Policy as the transformation of intentions: Making multicultural educationpolicy

This qualitative policy study applies an interactionist framework for polic y analysis, especially the concept of intentions, to an examination of the construction of multicultural education policy in a midwestern U.S. school district. Intentions-purposes and goals meant to shape the behavior of acto rs in the future and at other sites-motivate actors to act in the policy ar ena, to use policy as a vehicle for realizing their purposes. Initiated in response to a racial conflict in a high school, the policy process entailed the school board's creation of a committee including many African American community members to generate recommendations for improving race relations . During the process, the school board's intentions, and those of many comm unity members, were transformed due to the administration's reinforcement o f district conventions and power structures. Race relations became multicul tural issues. Community members who misconstrued the process as granting th em real policy-making authority were most disappointed with the outcomes.