the teacher’s practices that significantly contribute to educational outcomes. But those practices are shaped by the others in a school who can provide local knowledge and who may expect local coordination. Thus we bring the tools of social network analysis to bear on the classic challenge of understanding the decision making of teachers within the social organization of their schools. References Brown, D. G., Page, S. E., , R., , M. & , W. (2005). Path dependence and the validation of agent-based spatial models of land use. International Journal 153–174. of Geographical Information Science, 19(2), Christakis, N. & Fowler, J. (2007). The spread of obesity in a large social network over 32 years. 370–379. The New England Journal of Medicine, 357, Christakis, N. & Fowler, J. (2008). The collective dynamics of smoking in a large social network. 249–258. The New England Journal of Medicine, 358, Coburn, C. E., Choi, L. & Mata, W. (2010). I would go to her because her mind is math: Network formation in the context of mathematics reform. In A. J. Daly (Ed.), (pp. 33–50). Social network theory and educational change Cambridge, MA: Harvard Educational Press. Coburn, C. E. & Russell, J. L. (2008). District policy and teachers’ social networks. 203–235. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(3),
the teacher’s practices that significantly contribute to educational outcomes. But those practices are shaped by the others in a school who can provide local knowledge and who may expect local coordination. Thus we bring the tools of social network analysis to bear on the classic challenge of understanding the decision making of teachers within the social organization of their schools. References Brown, D. G., Page, S. E., , R., , M. & , W. (2005). Path dependence and the validation of agent-based spatial models of land use. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 19(2), 153–174. Christakis, N. & Fowler, J. (2007). The spread of obesity in a large social network over 32 years. The New England Journal of Medicine, 357, 370–379. Christakis, N. & Fowler, J. (2008). The collective dynamics of smoking in a large social network. The New England Journal of Medicine, 358, 249–258. Coburn, C. E., Choi, L. & Mata, W. (2010). I would go to her because her mind is math: Network formation in the context of mathematics reform. In A. J. Daly (Ed.), Social network theory and educational change (pp. 33–50). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Educational Press. Coburn, C. E. & Russell, J. L. (2008). District policy and teachers’ social networks. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(3), 203–235.