Policymakers and researchers often talk about "autonomous schools" as if there's a single, agreed-upon definition of what that means. In reality, there's no standard design for autonomous school policies, and school autonomy can mean a lot of different things. The policies that states have enacted vary widely in terms of their goals, the…

Across the United States, a movement to create a new kind of public school--"autonomous district schools"--is giving districts the freedoms charter schools receive. Like charter schools, autonomous district schools are freed from innovation-inhibiting state and district policies, allowing talented educators to make academic and…

Focuses on behaviors and activities of three high school principals as they respond to district's decision to implement a shared decision-making model designed to give teachers and parents a larger voice. Describes these administrators' varying responses, along with varied ways democratic leadership was multilaterally defined in each school by…

This article provides school council members in Texas public schools engaged in site-based decision-making (SBDM) with information about creating successful preschool programs for language minority children (LMC). It is intended to help the councils make decisions as to how they can: (1) ensure that language minority children have access equal to…

This paper reviews research on principals' and teachers' roles in site-based decision making (SBDM). Research examining teacher participation in SBDM is reviewed, finding that higher quality teaching behaviors and higher student academic attainment resulted from teacher participation. The review focuses on steps in implementing SBDM, means for…