This paper describes the implementation of the School-Based Improvement (SBI) model in the Austin Independent School District (AISD), Texas, which was piloted by a total of 28 schools during the 1990-91 and 1991-92 school years. Evaluation was conducted through a review of campus improvement plans and student achievement data, interviews with six…

This paper outlines a framework designed to help school districts evaluate themselves during the implementation of systemic change. Based on the experiences of districts that participated in the NEA Learning Laboratories Initiative, a process called "rapporteuring" was developed. The process provokes the particular site into serious…

This paper describes fourth-year outcomes of the Brooklyn New School (BNS), a parent/staff-run alternative public elementary school located in Brooklyn, New York's Community School District #15. The BNS used a self-study process, in which an external researcher collected school data through document analysis, interviews, and participant…

This paper focuses on the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace. The legal definition of sexual harassment as drawn up by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is: "unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that are explicitly or implicitly a term or condition…

This paper asserts that an enlarged vision and additional perspectives of public relations will be needed in the 21st century: vision and perspectives that will not only complement but challenge existing paradigms. Future communication technological phenomena will require dramatic changes in public relations practitioners' efforts in relationship-…

This qualitative study of community college women administrators explored patterns of women's leadership. The study group consisted of 30 women holding senior-level administrative positions at community colleges in the Midwest: 24 of the study group were white, 6 were African Americans. The study involved a review of the literature and in-depth…

This study sought to understand the institutional behavior processes that occur when institutions are faced with anti-affirmative action litigation. A dual case study, conducted at the University of Maryland and at the University of Michigan, was designed to develop concepts linking litigation and institutional response. Using a grounded theory…

During the Workplace Training Project, workplace trainers from Oregon's Lane Community College (LCC) provided workplace math classes to employees of an area business, PW Pipe. The math training was designed to help employees increase their proficiency in math and thereby reduce production error rates. During the training, PW Pipe's employees…

Findings of a study that examined principals' leadership behaviors in implementing a systemic program for school reform and improvement are presented in this paper. The program, Reaching Success through Involvement (RSI), is an implementation strategy that involves comprehensive assessment and student leader participation. A survey was…

Findings of a study that examined the role of the governing body in the independent school's self-renewing processes are presented in this paper. From the holistic paradigm, the school is viewed as a self-renewing system that is able to maintain its identity despite environmental changes through existing structures that define and create…

This paper describes the results of research conducted on the variation in structure and function of institutional research offices at 55 public and private postsecondary educational institutions in Georgia. The study examined five issues central to institutional research: (1) professional role identity, (2) location of the office in the…

This book shows how Deming's Total Quality Management (TQM) theory for organizational management can be integrated with the effective-schools literature. Part 1 compares the 14 principles of TQM with the tenets of effective-schools research. The second part develops a blueprint for creating the total quality effective school. The conceptual…

Recognition of the school as a cultural phenomenon has implications for the way in which the new principal enters a fully operational school, defines a role, and attempts to exercise influence. This paper outlines a three-part general strategy whereby the new principal can become a participant in the ongoing negotiation of the school culture.…

The effect of institutions on school effectiveness is explored in this book, which argues that school reforms in the United States are destined to fail because of the failure to address the root of the problem, which is found in the institutions of direct democratic control by which schools have traditionally been governed. Methodology involved…

A profile of Colorado is provided, which examines trends in the state's economy, environment, population, crime, and education. The state is characterized by a lack of economic diversity, ecological vulnerability, and concentrated population. Although the work force is generally well educated, Hispanic Americans tend to be less successful in…