Offers and explains four visual models of deployment of instructional supervisors within the hierarchy of school districts. (SRT)

Although conventional collective bargaining has helped teachers achieve greater professional status, its win/lose approach causes participants to overlook shared educational objectives. Since the first experiments in win/win bargaining, the acrimony generated by the adversarial process has led an increasing number of school districts to…

A discussion of college governance by lay boards of trustees focuses on the sources and nature of trustees' authority and, by extension, of faculty and administrators' influence on boards. It chronicles briefly the history of the lay board and the reasons for its continued use in modern institutions. Criticisms and defenses of lay trusteeship are…

Chapter 6 in a volume on school leadership, this chapter makes a case for the use of participative decision-making (PDM) at the school-site level, outlines guidelines for its implementation, and describes the experiences of some schools with PDM systems. It begins by citing research indicating the advantages of PDM, including better decisions,…

Today, prevailing views of leadership suggest that the principal's role should not be to direct others but to create a school culture in which decisions are made collaboratively. Such "facilitative" leadership exercises power through others, not over them. The basic question is whether or not these two leadership styles are mutually…

The benefits of a collaborative work setting--including such practices as mutual help, exchange of ideas, joint planning, and participative decision-making--have been consistently confirmed by studies of effective schools and successful businesses. However, teacher isolation remains the norm. Drawing on recent research and educators' firsthand…

Dismissing incompetent tenured teachers is a difficult and time-consuming task. Contrary to popular opinion, however, that task is not impossible. Effective dismissal of incompetent teachers requires thorough, valid, and well-documented evaluation procedures, appropriate remediation efforts, and a fair hearing prior to dismissal. (TE)

Chapter 7 of a revised volume on school leadership, this chapter advocates the use of participative decision-making (PDM) at the school site level, outlines implementation guidelines, and describes the experiences of some schools with PDM systems. A cornerstone of a reform movement to make organizational operations more democratic and less…

In shared decision making (SDM), principals collaborate with teachers and sometimes parents to take actions aimed at improving instruction and school climate. While research on SDM outcomes is still inconclusive, the literature shows that SDM brings both benefits and problems, and that the principal is a key figure. This brief offers a sampling of…

This document examines transformational leadership, which focuses on the importance of teamwork and comprehensive school improvement, as an alternative to other modes of leadership. Transformational leadership is contrasted with: (1) instructional leadership, which encompasses hierarchies and leader supervision and usually excludes teacher…

Educational policy discussions typically exclude the teacher's voice and ignore constraints of time, energy, and resources that challenge teachers and hinder policy implementation. The case studies presented in this monograph attempt to restore the teacher's perspective. Rather than analyzing policy shortfalls stemming from teacher "apathy" or…

Characteristics and practices of governing boards of colleges or systems and ways that administrators and faculty can work more effectively with trustees are considered. Attention is directed to: the history and evolution of lay trusteeship; the composition of the board and selection of trustees; responsibilities of the board; board structures and…

Teacher absenteeism is the topic of the 12 ERIC abstracts contained in this leaflet. Research on the topic discusses the causes of the problem, including, among others, job dissatisfaction, the organizational structure of the school, school size, weather conditions, and relaxed teacher responsibility. Strategies for improving teacher attendance…

Based on documents in the ERIC database, examines issues surrounding community college faculty evaluation. Focuses on the purpose of faculty evaluation, what evaluations measure, who performs evaluations, and such problems facing evaluation programs as lack of administrator concern over faculty success and faculty resistance to evaluation. (28…

Since the 1980s, shared decision making (SDM) has become a significant part of school-reform efforts. Advocates say that SDM will improve student learning, create teacher satisfaction, and develop new forms of leadership. This digest presents an overview of research that investigated whether SDM delivers on these promises. Studies indicate that so…