Corporate leaders and the public rallied behind the Colorado governor's intervention to settle a Denver teacher strike with a pared-down contract that established collaborative decision-making committees to select faculty members, schedule the school week, and administer school budgets, community relations, and instructional delivery. The existing…

Outlines arguments in favor of school-based management, which decentralizes a district's decision making so that parents, teachers, and administrators have more control over the curriculum and budget of individual schools. (IRT)

A successful school discipline program is dedicated to changing students' attitudes. Students and teachers plan rules of behavior, and all school personnel are trained to help students identify inappropriate behavior and take responsibility for their actions. (MLF)

Proposal development has three stages--assessing needs, planning a program, and writing a proposal. (Author/IRT)

In Whithall (Michigan) schools, a teacher representative is included on the superintendent's administrative cabinet. Teacher participation has improved internal communication, aided in a campaign for a tax millage increase, and helped solve problems with teacher transfers. (MLF)

Detention rooms are more effective when students are accountable for their behavior, rules and consequences are clear and publicized, and teachers are involved in the disciplinary process. (DCS)

More and more school districts are hiring family-school coordinators to connect with families through home visits stressing positive discussions. In El Paso, teams of middle-school teachers visit students' homes after school, on weekends, during conference days, and on vacations. Other programs are profiled. (MLH)

The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers are bringing peer-review and assistance resolutions to the bargaining table. Both unions seek a new unionism with a strong role in ensuring teacher quality. Some critics are skeptical about putting teachers in charge of improving their profession. (MLH)

Outlines the steps the Nashua (New Hampshire) school district planning team used in making an evaluation of all programs. Summarizes the results of the evaluation and explains how these will be used in the district's long-range planning efforts. (MLF)

Political obstacles to curriculum changes can be avoided by inviting participation by curriculum specialists, teachers, parents, and other citizens in the decision-making process. (Author/MLF)

Describes a successful after-school tutoring program that involves teachers, students, and parents, and has resulted in higher scores on both minimum-competency tests and achievement tests. Includes guidelines for starting such a program. (IRT)

A search for a new superintendent that involves school employees and community members gives everyone who took part a vested interest in seeing the new superintendent succeed. Offers advice about using public meetings and advisory committees in the superintendent search. (MLF)

Why do good ideas created and promulgated by bright, dedicated people have no significant, lasting effects on teaching? The answer: reformers meddle in trained teachers' everyday practice--educating students. Few professions take kindly to laypersons forcing reforms in their practices. Any school-restructuring initiative must include teachers in…

Discusses seven general guidelines for deciding whether to adopt a new program: get the facts, hire a consultant, investigate the philosophy and theory, analyze costs, decide if the program has staying power, visit a similar program, and involve teachers. (Author/JM)