Dynamic home-school-community partnerships established through site councils can help produce improved schools that serve their communities better. Parents on the council must be careful to represent diverse segments of the student body. Members need both proper orientation and a constitution to be effective. Includes three references. (MLH)

Four elementary schools, 10 third-grade teachers, and their students (n=168) participated in a quasiexperimental study to determine the impact of individual versus collaborative planning and traditional versus problem-focused curriculum on students' learning of multiplication. Results favored collaborative planning and problem solving. (MKR)

Discusses impediments in collaboration between college researchers and teachers. Using case studies, the paper describes how differences can enrich research initiatives and enhance the collaboration. The paper examines "fair trade" as a beginning for negotiations between outsiders and insiders, highlighting the negotiation of fair roles…

Action-reflection learning (ARL) is a learning-by-doing alternative to expert-based training. In an ARL program, training becomes a project in which learning takes place while participants try to solve a work-related problem. The process is always conducted in teams. (Author/JOW)

Successful diversity trainers should (1) distinguish education from training; (2) position training within a management strategy; (3) not start prematurely; (4) conduct needs analysis; (5) use participative design; (6) pilot test; (7) balance internal and external resources; and (8) incorporate programs in a core curriculum. (JOW)

Selected issues relevant to evaluating women's studies programs (WSPs) are discussed. Focus is on criticisms of traditional forms of assessment expressed by feminists and nontraditional evaluators, illuminative evaluation as an alternative approach to assessing WSPs, and a new model of evaluation termed "participatory evaluation." (TJH)

Examines the contributions that participants in studies employing deception can make to the development of standards for research with human participants. The paper discusses enhancing the protection of human subjects and illustrates the value of cost benefits and participant-investigator partnerships on the basis of three published studies that…

Winshare is a gain-sharing system created to save a company. The program is based on the assumption that line workers know best how to do and improve their jobs. Employees are encouraged to suggest how to improve processes, reduce waste, or make their jobs easier. Employee teams are given the power and budget to implement changes. (JOW)

Discusses the nature of shared decision making and implementation of a facilitative and participatory management style in a school staff meeting. (SR)

The Virginia Curriculum Revision Plan, developed by Hollis Caswell and Sydney Hall during the 1930s, was showcased as a model that effectively involved teachers, students, and administration in a comprehensive educational improvement project. This article explores teachers' role in developing and adopting the plan and discusses implications for…

Includes "Introduction" (Gordon); "Employee Ownership: Opportunities for Unions" (Blasi, Kruse); "Participation, Control, and Performance" (Rosen); Beyond the Contract: Taking on Ownership" (Mackin); "Worker Participation on Boards of Directors" (Hammer); and "Case Study of Employee Ownership and…

A Texas school district initiated a budget development process using peer review committees representing each of the seven major units of the district. The process aims to rank budget requests based on district goals and to improve communication among district units. (MLF)

Explains how business owners can determine when to involve employees and when to make decisions alone. Reviews problem-solving and decision-making methods, obstacles to overcome, and meeting management techniques. (SK)

The six chapters of this theme issue present participatory evaluation as a viable and creative addition to contemporary evaluation practice. Practical and transformative participatory evaluation streams are identified, and participatory evaluation is illustrated through case studies. (SLD)

Discusses the various influences on the discourse of participation in educational reforms and the ways in which it is being promoted and implemented by diverse constituencies. Focuses on how participation becomes a way to create institutional legitimacy for current educational practices, and on the role of parent participation, and presents a…