During 3-year period, Arizona junior high school's site-based team developed and implemented 10-step process for becoming middle school. They assessed the school and community, researched school reform, built a team, developed a mission statement, set goals and empowered staff members, established teaching teams, trained staff members and parents,…

Some school systems are taking fresh approaches to school change, experimenting with using teams within school as change vehicles, rather than relying on innovative individuals or attempting to convert whole faculty at once. Principal is usually a key team member. Established practices are usually challenged once a team has been built and charged…

Shared governance empowers teachers to increase their autonomy and contributes to their role in determining school policy and influencing student outcomes. This paper, exploratory in nature, describes the policy impact of shared governance in nine autonomous schools where the participants at each site have provided some insight into policy issues.…

Drawing on extensive staff interviews, this publication profiles a high school principal in Eugene, Oregon, who exhibits many aspects of transformational leadership. Transformational leadership is improvement oriented and comprises three elements: (1) a collaborative, shared decision-making approach; (2) an emphasis on teacher professionalism and…

Many school districts and schools find that they have an incomplete understanding of site-based management (SBM). This guidebook provides a systemwide approach to site-based management, using SBM as a strategy for school improvement and increased student success rather than for managing the status quo. It identifies nine essential perspectives and…

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…

Principals and central-office administrators often spend little time interacting or discussing curriculum, instruction, and staff development. Leadership consciousness must be formed through links between schools and the central office. In a restructured setting, central-office leaders support the principal, provide technical assistance and…

A staff development process that uses group-building activities to foster staff collegiality is described in this paper. As schools become involved in restructuring, cooperation and positive working relationships become more crucial for effective school teams involved in participative decision making. Five characteristics of group-building…

The processes by which school leaders can institutionalize staff and organizational development, with a focus on initiating school restructuring through team development, are described. Three features are necessary for implementing school restructuring through team development: a deliberate plan for staff involvement, a positive work environment,…

When created and operated appropriately, school-site councils can be a very useful component of school renewal. Councils are difficult to create, since members must shift roles, compromise strongly held beliefs, and invest considerable time, energy, and know-how. Advantages of group decision making are bringing diverse experience and expertise to…

A school district planned and implemented site-based management. Schools developed ad hoc committees (AHCs) and created school management teams and plans. The AHCs effectively allowed school faculties to have input and involvement in developing management plans. The more they employed team building, the greater the impact on intended outcomes. (SM)

School reform efforts require teaching teamwork and goal setting to school personnel. Describes a number of strategies for managing organizational change with examples at specific schools. Lists Coalition of Essential Schools materials. (MLF)

This paper presents findings of a study that explored the link between school reform and classroom practice. Two interdisciplinary teacher teams comprised of a total of 11 teachers were studied at Cross Keys Middle School in Flourissant, Missouri, to understand how school-level reform becomes translated into classroom practice. Data were collected…

This training manual for a 2-day workshop was developed from the perspective that a fully inclusive society will evolve only if there are schools which embrace all children, including those with disabilities. Each participating team first considers their school's current goals and progress made towards full inclusion, and then establishes goals…

This trainer's packet, designed to be used in conjunction with the participant's manual, was prepared for a 2-day workshop to restructure schools to embrace all children, including those with disabilities. The trainer's materials include: program objectives; masters for overhead transparencies; and descriptions of learning activities, including…