Decentralization and Educational Reform: What Accounts for a Decoupling Between Policy Purpose and Practice? Evidence from Buenos Aires, Argentina

This study provides empirical evidence of the implementation outcomes of decentralization and education reform policies conducted in Argentina during the 1990s. The study examines how the reform was adopted at the provincial level, to what extent policy implementation matches national official mandates, and what role organizational factors play in the processes of policy implementation and outcomes. Results shed light on the political roots of organizational adaptation that motives a decoupling between policy directives, implementation, and outcomes. Introduction During the past decades, policies of education decentralization have been advocated and implemented worldwide (Davis & Guppy, 1997; Green, 1999). In the 1990s, almost every country in Latin America (hereafter, LA) was engaged in some sort of education reform that included decentralization. In contrast with the effectiveness and cost efficiency arguments advocated during the decentralization policies conducted during the 1980s, democratization and participation were the generalized arguments advanced during recent educational decentralization reforms (1). While the rationale and rhetoric used for decentralizing education were similar across countries, actual implementation varies across and within countries. Although students of education decentralization in LA have been describing some of the differences and similarities in policy implementation across countries, still very little is known about policy adaptation and outcomes at subnational levels (2). The purpose of this study is twofold. The first goal is to provide empirical evidence of the implementation and outcomes of the education reform and decentralization policies conducted in Argentina during the 1990s. The second, to examine how the reform was adopted at the provincial level, to what extent policy implementation matches national official mandates, and what role organizational factors play in policy implementation and outcomes.