The educational system is in a continual state of refinement in an effort to improve effectiveness. Many decisions are made regarding policy and procedure at the individual school level ascending to the federal level. The majority workforce carrying out these reform efforts is comprised of classroom teachers. Teachers have the most direct…

To implement shared governance, 24 Georgia schools joined with the University of Georgia's Program for School Improvement (PSI) to form the League of Professional Schools. This article explains how staff at participating schools overcame the complexities of the new system by communicating openly and breaking issues down into small parts. (MLH)

Describes practices, thoughts, and feelings of exemplary, shared-governance principals at nine schools affiliated with Glickman's League of Professional Schools in Georgia, using open-ended interviews. Findings showed that implementing shared governance incorporates five salient themes: meanings, involvement of others, redistribution of power,…

Success in today's K-12 environment often hinges on improved test scores. But success should be defined more broadly to recognize the overall learning environment that is created by students, teachers, staff members, administrators, and parents. As a middle level principal, the author has learned that to create long-lasting change and to foster a…

Within the arena of public school reform, teacher empowerment and participation in the decision making process at the building level are of paramount importance. A collaborative team of teacher educators and public school staff was assembled to assess various perceptions of site-based decision making throughout Georgia. A random sample of 400…