Teachers encounter countless obstacles to ensure their needs are met when represented by the traditional union-administration working relationship. Unions hold established opinions and ideas on school policy about matters in the public school arena. The tradition of unions and district officials keeping one another placated in an adversarial…

A co-principal leadership model, where two individuals serve in one leadership position, is considered a special case of distributing leadership (Gronn & Hamilton, 2004). The co-principal leadership model has been suggested as an alternative organizational form that re-structures the role of the principal by enhancing the positive aspects of…

Discusses application of direct, participatory democracy in academic governance. (Contains 26 references.)(PKP)

Examines relationship between principal leadership styles and attitudes toward sharing decision-making with teachers within the context of state-mandated site-based decision-making in Texas. Finds among other things that a principal's collaborative leadership style increases with experience and adaptability. (Contains 34 references.) (PKP)

Describes a systemwide participatory planning model designed to facilitate improvement of secondary learning disabilities programs. The model had three phases: central program planning and description, school-based program planning, and implementation and evaluation. This program generated a sense of shared ownership and direction among one…

Describes and analyzes a participatory approach to budgetary decision-making used by an exemplary high school. In spite of the budgetary forces dividing instructional departments, support units, and administration, an equitable division of resources provided to the school was consistently achieved each year. Includes 29 references. (MLH)

Following a brief presentation of Harold Lasswell's model of the social process, the authors discuss problems of policy formation and meaning determination, describe the "decision seminar" proposed by Lasswell as a technique for facilitating collective problem-solving, and provide illustrations of the seminar's successful application to…

The two reform orientations termed "hard" and "soft" policy do not represent a set of mutually exclusive choices for policymakers. Bureaucratically and professionally based decision-making approaches must coexist in schools and school districts. The dual policy approach necessitates a rethinking of administrative posture and gives shape to a…

After delineating wider context of Coalition of Essential Schools restructuring in Illinois, paper explores principal's changing role in four schools immersed in restructuring process. Factors inhibiting role changes in shared governance system were lack of stability, support, trust, and commitment. Factors promoting change were new conceptions of…