The future of school-based restructuring rests on five conditions: a site-specific vision of school greatness for all students; consequent plans shaped by school partners; a work culture that nurtures and expects development and success; staff empowerment and commitment to energize participants; and a quality control system that guides development…

Twelve recent books by business-oriented authors are reviewed and translated directly into the educational context. Productive environments and leadership are discussed. Recommendations for education are made. (MT)

To address the social challenges facing schools, administrators must revitalize the work culture. Borrowing from successful business practices, the School Management Institute has implemented a 25-day Managing Productive Schools leadership training program in Florida, Minnesota, and Virginia. The program is based on the cultural conditions,…

To understand the dynamics of moving from fragmented work units to an integrated whole, a recent study examined the work cultures of 28 schools involved in major change efforts. This paper presents findings from three participating high schools that represent different phases (fragmentation, differentiation, and integration) of the development…

This study identified common themes that school principals experienced in managing school work culture change. Interviews with principals who completed Managing Productive Schools training established six independent work culture dimensions and three kinds of effects. The paper uses the nine quality areas as a model for reporting the common…

The leadership task for a new age of schools is to stimulate continuous innovation, rather than to manage for compliance using outdated standards of work. This paper presents a typology of work cultures--the varying work conditions of schools and the challenges they present to principals in developing high-performance work cultures. Data were…

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…

Chaos theory provides a useful mental model for guiding change as leaders garner the energy from unpredictable events for realizing transformation goals. The paper considers chaos theory as a framework for managing school change toward Total Quality Management work cultures. Change is possible to manage when plans are made and then followed by a…

This paper describes two conceptual models for addressing long-range development needs of principals. The first, a job competency model for managing productive schools, presents a comprehensive view of the central job tasks of the principal for stretching the school's capacity to influence achievement norms. Changing the school's work norms…