Uses the example of Vermont's Middlebury College to explore the challenges and possibilities of achieving consensus about institutional change. Discusses why, unlike in this example, consensus usually fails, and presents four demands of an effective consensus process. Includes a list of "test" questions on successful collaboration. (EV)

Describes how camp counselors can foster camaraderie among campers through participative decision making, name games, listening, adventure courses, storytelling, spending time in nature, decorating cabins, avoiding favoritism, setting rules, admitting faults, setting group goals, and praising sincere efforts. (TD)

In a previous book entitled "Zapp! The Lightening of Empowerment", a new system for motivating employees and improving productivity in a corporate setting was presented. This book adapts that empowerment guide to the classroom with workable, hands-on suggestions to help educators motivate their students and themselves. Empowerment in…

The School Effectiveness Training Program (SET) and the Secondary School Development Program (SSDP) were school-improvement programs developed by the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), a state teachers' organization, and Research for Better Schools (RBS), a regional educational laboratory. Coordinating councils played pivotal roles in both…

This book provides useful guidelines for implementing collaborative decision making in the public educational system. The prologue presents the historical background of educational reform in the United States and offers a rationale for radical school reform at the individual school level. The nine chapters that follow are divided into three parts.…

To integrate support staff into the camp community and encourage them to work effectively with the program: give support groups positive names; make service staff partners in camp; develop effective operating practices; maintain open communication; free staff from roles and labels; recognize support staff's contributions; and build team spirit.…

Site-based management is a concept whose time has come. This book was designed to introduce the concept of teaming, elaborate the decision-making process, and describe the skills and processes needed for a variety of decision-making situations. Chapter 1 introduces the concept of teaming and discusses the decision-making process in depth. Chapters…

A democracy must tolerate many points of view without becoming divided. Therefore, public educators and the communities they serve are challenged to help students understand political and religious issues without proselytizing. This handbook provides guidelines for beginning the journey toward common ground, for moving from a climate of antagonism…

Empowerment is based on the viewpoint that power shared is power multiplied. It contributes to increased school effectiveness by providing people with the opportunity and necessary resources to understand and change their world. The interactive processes by which people empower each other and benefit from them are discussed in this report.…