Teacher empowerment and the capacity for organizational learning

Teacher empowerment has been the subject of considerable educational resear ch in recent years, but the capacity of schools for organizational learning has received limited empirical attention. This study links these two resea rch streams and identifies those dimensions of the capacity for organizatio nal learning that are also the themes of school restructuring. Data for the study come from 24 site-managed public schools engaged in significant rest ructuring activities, 8 at each of three grade levels (elementary?, middle, and high). Multilevel analyses demonstrate a strong and consistent relatio nship between organizational learning and teacher empowerment, measured bot h as a school organizational characteristic and as an experience of individ ual teachers. The relationship is particularly strong for empowerment in th e domains of teacher work life and strident school experience.