The number of staff members serving American higher education institutions has more than doubled in the past twenty years, as occupations in technology, development, government relations, and even athletic administration have grown as never before in the history of the academy. As the number, variety, and importance of these positions have grown,…

Effective administrative decisions result from the continuous and systematic appraisal of past decisions and of current conditions. Forty observations that may guide secondary school administrators in assessing and improving the effectiveness of their own decision-making processes are presented in this publication. Each observation is accompanied…

Quality circles are groups of people performing similar work that meet regularly to improve their work settings. Since the quality circle is a means for organizational change, it is helpful to place the concept within the literature of organizational change in the field of educational administration. With the use of quality circles, change occurs…

The article describes the goals, rationale, structure of the shared decision-making model in effect at the Nueva Learning Center, a private elementary school for gifted and talented in Hillsborough, California. An example applying the model to class scheduling and 10 steps for facilitating the process are given. (Author/DB)

This article focuses on data-based decision making at the school level and provides guidelines for principals. Necessary prior conditions, methods for developing a data-oriented culture, and expected outcomes are discussed. By using data, administrators can analyze programmatic decisions and promote empowerment of staff.

This paper discusses "moral imagination" or vision by strong-minded task-oriented contemporary educational leaders like New Jersey's Joe Clark. These are principals and superintendents who will challenge traditional assumptions about the nature of the school's relationships with its internal and external publics in favor of their own…

Interviews in seven English secondary schools revealed levels of teacher involvement in decisionmaking in the areas of finance and resources that ranged from schools where heads kept information confidential to one where a committee used a formula. (MLF)

This booklet reviews decision-making, an important part of administrative processes, from the perspective of school teachers and other educators. The two most commonly used processes are the rational decision-making process (identify the problem, evaluate the problem, collect information, identify alternative solutions, select and implement…

Three independent divisions of a large public agency, each with between 35 and 55 members, were randomly divided into experimental, placebo, and control groups for an intervention emphasizing decision-making and goal-setting practices that promote maximum employee interaction and participation. Results indicate increased levels of creativity after…

To implement School Based Management (SBM) in Charleston County, South Carolina, the school district was reorganized to include a management team to make shared decisions on all phases of district activities. Local schools were required to develop short and long range plans that encouraged needs assessment, goal identification, strategy…

This paper explores the decision-making process leading to school district approval for staff development. A retrospective field study approach was used to investigate the decision of a small, rural school district in eastern Washington (enrollment 2,200) to adopt a comprehensive English composition teaching program throughout the curriculum. This…

To improve secondary school organization, operation, and outcomes, a research report presents major results from 13 studies of leadership, decision-making, and change conducted by Project on the Administration and Organization for Instruction staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in cooperation with over 100 schools. National and statewide…

This study of the composition and operation of both "top down" and "participative" school management teams in 18 Israeli elementary schools considers (1) how management teams are organized, solve problems, and make decisions; and (2) how the operation of the management team influences school effectiveness. No relationship…

Purpose: This paper sets out to posit that the new economy places a new set of demands on schools and those who lead. Mindfulness, intentional engagement of people and adaptive confidence are needed developmental features of beginning principal success. The paper examines how beginning principals in Canada respond to the capacity-building work of…

This study describes and analyzes the involvement of library and university groups and individuals in arriving at major library decisions concerning budgeting, automation, policy making, and operational issues in 12 selected university libraries. Site visits, interviews, and questionnaires were used to compare the decision making roles of…