Examines some evidence about public understanding of education policy, compares it to similar understandings of other public policy fields, and discusses some of the steps that may be taken to deal with the prevailing levels of understanding. (Author)

System-wide school decentralization is now implemented both in New York City and in Detroit. It is important, therefore, to inquire into alternative explanations of the origins of the school decentralization movement with a view to constructing models of school organizational behavior and change which may have utility either to other school…

The concept of educational leadership in the black community has undergone some change since the advent of community control and decentralization. Educational administration must now encompass the social process of the local social system. In the Woodlawn locality of Chicago, (one of the ten poorest Chicago communities), the Woodlawn Experimental…

This handbook is organized by action areas that a school principal needs to consider in creating, maintaining, and utilizing successful involvement with the neighboring communities. Each area discusses the range of options available to the principal. Building principals are thus able to select features to fit their particular communities. The…

School community relations in big cities are marked by apathy and distrust and, often, by hostility. Yet, many Federal programs and many pressing urban problems require that administrators and communities work together more closely than ever before. This project analyzes evidence from recent empirical research and from field evaluations to…

Since 1993, school reform leaders from Chicago (Illinois), Denver (Colorado), New York (New York), Seattle (Washington), and Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) have come together in the Cross City Campaign to work for the improvement of urban education. In each of these cities rhetorical pleas for decentralization and the investment of decision making in…

Advocates of community control over local schools seek deference to parental preferences from the professional staff. Specific proposals include: (1) Staff accountability to parental representatives for student learning; (2) parental participation in the selection of school principals; (3) parental participation in school level decision-making,…

Designed to promote informed decision making among Indian people whose children are currently attending a school operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), this script for a seven-part program is made up of filmstrips and recordings which both ask questions and provide information. Program 1 is an introduction/orientation program centered…

This transcript of a National Public Radio broadcast records the presentation and discussion of various issues concerning the role of community members in local school districts. Topics addressed include control of the schools by the poor, the middle class, teacher unions, parents, the PTA, and community groups; a parents' union in Philadelphia;…

This book is a compilation of the edited versions of a representative selection of papers on school and community presented at a European conference involving more than twenty countries. The papers are arranged in three sections. The first section of six papers lays the framework for the discussion which follows. Section 2, comprised of six papers…

The paper presents a detailed overview of educational policymaking and discusses the need for minority groups to be involved in policy formation. The first section describes the distinguishing characteristics of the main elements of the functions of administration and policymaking process. The second section examines the following three models of…