor Directing Dissertation; Sande Milton, Outside Committee Member; Richard Feiock, Committee Member; Lance DeHaven-Smith, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_181985 |
| Contributors | Lassila, Christy Lyn Hovanetz (authoraut), Berry, Frances Stokes (professor directing dissertation), Milton, Sande (outside committee member), Feiock, Richard (committee member), DeHaven-Smith, Lance (committee member), School of Public Administration and Policy (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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