This paper examines the responses of English primary schools to the changes imposed on them by the introduction of the National Curriculum. The study first focused on schools' management strategies and their impact on the school's management culture. A second focus was on the relationship of the school and its headteacher with external agencies.…

This paper discusses steps that high school foreign language teachers can take to select appropriate textbooks for their classes. Teachers should: (1) determine their department's philosophy; (2) look at their students' needs; (3) ask department members for suggestions; (4) review school district guidelines; (5) examine as many textbooks as…

A review of literature on year-round schooling (YRS) points to the necessity of participant involvement in the change process. This document focuses on the story of one Ontario school board's deliberations around modifying the school calendar. Following the introduction, part 1 provides a background of YRS, its claims and criticisms, and…

Much evidence indicates that raising the overall achievement level of an urban school requires parent participation in the school--participation beyond the traditional fundraising activities. This study identified program characteristics and district and school conditions that affect the implementation of parent-involvement programs. The first…

This study explores the relationship between demographic diversity among members of school leadership councils and the nature and quality of their decision-making processes. A survey was mailed to all members of the leadership councils at 156 Los Angeles (California) Unified School District schools--of which 78 were involved in the shared…

This paper discusses the concept of a dual cultural and political perspective for analyzing interaction. It also illustrates how this dual perspective can explain how senior management teams (SMTs) operate in English secondary schools, in which senior faculty profess commitment to teamwork. Methodology included: (1) case studies of six secondary…

Issues and challenges in giving students a voice in the educational process, or motivating them through empowerment, are examined in this monograph. Students whose input is solicited feel a greater sense of ownership with the educational process, which increases their engagement and in turn facilitates school effectiveness. Following an…

An academic advisory board of volunteers drawn from college alumni and the general community can serve institutions of higher education at the college, school and even departmental level. Board members link the academic community to the external community by sharing expertise gained through practical experience. Such a board exists solely to give…

Findings from a study to identify types of teacher involvement in school restructuring are described in this paper. A total of 203 teachers from 18 schools participating in Tennessee's Leadership in Educational Administration Development (LEAD) project in 1987-88 completed a questionnaire to compare their actual and preferred involvement in…

School-based budgeting decentralizes fiscal decisions and is usually adopted as part of a comprehensive school-based management plan. The practice requires cooperation, particularly from the school board, superintendent, and principals. The purpose of school-based budgeting is not to reduce costs but to improve school productivity by altering…

This study explored the nature of staff roles and relationships in four New Zealand kindergartens during the process of change that ocurred when a new staff member was taking up a position. The study attempted to identify features of early childhood settings in which relationships among staff were working well and settings in which they were not.…

This paper reports on a longitudinal study, known as the Rancho Plan, begun in 1976 at a high school in California. The study was conducted to experiment with planned change in organizational and instructional structures. The data which have emerged offer teachers' recollections of what was and connect them to the long-term effects of a planned…

Although only a few dozen school systems have formally embraced site-based management, thousands of districts across the country are experimenting with it in some form. The study described in this report attempts to distill the experience of pioneering school systems, so that citizens and educators in other localities can benefit from it. During…

This collection of 12 essays examines the school's need to establish a collaborative environment as a precondition for its own development. The following chapters explore the necessary shift in schools from a bureaucratic to a professional mode: (1) "Recanting Bureaucracy: A Democratic Structure for Leadership in Schools" (D. L. Clarke and J. M.…

School/Community-Based Management (SCBM) improves the quality of education by providing schools with administrative flexibility and by empowering each school's community to make and implement decisions that will directly affect its members and students. To help individual school communities that are considering adopting SCBM understand how shared…