Analyzes unique problems that constrain counselors as they respond to political and economic pressures surrounding declining resources. Identifies survival strategies to help preserve the viability of counseling services in an era of cutback management. (Author/JAC)

The organizational outcomes of different types of policies that school administrators follow during times of retrenchment were studied. The effects of four retrenchment policies--in school consolidation and reduced staffs, on per-pupil costs, pupil-teacher ratios, and equity--are discussed. (PP)

The status of research on administrative problems caused by declining enrollments is discussed, and a theoretical framework for administrative decision making is presented. Managing enrollment declines is difficult because administrators are forced to deal simultaneously with increasing costs and staff reductions. (PP)

As studies of organizational development have focused increasingly in recent years on stages of decline and death, theories of revolutionary adaptation have gained currency. The theory of organizational retrenchment developed in this paper is divided into five chronological stages: (1) preresponse, (2) emerging awareness and buying time, (3) alarm…

Previous management research supports the view that comprehensive planning and participative decision-making are important factors in reducing community opposition to educational policies. To investigate the possibility that neither of these strategies necessarily has this effect, a survey was undertaken of 53 school districts that had experienced…

Although educational leaders have been coping with declining enrollment for almost a decade, educational researchers have begun to focus on the topic only recently. The first part of this introduction to a special issue of the Peabody Journal of Education briefly summarizes the contents of the subsequent essays, which are intended to bridge the…

This paper focuses on the organizational consequences of retrenchment policies emphasizing efficiency (selective cuts to insure long-term survival) and equity (across the board actions). The effectiveness of each of these policies was tested on 59 cases of school district enrollment decline over a 10-year period by means of a…