The authors in this special issue on systems-level consultation provide an excellent range of models for how school psychologists can work as system-level consultants within the various communities they serve. This article (a) provides commentary on the four articles in this special issue focused on systems-level consultation to serve diverse…

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…

Guidelines for avoiding negative side effects of committee work include reasons for forming or not forming a committee, advantages and disadvantages of committees, and questions to help establish a committee in which members understand their role, task, and relationship to the administrator. (MJL)

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…

Because schools must still respond to federal reporting requirements while exercising greater responsibility for funding and administering local programs that were once under state and federal administration, and because of the increased public outcry for local accountability, many school districts have maintained large central administrative…

This report presents a theoretical model and a practical guide for a survey feedback-problem solving-collective decision intervention in educational systems. The intervention focuses on work roles and relationships; job function, authority, and communication patterns; and on reviewing group progress and problems. One objective of the strategy is…

Site-based decisionmaking programs offer important opportunities for school systems; however, the risks involved are significant and the decision to embrace the concept at the local level is a highly complex one. With site-based decisionmaking programs, teachers are directly involved in making decisions that affect the whole school, not merely…

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;…

Findings of a study that explored problems in the development of two newly created metropolitan middle schools are presented in this paper. Based on a framework of organizational change, the main premise contends that as new organizations, schools are also inherently vulnerable to the generic problems that face all organizations undergoing change.…

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…

School administrative decisions must be based on a broad range of input; the power of group thinking is required to ensure that the best decisions are made. The necessary transition from the old, closed autocratic administrative decisionmaking system to a new, open democratic organization requires not a radical leap, but a gradual transition. The…

Greenfield Community College (GCC) established a participatory management process in 1978 which incorporates: (1) a reorganized governance structure; (2) data collection activities; (3) a mechanism for establishing and implementing institutional goals; and (4) an evaluation component for the entire management process. The new governance structure…

Staff developers used data-gathering tools to help one high school community deal with decision making for improving programs, organizational climate, and student learning. The school/university collaboration involved collecting data about how the organization and the people within it worked, then using the data to change the organization. (SM)

In the course of carrying out the technical tasks of the school, teachers encounter common problems that do not impose on those in managerial roles. School organizations are typically structured in such a way as to prevent the information sharing and processing necessary to confront these problems. A collective decision-making structure for…

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…