The roles of the principal and the lead teacher in a team are closely related in that the lead teacher serves the unit team in much the same way as the principal serves the entire building staff. The prime function of the lead teacher is instructional improvement, and his basic concerns center around the teaching team and children who comprise the…

Several years ago a group of researchers at the Stanford Research and Development Center conducted an investigation exploring team organization in elementary schools and its consequences for individual autonomy, collective control of the work setting, and job satisfaction. The findings of that study, known as the Meyer and Cohen study, were…

A set of personal and academic qualities has been identified for unit leaders in IGE programs so that they might better assume the role of educational decision-makers. (MM)

The purpose of this manual is to provide learning community leaders orientation to the leadership role and its responsibilities. This book is a guide through the assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation stages of community growth. Close attention to the manual will allow a learning community leader to: (1) recruit a staff of committed…

The purpose of this study was to observe and describe the functions, processes, and dynamics of group decision-making in the Instructional Improvement Committee (IIC) of multiunit Individually Guided Education (IGE) elementary schools. Data for the study were collected through interviews, questionnaires, and observations at eight established IGE…

The role of the unit leader in IGE programs is examined, and recommendations are made for general courses and workshops to develop leadership characteristics in the prospective unit leaders. (MM)

In a multiunit school, teachers are organized into relatively autonomous groups. Each group has a unit leader responsible for management and coordination of unit activities, who serves as a linkage to the principal. Decisionmaking functions and the influence system are lodged in the group, thus diffusing what would be the principal's authority in…

The purposes of this study were to determine the relationship of structural aspects of the school organization and leadership behavior in schools to job satisfaction within Individually Guided Education (IGE) schools, and to determine whether organizational structure or leadership behavior had more impact on job satisfaction in IGE schools. Data…

Multiunit school organization increases teacher participation in making decisions that directly affect them through decentralized decisionmaking -- a shift from individual to group decisions. A survey of teachers revealed that those in multiunit schools were more satisfied with their profession than were those in traditionally organized schools,…

This study examined ways professionally ambitious female elementary school teachers responded to different opportunities, in multiunit and conventional schools, to become influential on the teaching faculty in matters of instruction. Teachers in 27 schools received questionnaires and interviews every six months for two and one-half years. The…