In educational settings, it is becoming common for members of groups to be forced to choose among more than two candidates, programs, or objectives. When no majority favors any one of three or more alternative choices, there are several rational, although arbitrary, ways to proceed. The first attempt at making the choice ought to adopt the…

Centennial High School in Gresham, Oregon, was one of three pilot schools selected in 1983 to use a research-based school improvement process developed by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. In the process, the local school establishes a leadership team to manage school improvement, collects data on student performance, uses the data to…

Recommendations for implementing school-based management and shared decision making are presented in this educational policy bulletin. Based on a literature review and reported experiences of educational practitioners, four recommendations include: transformation of authority at district and school site levels; development of a systemwide…

This document focuses on the challenge of building professional community within schools. The introductory article provides a definition of and rationale for "community within schools." The second article discusses some of the benefits that schools enjoy when they develop strong professional communities, and what conditions and resources make the…

Team management became popular during the late 1960s and early 1970s as educators adopted the concept to help solve the increasingly complex problems facing schools. The mere existence of a management team of central office and building administrators does not mean that team management is being practiced. Chapter 1 enumerates the benefits of team…

This study examined issues faced during implementation of school-based management (SBM) in New Jersey's special needs or Abbott districts, using a literature review, surveys of K-12 schools, and focus groups with central office administrators. The study examined forms of SBM, team operations, local autonomy versus state power, skills required to…

Implementing shared decision making in school-based management requires fundamental changes in traditional behavior. Initiation of restructuring systemic authority and decision-making arrangements requires changing deeply held beliefs and developing new roles and relationships. A recent survey of educational practitioners identified eight major…

Findings of a survey conducted in 1989 to identify the difficulties facing educational practitioners when initiating shared decision making in school-based management are presented in this educational policy bulletin. The first of a two-issue report examined five of the eight major barriers to changing traditional behavior: fear of taking risks,…

An overview of school-based management (SBM) and the issues involved are provided in this document. Information is offered on the following topics: the advantages and liabilities of SBM; its effect on the roles of the school board, superintendent, and district office; decision-making processes; elements of SBM implementation; examples of three…

This article presents an abbreviated report of a study to develop a model for achieving student participation in the governance of senior high schools. It also presents a blueprint for the implementation of this model in existing schools. For the study, a survey was done of a representative sample of senior high school students, teachers, and…

As interest in school-based management grows and the number of efforts increases, the gap between the strategy's potential and its realization is being explored. Although school-based management may stimulate a redistribution of informal power or influence, there is little evidence that significant, long-lasting, or widespread changes are…

Like school-based management, school-site councils offer some attractive reform possibilities, including broadly based, democratic decision-making; enhanced sensitivity to specific school climates; and widely shared responsibility. Site councils can be ineffective, even harmful, when lacking sufficient support, expertise, and time to succeed. This…

Site-based management (SBM) gives teachers, principals, and communities a method for directly affecting and improving their schools. This newsletter describes some of the advantages of SBM, which can result in greater accountability for student learning and an increased opportunity for parents, teachers, students, and business. The greatest…

Issues and challenges in giving students a voice in the educational process, or motivating them through empowerment, are examined in this monograph. Students whose input is solicited feel a greater sense of ownership with the educational process, which increases their engagement and in turn facilitates school effectiveness. Following an…

The view that peer review and faculty self-government are detrimental is expressed. Peer review, a procedure in which the conduct of faculty members is subject to review by other faculty members, is used primarily in personnel and research decisions (e.g., tenure, promotion, and/or salary increases, and to assess grant or contract proposals).…