Recognizing that a necessary and significant role change is underway in faculty development, this book calls for centers to merge their traditional responsibilities and services with a leadership role as organizational developers. Failing to define and outline the dimensions and expertise of this new role puts centers at risk of not only…

Guidelines for avoiding negative side effects of committee work include reasons for forming or not forming a committee, advantages and disadvantages of committees, and questions to help establish a committee in which members understand their role, task, and relationship to the administrator. (MJL)

This workbook is designed for leaders and members of work teams in educational and social-service systems. It presents in a systematic fashion a set of tested facilitation tools that will allow teams to work more efficiently and harmoniously, enabling them to achieve their goals, to deal directly with both personal and work-related issues that…

In today's workplace, organizations are moving from top-down, hierarchical decision making to team decisions based on consensus. This guide offers advice on setting the stage for team consensus to grow and on establishing an environment that fosters consensus. Topics of the four sections, the components of full consensus, are: (1) "Purposeful…

Shared governance is an elusive concept for schools to grasp and put into action. For schools to move forward with shared governance implementation, they need to gain a clear, precise understanding of who is involved, what processes ensure that those targeted will actually be involved, what those individuals' efforts should focus on, and what…

Teams can produce innovative solutions to complex problems, enabling organizations to be faster, more responsive, more competitive, and more successful in meeting their missions. These kinds of results are not guaranteed, however. When an organization sponsors a team, it is usually to address a challenge deemed essential to organizational success.…

Quality improvement, or Total Quality Management (TQM), has been used for years in the corporate world to help companies achieve better customer satisfaction, increase market share, and improve profitability. More recently, TQM has emerged as a promising strategy for school improvement and educational reform. In 1991, the school district of…

Experience shows that teamwork produces powerful results. Working in a team environment, however, presents its own set of challenges. This handbook provides U.S. Department of Education managers and employees with guidance to develop high-performing teams. Based on input from agency employees throughout the country, the handbook was designed to…

This publication examines the situations in which school-based management has worked and, conversely, those in which it failed to meet expectations. It attempts to identify exactly what school-based management (SBM) is and what it is not. Information was obtained from interviews with researchers and practitioners, a review of literature, and a…

This book presents interactive problem-solving situations based on the principles of Total Quality Management. Following the introductory chapter, the second chapter describes the two stages of the problem-solving process: (1) analysis of the problem and its causes, and (2) identification of a solution. Each stage is comprised of three…

This handbook leads the reader through planning and conducting the collaborative evaluation of a workplace development initiative. A glossary is followed by an introduction that addresses the rationale for collaborative evaluation, values and characteristics, using the handbook in one's own situation, and optimum conditions for collaborative…

A series of study lessons are presented for Catholic school board members who formulate policies for Catholic educational programs. The format is designed around 15 to 20 minutes of group study built into the regular board meeting agenda. Each lesson is designed as an independent unit on a single topic or skill, and each is divided into three…

Although, theoretically, an organizational vision can unite school-community members, it can also destroy organizational culture without the consensus of those members. This publication offers guidelines for creating a collaborative vision--one that gives all members the opportunity to help create the vision. Each school should choose a strategy…

In the face of increasing demands for school reform, educational leaders are looking anew at the core elements of the instructional program, including the curriculum. This book serves as a guide to both understanding and practicing sound curriculum development. It lays out the steps of a quality curriculum-development process and emphasizes that…

Teachers can take effective schoolwide leadership roles if the principal encourages each teacher to take responsibility for an aspect of school life that the individual teacher cares strongly about. Such opportunities to engage in school leadership are attractive for teachers because (1) they offer possibilities for improving teaching conditions;…