Principals should allow teacher input into decision making in appropriate areas and be clear about exactly which areas these are. (JM)

A proposed equity model outlines a school-transformation process by questioning tacit cultural beliefs and pondering how education aims are realized in daily practice. The process honors best teaching practice and serves as a stepping-stone for inquiry into the outcomes, values, and criteria guiding curriculum and instruction decisions. Democratic…

Offers suggestions for enabling and enhancing self-determination skills during the transition planning process for high school students with severe disabilities. Suggestions include an emphasis on student participation in transition planning, student decision making about goals and needed services, and student evaluation of the acceptability of…

Cheshire (Connecticut) High School was given a clear mandate to renew itself. Initially resistant faculty became enthusiastic while helping the principal develop a renewal framework stressing interdisciplinary instructional practices, integrated skill targets and assessment procedures, international awareness themes, large-scale technological…

Examines implications for teamwork and school management, based on findings from a two-year study of senior management teams in British secondary schools. Discusses valuable lessons about teamwork's strains and gains, using a dual theoretical perspective encompassing both power and culture. Shows how the conflict between hierarchy and equal…

Both Educational Alternatives Inc. and Baltimore City Schools learned some hard lessons about contracting for educational services and funding politics. Administrators should anticipate conflict; secure community support; establish specific educational objectives, project milestones, funding-linked accountability mechanisms, and a time-frame;…

Misunderstandings about power flourish amid unintellectualized notions of democracy, fairness, and idealized realities. To possess power, individuals and institutions must develop, take, exercise, and assert it. They empower themselves. It took a revolution for the Americans to secure independence from the British Empire. In school management…

Academic librarians and faculty library representatives were interviewed about the relationship between librarians and faculty in collection development. The problem stressed by library representatives was communication with department colleagues. Librarians thought the system of library representatives depended on the representative's view of the…

Discusses the challenge of providing preservice teachers with the knowledge and skills needed for effective participation in a democratic society. Focuses on the importance of understanding the rights and responsibilities of citizens living in a democracy. Emphasizes citizenship for a democracy, dimensions of effective classroom management and…

Explores the concept of decentralization within South Africa. Examines the policy impact of participation and democratization in relation to the powers and functions of school governing bodies. Concludes by considering the gap between rhetoric and practice in relation to attempts to entrench democracy and participation at the school level. (CAJ)

Provides an annotated bibliography of 15 current documents from the ERIC database related to community college leadership. Provides sources related to guidelines for effective leadership, building relationships, shared governance, and future challenges facing leaders. (BCY)

Explores ideas parents hold about issues underlying current constructivist school reforms. Summarizes semistructured interview data from 34 Midwestern parents concerning elementary schooling goals, how learning occurs, teachers' classroom roles, assessment of children's learning, and parents' roles in education. Parents agreed more on the means…

Equipment use in outdoor education is secondary to having clear goals and sound pedagogy. Examples from the authors' 21-day canoe expeditions to the Canadian tundra illustrate how the reflection component of an outdoor program can mitigate the potential negative side effects of emerging technology. Involving the group in decisions concerning…

The superintendent of Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky) describes an administrative restructuring process that removed layers of bureaucracy and dramatically improved principals' and teachers' shared decision-making opportunities and increased their enthusiasm and commitment. The key is willingness to take risks and remaining open to new…

Educators embarking on school-based management/participative decision-making report changes in relationships not only between administrators and teachers and between management and unions, but also between teachers and their union. Decentralization means teacher empowerment at the local level, collaborative bargaining, union involvement with…