Improving school climate takes time and commitment from a variety of people in a variety of roles. This document outlines key action steps to engage students in the school climate improvement process. Key action steps are provided for the following strategies: (1) Participate in planning for school climate improvements; (2) Engage stakeholders in…

This brief examines the research on community schools, with two primary emphases. First, it explores whether the 2015 federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) opens the possibility of investing in well-designed community schools to meet the educational needs of low-achieving students in high-poverty schools. And second, it provides support to…

Total quality management (TQM), a holistic approach to managing complex organizations, replaces top-down management with decentralized "customer-driven" decision making. TQM has been adopted by many schools and school systems nationwide. However, the context of public schooling makes implementation of TQM in education significantly…

This handbook, written for educators (teachers, principals, central office administrators, university faculty, and area educational agency staff) offers guidelines on how to establish, maintain, and evaluate a practitioner-driven school network. Such a network is created and governed by practitioners who decide what services they want, modify the…

This booklet describes one of the earliest staff development models to support school-based improvement, the RPTIM model. The letters "RPTIM" represent the five stages of the school-based approach to staff development--readiness, planning, training, implementation, and maintenance. The model is based on the belief that the school is the primary…

This document suggests a process that North Dakota vocational instructional program advisory committee (VIP) chairpersons and educational personnel may follow to improve the organizational structure of the committee and carry out its work. Part 1 discusses the purpose and roles of the VIP committee, the role of the chairperson, and the role of the…

This book is designed to help administrators with school reform to improve levels of teaching and learning. The text is based on key findings from school-change literature, as well as first-hand experiences in the process of school reform. It addresses how to develop a collective vision, how to provide professional development, how to involve…

Forms of organized authority that eclipse freedom of thought and action exist as a possibility in both public and private schooling. Historical patterns of resistance to public authority through private schooling are examined. Greater attention to democratic versus authoritarian aspects of socialization is much needed in discussions of school…

A small Texas school district initiated a shared governance plan that involves teachers in decisions and innovations at each school. Cites some successful accomplishments along with problems inherent in time limits and the committee structure itself. (MLF)

This pamphlet provides an overview of current research on home-school collaboration and strategies that schools can use to develop partnerships with their students' parents or guardians. An introduction lists the benefits of increasing parent involvement (higher grades and test scores, long-term academic achievement, positive attitudes and…

To obtain far-reaching results from educational change, it is necessary to keep purposes and processes balanced and to apply the six-step Purpose Identification Model to the perceived problem, thus bringing a more meaningful relationship between purposes and processes. (Author/DCS)

This book provides the educational practitioner and community participants with the practical knowledge needed to follow a participatory governance process within an existing bureaucracy. Chapter 1 presents the principles of participatory governance and identifies various mind-sets that have developed over many decades of traditional education.…

Paradoxically, although major forces in society are pushing for improvement in the American educational system, many teachers experience job overload, isolation, and increasing despair. This book is the first in a trilogy designed to help teachers and principals fight for fundamentally positive changes that will benefit themselves and their…

When a new administration came to Michigan's Wayne County Community College (WCCC) in 1985, the college evidenced several characteristics of a failing institution: poor media image, continuing budget deficits, declining enrollments, and probationary accrediation status. To address these problems and the demoralization that had accompanied them,…

Describes the development of the Lunch Lab program at the Mineola (New York) Middle Schools, part of a school improvement program incorporating teacher empowerment. A committee of seven teachers and two administrators researched, developed, and implemented the pilot project that provides a special time for seventh graders to receive extra help…