During the past two decades, Taiwan's Ministry of Education has responded to globalization by restructuring school curricular, instructional, and decision making practices along western lines in an attempt to attain legitimacy on the world stage. As a result, Taiwanese principals, once kings within their schools, now must share power with other…

With the American School Counselor Association's (ASCA) adoption of the National Model, school counselors are called to align their work with educational reform initiatives and provide leadership in public schools (Dollarhide, 2003). School counseling literature supporting leadership for social justice is frequently reiterated (Hatch & Bowers,…

This article reports the results of a longitudinal study of 35 Swedish comprehensive schools involving interviews with teachers, school leaders, students, and parents carried out in 1980, 1982, 1985, and 2001. During the 35-year period covered by the study, the schools experienced significant reforms. The most important of these reforms involved a…

A study examined decision making within one large urban high school's restructuring efforts, using an emergent qualitative case-study design. Data, collected over a 2-year period, included formal and informal interviews, participant and nonparticipant observations, surveys, and documents. Results of data analysis supported matching the…

After identifying the aspects of classroom life that school restructuring might influence, this paper summarizes findings on school principals' perceptions concerning the potential effects of fundamental school reform. Because so little is known about principals' views on restructuring, an exploratory study employing qualitative methodology…

Describes practices, thoughts, and feelings of exemplary, shared-governance principals at nine schools affiliated with Glickman's League of Professional Schools in Georgia, using open-ended interviews. Findings showed that implementing shared governance incorporates five salient themes: meanings, involvement of others, redistribution of power,…

For teachers engaged in the process of policy change, the way that they interpret policy and translate it into their daily practices will influence the implementation and the effects of a policy shift. Thus, it is important and necessary to examine educational decentralization policies from the local perspective, for the ways in which teachers…

Motivated by the increasing prevalence of shared decision making and distributed leadership in restructured schools, six teams of Canadian secondary teachers were interviewed to explore their collective learning and the conditions influencing it. Qualitative and quantitative evidence identified numerous conditions to explain across-team learning…

For over a decade, University of Florida researchers worked with middle schools in a large urban and suburban south Florida district, as they developed and then worked to sustain inclusive reform. One middle school, Socrates, was notably successful, having built its inclusion model on a foundation of previous reform and a school culture…

Rex Putnam High School (Milwaukie, Oregon) received a New American High School (NAHS) award for reform efforts that included small learning environments; career pathways programs; career-related learning experiences in the community; and involvement of parents, staff, and community members in decision making. An interview with an assistant…

Our examination of three schools demonstrates how students can be involved in school reform by giving input about problems, helping design the reform, and sharing implementation responsibilities with adult leaders. Their involvement affects both the reform--as students leave their fingerprints on it--and the students themselves, who show signs of…

This study examines the perceptions of teachers in one school as they implemented shared decision making (SDM) over a period of over 2 years. Data from 100 interviews with 54 respondents including teachers, administrators, and other staff are analyzed. The changes the teachers experienced are examined at varying levels of SDM involvement from a…

This document suggests an agenda for restructuring New York City elementary schools and improving their leadership, based on interviews with 25 inner-city elementary school principals. Participants were selected on the basis of their competence and their commitment to the education of economically disadvantaged students. The following policy and…

Since 1988, teacher surveys and interviews have been conducted in the 24 professional development schools (PDS) in Jefferson County (Kentucky) Public Schools to document teachers' attitudes toward efficacy and empowerment and toward their schools' learning climate. The 1990-1991 survey results show that teachers seem to have positive opinions of…

Seven elementary, junior high, and high schools participate in the Memphis City Deregulation Program (MCDP), a school-based decision making program in which the principle of shared leadership is a key concept. Shared leadership requires a shift from traditional roles, responsibilities, and power relationships. This study focuses on 49 teachers in…