| In education literature, "capacity" has been described as the ability of an agent to achieve stated goals. However, concerns about the mediocre outcomes of reform efforts have prompted studies indicating that capacity issues may be the primary obstacles to the successful implementation of education policy. The need to examine the concept of capacity is evident, and prompts several questions: What is capacity? What levels of capacity exist? How can capacity be increased? Moreover, how has the concept of capacity been assessed?;School districts are influential agents of educational policy because they are oftentimes the primary source of instructional and material support for schools and practitioners. Therefore, an examination of the extent to which districts have the capacity to effectively implement policy is of critical importance. In particular, because professional development has been cited by researchers as an essential strategy for building individual and school capacities, an examination of the extent to which districts have the capacity to support high-quality professional development may have significant implications for teaching and learning.;A review of studies about district capacity revealed that there has been limited emphasis on examining the concept of organizational capacity. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to explore the assessment of the organizational capacity of school districts, with particular emphasis on the assessment of organizational structures, management systems, and support mechanisms.;A case study analysis of the Boston Public Schools and the Collaborative Coaching and Learning Model, which included interviews with district administrators, principals, and school coaches and review of archival materials, revealed that the district has developed organizational capacity to support this systemic professional development initiative. However, this analysis also revealed that district administrators should address important concerns about organizational capacity to better sustain ongoing implementation.;The contributions of this dissertation include a stronger understanding of organizational capacity, the identification of techniques to assess the concept, the identification of challenges to assessment, and the discovery of questions that require further exploration. |
