This commentary underscores efforts of this special issue to highlight concepts related to culture and cultural competence designed to broaden thinking about multicultural consultation through research, practice, and training. It does this by illustrating the insights presented regarding (a) cultural issues in training, (b) the effect of…

This study argues for a new theory in school management based on the notion of positive containment which benefited from the integration of the main two patterns of leadership, i.e., the democratic and the authoritarian. In this theory, the school principal has to deal with one external and five internal circles of positive containments. The…

This article argues that the work of school principals in South Africa is shaped by two major sets of constructs or "landscapes": the literature on leadership and management which provides particular constructions of the field and its changes; and the terrain of new policy frameworks adopted after apartheid to transform the education…

Despite nearly two decades of commissions, analyses, op-eds and speeches, a series of court rulings, legislative changes, and the expenditure of billions of dollars, Ohio still does not have a school funding system that delivers the results the Buckeye State needs. Student achievement still remains low for the globalizing world that young Ohioans…

Successful administrators have the ability to delegate various tasks and responsibilities effectively. Specific delegation procedures include clearly defining and delineating tasks, giving authority and leeway to do the job, bolstering the doer's self-confidence, accepting the job as done, and giving credit for work well done. (MLH)

Discusses how the process of reflective deliberation can help schools become sites of significant curriculum development, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Offers a process and a set of principles which may be used to guide school-level curriculum deliberation. (GEA)

Reviews predictions made at National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Convention in 1978. School psychology is now a separate nondoctoral professional subdiscipline of psychology. Recommends school psychologists not give up assessing for special education but broaden their roles to include intervention by participating in site-based…

Discusses the need for developing accurate assessment methods and establishing a common standard for all students through a voluntary national examination system. School-based management programs and models of excellence will not affect the vast majority of schools. States and districts must make strategic moves and comprehensive policy changes…

Traditional hierarchical models of secondary school management are undermined by the National Curriculum in requiring cross-curricular planning. Describes a management structure that includes flexibility, teamwork, communication, and consultation. Four figures illustrate the concepts. (MLF)

Over the past 10 years, New York has more than doubled its spending on elementary and secondary education, in a fervent attempt to produce greater student achievement and prepare our young people for the fast changing world in which they will have to earn a living. Better results have not been produced as the education system has focused on more…

A self-organizing school, defined as one engaging in a continuous process in which staff assume authority and responsibility for the resources of the school, is described in this paper. The staff work together to organize learning activity around the needs and interests of each learner. The following requisite conditions are listed to accomplish…

Long range planning allows an indepth analysis, to be updated yearly, of a school to determine the directions in which it needs to start moving based on the assumptions about the present and future success of the school. There is no quick fix or outside consultant that can remedy or plan for any individual school; only those intimately involved…

Presents a model to help principals with strategic planning. Success hinges on involving stakeholders, scanning for relevant data, identifying critical success factors, developing vision and mission statements, analyzing the site manager's supports and constraints, creating strategic goals and objectives, developing action plans, allocating…

Some principals are threatened by school-based management. School systems adopting school-based management should have a training program for principals and limit initial involvement to those principals who are attracted to increased autonomy and control over their schools' budgets. (MLF)

The notion that parents should have a greater role in school governance has become increasingly popular with education reformers and parents themselves. However, many teachers and other educators are wary of increased parent involvement. (IAH)