Secretary of Education William Bennett discusses the importance of elementary education and elementary school teachers and what he hopes "First Lessons: A Report on Elementary Education in America" will accomplish. (MT)

Principals' use of the curriculum council to develop the professional management function and establish a position of educational leadership is recommended. Additional benefits would include improved communications with staff and increased professional collegiality. (MJL)

The fifth of six volumes in the "Elementary Principal Series," this booklet clarifies the principal's leadership role in developing an effective school discipline policy that stresses staff involvement and student self-control. As team leader, the principal works with staff to establish standards and insists that they be enforced. A…

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…

A study of three middle school principals about their instructional leadership activities before and after the establishment of shared decision making revealed an enhancement of leadership. The nature of the middle school teacher's role demands participative leadership and communication and decision making revolved around instructional issues.…

School Centered Management (SCM) focuses on the school as the center of all management endeavors. Systematic delegation, support, and accountability are parts of SCM's situational approach to management. (MLF)

Sharing decision making with teachers and parents actually increases the principal's influence. Offers 10 steps to translate leadership skills into school restructuring. (MLF)

Contends that, in the culture of professional egalitarianism that often prevails in schools, teachers are likely to accord power only to expert principals. Asserts that this can lead to weak coordination and control of a school's instructional program. Reports on results of a study of 17 elementary schools that support this viewpoint. (CFR)

Discusses the decentralization of educational administration in Victoria. Examines the change from central to local selection of principals as a possible example of more democratic structures where greater collaboration and participation have been incorporated into the decision-making process. (53 references) (MLF)

To address the professional needs of principals and other middle management supervisors, school boards might consider meet-and-discuss sessions, a middle ground between unilateral board action and collective bargaining. Sessions are nonbinding, produce better decisions, confront root causes of job dissatisfaction, and can strengthen the management…

Borrowing from Madeline Hunter, school districts should define staff development as school- or district-wide efforts to improve the quality of teacher decision-making. This article outlines a six-step process (including needs assessment, brainstorming, strategic plannning, communicating plans, coaching for effectiveness, and periodic monitoring)…

Principals should allow teacher input into decision making in appropriate areas and be clear about exactly which areas these are. (JM)

This book is designed to help administrators with school reform to improve levels of teaching and learning. The text is based on key findings from school-change literature, as well as first-hand experiences in the process of school reform. It addresses how to develop a collective vision, how to provide professional development, how to involve…

Principals of smaller and rural secondary schools should think critically about the mix of their goals with staff members' goals. Although very little can be accomplished from the principal's momentum alone, a united group can accomplish great things. Suggestions are given for providing each staff member with meaningful leadership opportunities.…

Reviews the history of citizens' advisory councils and the attitudes toward them, the uses to which they are put, common problems they pose for principals, and their potential for contributing to the schools. Notes that principals usually view such councils negatively, and that principals' attitudes determine council effectiveness. (PGD)