Duet or Duel? A Portrait of Two Logics of Reading Instruction in an Urban School District

This article presents findings on the institutional logics of reading instruction in an urban school district, portraying how district leaders and coaches enacted two logics. Findings are grounded in observation, interview, and document data on district leaders and literacy coaches from a 13-month period. Using neo-institutional theory, this article highlights the interrelationship between macro level structures and microlevel practices, particularly discussing the lived logics used throughout the implementation of a new reading program. I explicate two logics of reading instruction: Accountability First and Just Read, which coexisted within the district to provide formal and informal rules to structure action. To reveal the complexities of educators' enactment of logics, this article portrays how district leaders advanced each logic. It also depicts how coaches hybridized the logics, with consequences for the direction of reform. It shows how educators in different leadership positions engage together with logics. The findings have implications for structure-agency theory, district leadership, and school reform.