Abstract
Big-city school systems have been described as rigid, ponderous, hierarchical bureaucracies. They have also been called loosely coupled systems virtually out of control. Which are they-tight or loose? A study of Chicago principals reveals that the system does indeed exert powerful hierarchical control, but it does so not through a muscular apparatus of directives but rather through a not-so-subtle enforcement of loyalties, values, and unspoken expectations.
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