In this interview, Arthur E. Wise, teacher reform advocate, discusses the status of educational reform, the impact of the national goals, and the principal's role in implementing change. School-based management complicates the principal's role, as principals must become expert team-builders and facilitators. The national education goals are…

Questionnaire data from 81 managers and 364 employees identified five factors predicting high team orientation in organizations: relationships with management, innovation, control of work by immediate supervisors, group cohesiveness, and open group process. (SK)

A New Jersey middle school has balanced its academic and social/emotional development programs by adding Prime Time, a daily time block allowing students a chance to participate in various school and community activities and thereby experience support, success, and recognition. Teachers have time for planning and participating in school-based…

The development of "English for Occupational Purposes" (EOP) by a team of seven authors and two project directors for EOP classes at Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore is described. Aspects included the prewriting stage; analyses of the teaching, learning, and target situations analysis; writing and editing; and postwriting stage. (LB)

Pairs of Illinois elementary teachers (previously enrolled in a language arts cooperative development project) formed a partner system involving communication via shared journals to reduce isolation during a staff development project. Participants found the shared journals very effective in sustaining collegiality. The article notes five…

Explains the importance of developing empowered employees, outlines stages of supervisory growth from administrator to coach, defines sources of the supervisory power base, explores differences between traditional and empowered thinking in job design, and describes how to build an organizational learning culture. (SK)

Findings from "Getting There from Here," a yearlong study of effective school leadership in 10 districts in 5 states, identify some of the problems that get in the way of effective school leadership. Offers nine practices that boards and superintendents can use to work together to achieve district goals. (MLF)

Discusses improvements in university teaching and reports on three initiatives in an Australian university which created opportunities for teachers to share their understandings with others and gain recognition for their contributions. The initiatives centered on the development of Teaching Enhancement Teams--groups of good teachers working…

The culture of an organization helps to determine the degree to which a new way of working is adopted and used. Team-based decision making in colleges and universities, as in other institutions, is more likely to be successful if organizational beliefs support the idea that change strengthens organizational goals. (Author/MSE)

Presents the TREAT model for constructing counseling goals and objectives during Individualized Education Program meetings. The model provides the multidisciplinary team with a procedure for organizing all relevant information when addressing students with special needs. Use of the model results in measurable, manageable, and defensible goals and…

Describes visualization methods used to design projects intended to improve the quality of life in developing countries, but which are also applicable to group problem-solving situations. Details main stages of a case study. Demonstrates that the techniques improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the problem-solving process and the quality of…

Summarizes advances in functional behavioral assessment of students with behavior problems that focuses on team implementation. Discusses issues such as practical difficulties in manipulating consequences, the complexity added by the need to also conduct academic assessments, and collaboration between applied researchers and practitioners. (DB)

Staff quality is an important school attribute. Strong, determined leadership requires a principal's personal readiness to take issue with underperforming teachers, challenge cynicism and negative elements in the school, and recruit, retain, and develop high-quality, dedicated staff. A collaborative leadership culture emerges from empowering even…

No matter what standards they follow, principals must be skilled team builders, instructional leaders, and visionary risk-takers. There are five emerging roles: historian, cheerleader, lightning rod, landscaper (environmental scanner), and anthropologist. To succeed, principals must be empowered by districts, become authentic leaders, and make…

Discusses two dimensions of equity within small-group learning--access and equitable relations--describing complex instruction (CI) as an approach that lets educators address these issues. CI teachers use cooperative learning to teach at high academic levels in diverse classrooms. The paper describes CI in action, achievement results in CI…