Shared governance is an elusive concept for schools to grasp and put into action. For schools to move forward with shared governance implementation, they need to gain a clear, precise understanding of who is involved, what processes ensure that those targeted will actually be involved, what those individuals' efforts should focus on, and what…

Teachers harbor extraordinary leadership capabilities--a major untapped rsource for improving U.S. schools. This article explains how principals can share leadership by articulating goals, entrusting and relinquishing authority, involving teachers in decision-making, assigning responsibilities wisely, sharing responsibility for both success and…

Current reform efforts, focusing on teacher empowerment, are based on the belief that lasting school improvement will occur when teachers become more involved in professional decision-making at the school site. Presented in this document are four conceptually distinct models of teacher involvement in schoolwide decision-making, identified on the…

Effective schools require strong leaders, but any school has a variety of leadership needs. Teachers are ideal instructional leaders, especially when encouraged to undertake such leadership and when willing to become responsible, accountable professionals. A classroom-alternative support team needs both the principal's managerial leadership and…

In order to provide the best management model for the effective and efficient operation of community colleges, it is useful to look briefly at management theories. The three principle theories in use in corporate management are: (1) theory X, involving an autocratic supervisor allowing for minimal group influence; (2) theory Y, in which…

Quality Circle/Site-Based Management (QCSBM) concepts were introduced into educational administrative structures during the early 1980s. The scarcity of comprehensive research that focuses on QCSBM implementation in public school districts was the catalyst for this exploratory study. Fifty-five of 100 administrators and consultants in 24 states…

Most organizational problems are communication problems. The administrator must employ strategies for listening to employees (personal listening), and must allow the employees to participate in the decision-making process (corporate listening). The Marietta City School System (Georgia) employed several strategies to deal with the passive…

Describes how one middle school implemented shared decision making successfully. Presents questions that staff asked themselves, including how stakeholders' interests are represented, the type of communication network to use, changes in teachers' and principal's roles, keeping the focus on student learning, the type of staff developments needed,…

Drawing on interviews with 180 staff members from 45 public high schools in 15 states, this document examines the advantages and disadvantages of teacher participation in shared decision making. The settings of six high schools that had structured mechanisms for teacher participation in school decisions are described, and problems that emerged…