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.…

Neglected in educational literature, assistant principals can nonetheless help principals by acting as vision codesigners, teacher coaches and evaluators, master schedule designers, program developers, instructional managers, and communicators. Shared instructional leadership allows for greater job control, flexibility, initiative, collegial…

It is beneficial to identify three administrative teams through linking pins: the principal is the linking pin between the instructional team and the administrative team; the superintendent is the linking pin between the administrative team and the policy team, which includes the board of education; the administrative team consisting of all…

Teachers harbor extraordinary leadership capabilities--a major untapped rsource for improving U.S. schools. This article explains how principals can share leadership by articulating goals, entrusting and relinquishing authority, involving teachers in decision-making, assigning responsibilities wisely, sharing responsibility for both success and…

Public school superintendents consider situational and organizational variables when determining whether to involve others in decision-making processes. A sample of 240 superintendents from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho were sent the Situational Administrative Decision-Making Inventory. The sample was evenly divided geographically and by district…

Using team management in school district administration requires compromises on the part of the board, the superintendent, and the other team members, but advantages can result. Better quality decisions, higher staff morale, greater support for decisions, and more efficient management are among the potential benefits. The first step in development…

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)…

The restructuring movement is seen as the best way to reform and revitalize education. Restructuring is making individual schools the focus of change and empowering those closest to students with the responsibility and authority to effect changes responsive to student needs. This publication concentrates on teachers' and principals' roles as the…

Explores stressors, role changes, and paradoxes encountered by four administrators and two teacher-leaders since their high school began restructuring in 1994. Identifies decision-making anxieties, role conflict and ambiguity, and accountability apprehension as sources of stress. Restructuring was impeded by training inadequacies; bureaucratic,…

Presents findings of a case study that examined the use of teacher leaders on an elementary school management team and perceptions of teachers and staff members. Team members were positive about using teacher leaders on a management team but found a need for clearer definitions of leadership roles and better communication between the staff and…

This paper describes Hilltop Junior High School's initial experience with interdisciplinary teaming, an arrangement whereby teachers from different disciplines systematically plan curricular experiences for a common group of students. The innovation began with the appointment of a new principal who advocated teaming as the basic unit of middle…

Chapter 5 of a volume on school leadership, this chapter reviews the literature to define and explain management teams and to describe several successful management team arrangements. The author begins by noting that team management has recently enjoyed a resurgence as a response to collective negotiations, but beyond this function can have value…

This paper describes the positive changes in the organizational climate and the role of the principal in one high school during four years of implementing the Spencerport (New York) Effective Schools/Teaching Project. A gradual increase in the building level commitment of the project has led to a redefinition of leadership to include the Building…

Describes how one middle school implemented shared decision making successfully. Presents questions that staff asked themselves, including how stakeholders' interests are represented, the type of communication network to use, changes in teachers' and principal's roles, keeping the focus on student learning, the type of staff developments needed,…

Given the discrepancies between the format of graduate programs in educational administration and the actual demands of the administrative work setting, instructors should refocus instruction to bridge the gap between administrative theory and practice. This document describes one instructor's use of an interactive experiential learning activity…