Delegation of Authority, Interdependence, and Productivity: Managing Writing Response Groups through an Organizational Approach

Abstract

This study of writing response groups in six high school English classrooms tested Cohen, Lotan, and Leechor's (1989) conceptualization of the delegation of authority in task groups. The study compared two treatments that differed in type of supervision of the groups and in type of interdependence within the groups: one treatment included full delegation of authority by the teacher and reciprocal interdependence, whereas the other treatment included partial delegation of authority and sequential interdependence. There was support for the hypothesis that with controls for untreated status problems and for teachers' rigor of implementation of the treatments, with full delegation of authority and reciprocal interdependence, the rate of high-quality talk about writing would be more strongly correlated with achievement in writing than under the condition of partial delegation of authority and sequential interdependence. Results supported the hypothesis that with controls for the rigor of implementation of the treatments and for students' previous academic achievement, students' individual achievement in writing would be greater with full delegation of authority and reciprocal interdependence than under the condition of partial delegation of authority and sequential interdependence.