Emphasizes the need for intimate faculty involvement in planning a new school gymnasium. Once an architect has been chosen, planners should consider flexibility for newer sports and other functions and be aware of choices regarding size, flooring, use of dividers, and maintenance. Because gym requirements vary by region and school system, careful…

The shared governance program in the Salt Lake City schools has the teachers and administrators working together to solve problems. (IRT)

Some enlightened approaches to encouraging staff participation and ownership culled from Oregonian school executives include 4 C's (comments, criticisms, complaints, and compliments) advisory committee, 5-minute stand-up staff meetings, potlatches (monthly dinner workshops), "5/10" (short-answer) reports eliciting teacher comments,…

A state-sponsored pilot program is allowing the faculty at two North Carolina schools to experiment with school reform. Lead teachers serve as instructional leaders and coordinate teachers' efforts to develop class schedules, plan and organize inservice training, and analyze test scores. (MLF)

By giving teachers control over improving the curriculum, an Idaho school system has created a systemwide syllabus that guides each teacher in each subject and grade. (MLF)

Tupelo (Mississippi) Superintendent Mike Walters eschewed his former "happy bureaucrat" role for a facilitative role allowing teachers to reinvent curriculum and instruction. Inspired by Deming's continuous-improvement precept and aided by a $3.5 million grant from the area's Fortune-500 business community, this superintendent finds…

If a school and community are qualified enough to hire teachers, counselors, and secretaries through school-based-management processes, they are equally qualified to hire the school principal. This article describes a site-based team-selection process designed to identify optimal administrator characteristics, advertise the job opening, handle…