Part of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE) research series titled "Teachers' Time: Collaborating for Learning, Teaching, and Leading," this case study looks at Hillsdale High School, a large, comprehensive high school located in San Mateo, California, a high-tech enclave of Silicon Valley nestled 23 miles…

Principals' use of the curriculum council to develop the professional management function and establish a position of educational leadership is recommended. Additional benefits would include improved communications with staff and increased professional collegiality. (MJL)

Effective administrative decisions result from the continuous and systematic appraisal of past decisions and of current conditions. Forty observations that may guide secondary school administrators in assessing and improving the effectiveness of their own decision-making processes are presented in this publication. Each observation is accompanied…

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)

Advocates creation of a steering committee of teachers to develop inservice education topics, find topic presenters, and establish inservice program procedures that will ensure active participation by teachers and sufficient interaction with presenters. (PGD)

School Centered Management (SCM) focuses on the school as the center of all management endeavors. Systematic delegation, support, and accountability are parts of SCM's situational approach to management. (MLF)

The article details aspects of a collaborative administrative style in a special school for gifted children, describing the function of administrators and other adults as role models, the sharing and delegation of decision making, a team approach to professional growth and support, and accountability through a "rich rules" system.…

Discusses the decentralization of educational administration in Victoria. Examines the change from central to local selection of principals as a possible example of more democratic structures where greater collaboration and participation have been incorporated into the decision-making process. (53 references) (MLF)

Describes the application by principals of situational leadership concepts to reduce conflict among groups participating in decision making. Factors covered include maturity levels of participants, flexibility of leadership style, and possible variations in conflict management strategies appropriate to different maturity levels of participants.…

A district coordinator of gifted education in a site-based managed school system relates the learning experiences which helped define her role as an administrator and an advocate of gifted education. Her role has involved collaborating, serving as a resource, sharing program ownership, and encouraging program differentiation across the district.…

Reviews the history of citizens' advisory councils and the attitudes toward them, the uses to which they are put, common problems they pose for principals, and their potential for contributing to the schools. Notes that principals usually view such councils negatively, and that principals' attitudes determine council effectiveness. (PGD)

The City Magnet School in Lowell, Massachusetts, involves parents in policymaking, the principal and teachers in curriculum-setting and budgeting, and the kindergarten to eighth-grade students in defining the design and operation of the simulated "real world" society that forms the context in which the school's educational efforts occur.…

It is recommended that institutions think carefully about their use of committees, examining the need, type, functions, size, membership, technical and clerical assistance, chairperson, powers, meetings, intercommittee relationships, minutes and reports, followup action, costs, and method for dissolution. A checklist of committee formation…

Research indicates that school organization factors may be as important in explaining and managing school discipline as classroom techniques. The key to developing an environment conducive to good student deportment is a total school effort facilitated by a highly visible principal. Includes 11 references. (MLH)

This information packet contains journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, and ERIC clearinghouse publications on small schools management strategies for superintendents and principals. Topics cover (1) elements of formal team management; (2) role of the administrator in creating the environment necessary for effective schools; (3)…