Teachers and administrators need opportunities to share perceptions, consider possibilities, and forge solutions. Faculty book groups are a powerful tool to create organic solutions with wide ownership. They are great for spurring true professional development. In this article, the author shares how the teachers at New City School have met…

The research examines factors that affect the involvement of university faculty members in social planning activities. It examines the impact of philanthropic views compared with the exchange relations approach, both on personal and organizational levels, as well as the contribution of several characteristics of the relationship between faculty…

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…

Richard Spady has identified 10 general theories through research in the field of administrative theory. Three of the theories are stressed in this paper. First, the theory of learning that uplifts the importance of the Socratic method is stressed, followed by a reflection on the research of Arthur W. Combs that defined the characteristics of good…

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…

Teachers can take effective schoolwide leadership roles if the principal encourages each teacher to take responsibility for an aspect of school life that the individual teacher cares strongly about. Such opportunities to engage in school leadership are attractive for teachers because (1) they offer possibilities for improving teaching conditions;…

Examines how schools currently interpret shared decision making (SDM), discussing how one district uses SDM to assess student outcomes, coordinating it with other changes in the district designed to create educational change. The article explains what happens when good theory from business makes bad practice in education, presenting possible…

Empowerment, also referred to as shared decsion making and site-based decision-making, is essential to school reform and to the preparation of students for the changing demands of a global and technological world. This paper describes the role of the principal in facilitating empowerment in the school. The principal is the building leader who…

This paper presents the initial findings of a comprehensive 28-school multi-site case study, which sought to identify patterns in schools that are changing bureaucratic work patterns to those found in quality-management systems. The schools are located in Florida, Virginia, Minnesota, and Louisiana; all are led by principals who are trainers in…

A restructured school setting necessitates a major change in the principal's role. For example, the principal must not only espouse certain values, but practice them at the "in-use" level as well. This paper compares and contrasts the leadership styles of two principals who participated in the implementation of a restructuring effort, the…

Discusses management by objectives (MBO) as a sound organizational process that has great potential as an administrative tool in education systems. Provides definitions, stresses the participative nature of the process, cites successful examples of MBO in schools, and describes six conditions for the successful implementation of MBO. (JHZ)

Site-based decisionmaking is the concept of collaboration between school faculty and administration in planning, problem solving, and decision making in school policies and practices. One reason to implement this type of management is that school reform requires the involvement of all stakeholders in the educational process to be effective. During…

A move from "participative" to "shared" governance of the California community colleges is one of the fundamental goals of Assembly Bill 1725. The Foothill-De Anza Community College District has given special priority to meeting this goal through its system of shared governance. Foothill-De Anza's success can be attributed to…

One of the organizational characteristics used in the Minnesota School Effectiveness Program is a positive school climate, which includes collaborative planning and collegial relationships. This module begins by identifying four types of collegial practices that characterize successful schools: (1) frequent, continuous, and increasingly precise…

Addressed is the administrative dilemma of principals' and teachers' sharing decision-making and its effect on strong instructional leadership. The findings were developed as part of an exploratory field study conducted in six public middle schools in a large urban school system. The sample consisted of five black male and one white female…