This mixed-methods case study analyzes the perceptions of participants in a year-long collaborative leadership initiative conducted at a small school district situated between larger urban districts and multiple suburban districts in a midwestern state. The initiative was facilitated by the Galileo Institute for Teacher Leadership in cooperation…

Describes Boulder Valley (Colorado) School District's development of a portfolio approach focusing on the administrator's leadership role in improving school success, rather than individual evaluation. The process features stakeholder collaboration in goal-setting and appraisal of school success, concentration on learning and teaching activities,…

Discusses the results of a three-year collaborative research project documenting the effectiveness of the school reform process. The study describes efforts of the Consortium for the Advancement of Public Education in Southeast North Carolina (CAPE) to support schools as they change. Areas showing the most improvement included participative…

Recently, the Petersburg (Virginia) Public Schools have moved away from a highly centralized organizational structure to a Total Quality Management system featuring shared decision making and school-based management practices. The district was guided by Deming's philosophy that all stakeholders should be involved in defining the level of products…

Survey based on personal/interpersonal and institutional barriers to site-based management identified by Mutchler and Duttweiler (1989) was sent to school board presidents and public school administrators in 54 centrally organized South Dakota districts. Majority of responding board presidents did not view these barriers as implementation…

The Chesapeake (Virginia) Public Schools developed a strategic school-improvement plan with 178 recommendations representing certain goals: school safety, standards, effectiveness, efficiency, staff training, technology integration, community involvement, and facilities. The implementation process consisted of assigning responsibilities,…

A Michigan high school abandoned its coercive school management practices for a system actively involving students in decision making. To help students feel they could make a difference, the Reaching Success through Involvement format was used to identify six workable student-involvement areas: extracurricular activities, school governance,…

The "Essentials of Best Practice in Professional Development for Sustained Change Model" is based on recent research in professional development, adult learning theory, shared leadership, effective schools, and the change process. The model views increased student learning as the goal; schools as the unit of change; professional…

This study examined the current place of staff morale in the educational marketing of one high school in the northwestern United States. It also looked at ways in which staff morale could be improved to ensure a positive image of the school in the community. Research was conducted by emailing questionnaires on issues relating to staff morale to…

This literature review addresses four variables related to school climate: teacher efficacy, collegiality (as promoted by the principal, shared decision making, and staff development), student achievement, and parent involvement. Schools attempting reform should consider how each of these variables can contribute to a positive school climate and…

This study examined teacher empowerment through the development of individual and collective teacher efficacy. A content-centered staff development program implemented in a Michigan school district by the New Zealand Ministry of Education and Oakland University helped teachers develop efficacy in the teaching of mathematics and in the ability to…