This book illustrates how educators in four U.S. communities committed themselves to preparing students for the democratic way of life. In four narratives, educators directly involved in four different school-reform efforts describe how they initiated demographic practices in their educational settings. The four schools serve as reminders that…

This paper presents two examples of the case study method applied to enhance preservice teachers' decision-making abilities and multicultural perspectives. In the first example, preservice teachers (N=17) enrolled in a sophomore educational psychology course chose a case from a preselected list to diagnose and present to the class for analysis and…

As part of an ongoing effort to monitor the desegregation implementation of the Chicago (Illinois) Public Schools, a study was done to evaluate the participation of Core Planning Teams (CPTs) in 28 Phase II schools in the CANAL training project at the beginning of the third year of Project CANAL in the fall of 1990. Project CANAL provided five…

Findings of a study that examined the relationships of the perceptions of teachers in three different teaching roles to a measure of empowerment and a measure of job satisfaction are presented in this paper. Methodology involved a survey of 35 Reading Recovery teacher leaders, 141 Reading Recovery teachers, and 71 non-Reading Recovery teachers.…

The central thesis of this book is that the developmental conception of democracy provides the theoretical foundation for an alternative model of school governance devoted not to efficient integration of students into a hierarchical labor force, but to development as unique human beings. This will necessitate an organizational structure that…

Almost a third of all schools in Australia responded to an invitation to express views about how Australia's schools might be made more effective. This report presents the views that schools should have a full-blown view of what Australia wants for its children and youth, and they should be concerned with personal and social as well as…

A study examined teacher stereotypes as a factor in teacher resistance to change in schools. Based on a poststructuralist perspective, the study views teachers as both objects and subjects of reform and argues that research informs practice in ways that often result in socially constructed stereotypes. Methodology included a literature review, 129…

Findings of a study that examined teachers' perceptions of and experiences in shared-governance schools are presented in this paper. Data were collected from interviews with over 21 teachers and students in 4 schools that are members of the Georgia-based League of Professional Schools, the impetus of which was the Program for School Improvement,…

In 1994 the state of New Jersey deregulated the state higher education structure and created a new commission on higher education and a presidents' council. This report presents the findings of a 1998 survey that sought to determine the extent to which the goals of the deregulatory legislation had been achieved and whether the fears of the act's…

Help for educators in meeting the challenge of involving parents and extended families of at-risk children is offered in this report. Twenty-eight chapters provide information to help educators communicate with low-income, nonwhite, and non-English speaking parents. Part 1 identifies the at-risk population, the benefits and forms of family…

The Department of Teaching and Learning of Peabody College of Vanderbilt University developed a project to strengthen field experiences for elementary/early childhood teacher education students. The project was designed to use current research to revise the laboratory and practica programs, incorporating technology and simulated classroom…

The principal of a pre-K to grade 5 school in Arizona talks of ways to create responsive programs for special needs children. The school offers a special education preschool program and a totally integrated cross-categorical program for kindergarten through grade 5 which utilizes collaborative delivery systems and a consultative model of special…

This paper reports preliminary findings from a research project in progress which is based on a comparative case study of four elementary schools involved in site-based decision making legitimized by labor/management agreements. The study examines several issues: (1) how teachers exercise power in response to opportunities for affecting…

Despite attention to cultural considerations in teacher education, curriculum development, and educational policy making and analysis, evaluation remains the last bastion of ethnocentrism in educational evaluation. Evaluators should accept the challenge of finding new ways to explore educational successes within various cultural contexts. More…

A study compared perceptions about male and female managers who used either an authoritative or participative leadership style. Participants were 102 undergraduate students from a small midwestern college, aged 17 to 60 with a mean age of 22 years. They evaluated a manager after reading a description of the behavior of a division manager in an…