This document presents findings of a nationwide study that examined the extent to which American high schools are implementing various restructuring activities. A survey mailed to principals in all of the nation's 10,365 regionally accredited public and private high schools elicited a 33 percent response rate. Seven indicators of major school…

One of the most distinctive features of academic departments in community colleges is their multi-disciplinary nature. While the creation of multi-disciplinary departments usually results from pragmatic considerations, they do present some advantages over one-subject departments in that faculty are obliged to learn other disciplines and a system…

In the spirit of educational reform, the purpose of this paper is to review the literature and present six empirically derived dimensions underlying the construct of teacher empowerment. The dimensions were obtained from a study conducted on school empowerment in nine school districts across the country from 1989 to 1992. Empowerment has been…

The thought of shared leadership offers teachers a vision of more control of central issues of concern, opportunities for significant decision making, and the development of a more democratic environment. This paper presents an account of the success and frustrations encountered by an elementary school throughout an 18-month period of school-based…

This document contains the Virginia Beach superintendent's report to the school board on the adoption of a resolution that supports school-based management (SBM) and shared decision making. On December 17, 1991, the school board passed the "Resolution of Support for School Based Management and Shared Decision Making." The report contains…

This article explores the role of vision and vision-building in public schools as a tool for bringing about a redirection of educational institutions. A reanalysis of 32 interviews with teachers and principals in schools involved in Oregon's "2020 School Improvement and Professional Development" program revealed that most school goals…

School Based Decision Making (SBDM) was implemented in two secondary, two junior high, and three elementary schools in the Memphis City School System in Tennessee during the 1989-90 school year. The implementation process of that first year and the roles of the persons involved are discussed as well as the use of the Tennessee School Climate…

Preliminary findings of a study that matched the theoretical concept of facilitative power with the activities of principals and teachers involved in site-based management are presented in this paper. Purposes of the study included: (1) the development of more precise definitions of the concepts of restructuring and site-based management; (2) a…

Research on educational and criminal justice programs sought to clarify the relationship between organizational characteristics and innovation adoption. It focused on the reasons why organizations adopt innovations and the differences in clientele, staff, and decision-making participation between organizations adopting or unaware of an innovative…

Using first-hand material collected by interview and observation during a 160-day trip around 21 states, this report describes the current situation of democratic participation in small-town schools. The small-town school is like a vortex drawing everyone into its activities and serving as a foundation for the community's social and cultural…

Never has the public school been asked to merely educate its students for their own benefit--a benefit determined by students' families and teachers; instead, the public schools have been expected to pursue loftier, more abstract aims that are remote to those they serve. If educational values should be determined by those responsible for…

The book, "Managing by Negotiations," by Earl Brooks and George S. Odiorne, is reviewed in this document. Negotiation is discussed as an answer to the dilemma of achieving organizational effectiveness created by the recent shift in educational administration from autocratic to democratic management. Eleven reasons why traditional power-based…

At the meeting reported in this document, 65 union leaders and staff interacted with officials from 16 colleges and universities and 8 higher education associations to discuss and report on issues of labor-higher education collaboration. These edited proceedings include the following presentations: "Developing the Intellectual Equivalent of…

Teacher involvement is crucial for the successful implementation of school-based management reform. Evaluation of the Chicago school reform effort is the purpose of this report. An examination of a survey of 100 Chicago teachers in 10 schools resulted in the conclusion that teachers do not consider themselves to be an integral part of the school…

Results of a survey to collect information on the numbers of state partnerships, types of services they provide, and characteristics of exemplary programs are presented in this report. A survey of 1,150 California Educational Partnership Consortium (CEPC) members elicited 132 responses. Findings identified a wide range of linkages between schools…