School reformers hope that converting comprehensive high schools into collections of small schools will produce results similar to those realized in freestanding small schools. Three themes--personalization, professional community, and shared decision making--exemplify the early successes in conversions. But the challenge of sustaining these gains…

To ease the transition to participative decision making, some site-based-managed schools are turning to technologies such as computers, spreadsheets, word processing, e-mail, voice mail, databases, and the Internet. Although few schools recognize available technological options and their ability to improve accountability, some administrators in…

The article explores the consequences of new systems of shared decision making and governance for the assessment of principals, presenting case studies of two Chicago-area school districts that made substantial progress expanding teachers' professional roles in school- and district-level governance. (SM)

The recent school reform movement of the 1980s and 1990s has been characterized by school-based management (SBM) initiatives and participatory decision-making arrangements. While much has been written about the need for teacher, parental and community involvement in school decision-making, the role of the student in these experiments has remained…

Although curriculum issues still command reformers' attention, researchers recognize that academic success is tied to home and community support. Alliance for Achievement is a school-community management program that addresses the relationships among schools, homes, and communities based on locally defined and commonly held educational values. The…