ABSTRACT
Policy actions can take dramatic and surprising turns when policy advocates using a conflict paradigm gain enough power to overcome the managerial efficiency orientation of functional analysts. Examination of education policy development over the last century identifies two distinct waves of Progressive reform wrestling with Corporatist and market forces for control of the organization and core missions of the nation's major social institutions, including the public schools. This chapter explores ways of interpreting why Progressive policy shifts tended to come in relatively brief bursts of activity interspersed with periods of neglect or reversal; often followed by inconsistent shifts from one policy focus to another. Progressive policy advocates used a functionalist paradigm to focus reform efforts. Their goals, however, were broader and more democratic than those being used by the professional "scientific management" executives who typically endorsed narrower academic learning goals.
