This article presents a case study on changing food practices from traditional cold sandwich meals to hot meals in a Norwegian kindergarten. Data were sourced from interviews, complemented by non-participatory video observation and observational notes. Building on Fullan's model for understanding a change process, this paper presents the…

Objectives: Whole-school interventions and programmes aim to change school environments to promote health. Previous reviews suggest these are often inappropriately informed by individualistic psychological theories. We undertook a systematic review of whole-school interventions to prevent substance use and violence. This paper reports on a…

When schools engage parents and caregivers as authentic partners in children's learning they begin to break down traditional barriers that have existed between home and school. Parents and caregivers from historically marginalized groups have expressed feeling unwelcome, disrespected, and devalued at school. Although many are involved in the…

The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) is the largest international survey of teachers and school leaders. Using the TALIS database, this report looks at different approaches to school leadership and the impact of school leadership on professional learning communities and on the learning climate in individual schools. It looks…

Competency education, an educator-led reform, is taking root in schools and districts across the country. In some states, state leadership has cleared the path with policies to advance competency education. This paper seeks to map out the terrain of the district implementation strategies being used to convert traditional systems into personalized,…

In this ethnographic case study, Ann M. Ishimaru examines how a collaboration emerged and evolved between a low-income Latino parent organizing group and the leadership of a rapidly changing school district. Using civic capacity and community organizing theories, Ishimaru seeks to understand the role of parents, goals, strategies, and change…

There is an inextricable link between democracy, education and the law. After 15 years of constitutional democracy, the alarming percentage of dysfunctional schools raises questions about the efficacy of the system of local school governance. We report on the findings of quantitative and qualitative research on the democratisation of schools and…

The key element in parental involvement is a sense of parent-school partnership. Parents can participate as decision makers, helpers, and coeducators. Facilitating parental involvement means removing five barriers: distance between parents and teachers, lack of teacher training, race and class biases, limited views of parental involvement, and…

When embarking on school/community-based management, nine Hawaii elementary schools trained their staff in facilitative leadership and received technical assistance from district offices. Schools can involve more parents by reaching a shared understanding about parental involvement, developing appropriate involvement strategies, providing parents…

This study investigated the effects of formalized and centralized school structures on 2 emergent concepts in the study of school reform, trust, and collaboration. Trust and collaboration were examined from the perspective of parents, as opposed to internal school agents such as teachers or students. Three hierarchical multiple regressions…

To increase parental involvement, Mount Carmel High School (Poway, California) has adopted strategic-planning change model. Successful strategic plans are connected to school mission and core values, gain staff support, remain open to input from all parties, build trust and rapport among participants, ensure open communication with stakeholders,…

Although those charged with developing learning standards for Maine students have tried to be inclusive, there are some likely challenges ahead. Planners need to include the views of less educated, less successful, or very conservative persons; reach consensus on defining the basics; resolve equity versus excellence issues; and incorporate…

The issues of teacher empowerment and decentralized management have been a part of the educational reform agenda for decades. Recent legislation has required that leadership teams have teacher, support staff, and parent representation, and possibly student representation. Principals receive specific instructions from their Boards of Education as…

School communities feel pressure to dramatically improve the educational experience of students and principals are confronted with the need to lead their staff and community in examining current practice and implementing changes that respond to these demands. Leading school change is one of the most complex tasks faced by a school leader. The…

Shifting the budgetary decision-making authority to individual schools provides principals, teachers, and parents greater control over the allocation of resources. (MLF)