Centralized Disciplinary Policy Implementation Gap: A Sense-Making and Street-Level Bureaucracy Perspective

This study examines disciplinary policy in Israeli schools and the relationship between the Ministry of Education’s formal directives and their implementation. Interviews with 30 principals and teachers revealed that the Ministry’s discipline circulars are seen as impenetrable, irrelevant texts that create an “implementation gap” and a sense of disconnection from official policy. Educators treat the policy as a “dead letter” and rely mainly on their own judgment. Their sense-making responds to the policy’s perceived absence, interpreted as autonomy. The gap also generates fear of legal claims, as policy is used mostly in extreme cases.