How can research and practice can be linked together to improve vocational education? Vocational education researchers should conduct research that can directly benefit policy makers and practitioners and present their findings in ways that influence the improvement of policy and practice. Three basic assumptions need to be recognized: (1) the…

A move from "participative" to "shared" governance of the California community colleges is one of the fundamental goals of Assembly Bill 1725. The Foothill-De Anza Community College District has given special priority to meeting this goal through its system of shared governance. Foothill-De Anza's success can be attributed to…

This paper describes a study that consisted of interviews with 38 elementary school principals in 21 Western and Midwestern states. The sample was made up of 27 men and 11 women with an age range of 35 to 64, all of whom worked in small-town schools. The paper describes the various challenges faced by these principals, including academic deficits,…

The E.J. Brown School is a collaborative educational undertaking between Wright State University's College of Education and Human Services and the Dayton public schools. The project's purpose is the development of a living learning laboratory based upon shared decision making and collaborative planning for urban children. Students and teachers are…

This document reports on the results of a study of the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of community participants in the educational decision-making processes. The research utilized the results of the Gallup Polls of the Public's Attitude toward Education for the years 1974, 1977, 1980, and 1983. The data sets of the Gallup Polls were…

This annotated directory provides practitioners and service providers with references to existing programs, tools, and resources that school improvement teams may use to design and implement projects. The directory draws on a variety of products developed or used by state departments of education, school districts, regional educational…

Current efforts and methodologies to evaluate vocational education programs are plagued by a number of problems. Included among these are the following: disagreement over the primary role and function of vocational education, too great an emphasis on summative and product evaluation as well as on labor market outcomes as indicators of program…

The changing role relationships that occurred between the faculty and administrators of a university that implemented a decentralized management process over a 5-year period are discussed. The university changed from being highly centralized toward a shared and layered administrative approach. Five changes were instituted: an extensive committee…

Ways to use strategic planning to enhance leadership in continuing education organizations are discussed in this collection of 12 papers. Paper titles and authors are as follows: "Why Continuing Education Leaders Must Plan Strategically" (Robert G. Simerly); "The Strategic Planning Process: Seven Essential Steps" (R. Simerly);…

The conceptual level of teachers was measured in relation to their preferences for support in the supervisory tasks of staff development, curriculum development, and instructional improvement. It was hypothesized that teachers at a high level of conceptual development would prefer to be more involved with others and more flexible in adapting their…

Utilizing data from 31 applications for financial assistance from Johnson-O'Malley (JOM) Indian Education Fund for the 1980-81 school year, the study examined the influence of Indian Parent Advisory Committees (PACs) over school curricula and activities supported by JOM funds in Washington State. Applications were surveyed for information relating…

Based on recent school effectiveness literature, this paper suggests local policies to stimulate and facilitate school reform. After discussing the goals of the effective schools movement and briefly reviewing the literature, it presents a two-phase model for school improvement projects, based on the premise that a school's culture primarily…

This paper synthesizes data from two studies of educational change to describe how school contextual factors influenced teacher involvement and how principals reduced those influences. The first study, involving 14 schools representing a mixture of levels and types of areas served, began in 1979 and spanned 3 school years; the second study, which…

The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) is a strategy to involve the community in active participation in the development, amendment, and review of the local plan for special education. The CAC originated under the design of the California Master Plan for Special Education. The CAC brings together and supports parents and professionals, regular and…

This paper deals with the impact of recommendations in the Carnegie report ("A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century") on administration in schools. The Carnegie report gives a bold new outline for improving teachers' roles in the schools by greatly strengthening their decision-making role and advocating a much more…