The grounded experiences of two participatory evaluation case studies indicate that, when action is the desired outcome of an evaluation, somewhat less rather than more diversity of stakeholder participation is actually what is wanted. A narrowing of diversity is not necessarily in violation of democratic participatory aims. (SLD)

Describes some lessons learned from studying a California middle school participating in the Accelerated Schools Project. Factors facilitating school change include acknowledging school culture's importance, involving all school community members, and developing a clear training philosophy. Clarifies schools' capacity-building strategies for…

Explores experiences of six women on two senior academic committees at a South African university to understand how practices in such committees contribute to the marginalization and exclusion of women and to constructions of subjectivity. Discusses how the presence of women on such committees challenges the consciousness of all members. (SLD)

Describes the author's experience as a classroom teacher working for six years on school reform as a member of her school's site-based decision-making committee. Discusses a sense of belonging to a professional committee, teacher-initiated integrated curriculum, frustration in coping with rotating principals, growing expectations to assess student…

Summarizes an empirical study of New Jersey middle schools that examines important domains of teacher participation in decision making and school climate. Healthy interpersonal dynamics are associated with lower levels of decision deprivation among teachers. Although a healthy school climate may underlie authentic teacher participation, it is less…

Investigates the growing prevalence of participatory management in libraries. The operation of self-managed teams is discussed both in theory and in practice, the latter with examples from Sterling Library at Yale University. Research is summarized that relates to management teams and how they create a sense of empowerment by building shared…

Summarizes a study that interviewed 23 support service staff in five schools concerning their views about site-based management. Fully 85% reported that once SBM was introduced, staff roles changed, their opinions and contributions mattered, and students were positively affected. Comments were largely favorable, but certain labor management,…

Tucson (Arizona) Unified School District involved its entire work force in generating cost-saving maintenance strategies. Savings were made in carpenter and mower repair shops, evening programs, property control, grounds maintenance, custodial operations, food services, utilities, and rental space agreements. Replacing outdated equipment and…

Investigates positive claims about total quality management (TQM), comparing employee responses from an organization not implementing TQM with those from two organizations using TQM. Finds organizational commitment and perceived organizational support to be higher in TQM organizations, along with more positive employee-top management and coworker…

Reports a case study of a large regional high school's approach to creating and maintaining a school code of conduct. Describes the goals and processes of the "Jefferson Committee" and examines its outcomes for the school's students, faculty, and administrators. (Author)

In attempting to scale up restructuring efforts, the Memphis Restructuring Initiative used various strategies to acquaint schools with designs, such as inviting school leadership teams to presentations, giving schools time to research designs and narrow choices, asking schools to submit "letters of intent," and selecting 34 schools,…

Although Americans still cling to the ideal of free public education, the broad mandate that once tied schools to this ideal and other social, economic, and political objectives is fading. Publics, created out of multitudinous self-interests, form via deliberation. Deliberative forums can produce an agenda for actions linked by a shared sense of…

The just community--democratic--approach to moral education is applied to a prison setting at the Connecticut State Prison for Women. (Author/BB)

Although school administrators lead one of the most important and largest national enterprises, the opportunities and incentives for acquiring the necessary leadership skills are limited. Courses in school finance are usually fairly general and seldom touch on school-site budget issues or identify which resources actually contribute to desired…

High school coaches and activity advisers who apply participatory management principles will be far more effective in the 1990s than those who do not. Democratically managed activities are consistent with effective schools research. All activities should be managed within a single activities department and have positive educational outcomes.…