Subject departments form the primary organizational unit of the high school. The chapters in this book illuminate the ways in which departments shape the views and practice of individual teachers, serve as a locus of professional community, and express institutional and social values. The book examines the implications of subject affiliation and…

The development of the Best Practice Descriptor Statements by the New South Wales (NSW) Department of School Education provides schools with a set of criteria that will help them to become not only self-managing but self-monitoring. In this context, schools will be able to report on the health of their organization, resource needs, and staff…

This book argues that the literature on leadership, especially business leadership, has neglected ethical issues by focusing on approaches and strategies that emphasize individualistic concerns. The book calls for an end to the traditional separation of personal and public morality. It also argues that ethics of leadership is consistent with the…

This book provides insights into one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive school-restructuring movements, the Accelerated Schools Project. Since its inception in 1986, the focus of the movement has been on transforming schools with students at risk of dropping out into schools with high expectations of all students. This is accomplished,…

The 23 papers presented in this Proceedings are grouped into four categories: business management; facilities planning, design, and construction; human resource management; and energy and environment. Papers are: (1) "A Business Approach to the Facility Function" (Alan B. Abramson); (2) "Management by Strategic Planning" (Jerry C. Black); (3)…

In 1992, Heartland Community College (HCC), in Illinois, was granted candidacy status for accreditation by the North Central Association (NCA). In 1994, the college decided to seek full accreditation to ensure its place in the local community, ensure federal funding, and to show that it had grown since candidacy and was ready to fulfill…

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…

Site-based management is designed to bring decision making to the school level and involve all stakeholders in a process that will result ultimately in improved student outcomes. Enacted into law in June 1989, Hawaii's School/Community-Based Management Initiative (SCBM) is part of a national trend toward decentralizing decision making and…

The personal computer is the latest educational technology to fall short of its original promise. Although United States public schools now possess 5.8 million computers, roughly one for every nine students, they are not widely used in classroom instruction. This paper argues that the most popular explanations for lack of computer use fix blame on…

The need to respond to changing student clientele, new educational technologies, and increasing demands to do more with fewer resources presents serious challenges for two-year college faculty and can negatively effect faculty vitality and commitment. Faculty vitality, however, has been shown to be significantly related to the vitality and…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined leadership among staff members in a suburban Cincinnati (Ohio) junior/senior high school that was undergoing school restructuring. The research examined principal-staff communication, with a focus on the staff decision-making role. The school was participating in both the Goodlad Institute of…

This paper presents findings of a study that explored the relationships among principals' leadership behaviors and teacher efficacy in Wisconsin middle schools involved in building-level change efforts. An adaptation of Bandura's social cognitive learning theory of self-efficacy (A. Woolfolk and W. Hoy 1993) provided the theoretical framework.…

This book offers a step-by-step, systematic process for designing high-performance learning organizations. The process helps administrators develop proposals for redesigning school districts that are tailored to the district's environment, work system, and social system. Chapter 1 describes the characteristics of high-performing organizations, and…

Public concern about the quality of leadership in society and the quality of education have fueled the demand for educational reform, particularly in secondary schools. This paper presents preliminary findings of doctoral research that investigated how leadership is experienced and understood by students, parents, teachers, and administrators in…

Four years ago, the Colorado education system embarked on a course to downsize central offices in response to calls for accountability and site-based decision making. This paper presents findings of a study that examined restructuring and downsizing in four Colorado school districts. One consequence of downsizing was a reduction in force at the…