The Synergistic Model of Organizational Career Development is an attempt to combine best practice principles from two domains: organizational development and individual career planning. The model assumes three levels of intervention within an organization: philosophical, strategic, and practical. Interventions at any of the levels may be directed…

While the concept of choice is not new to families able to take advantage of the available options, the idea of giving parents nearly total freedom in selecting their children's public school is new. Proponents of choice claim it results in higher test scores, fewer dropouts, and more involved parents. Critics maintain that there is no proof of…

The notion of the "everyday problematic" (Smith 1987) is used to examine the experiences of three doctoral students engaged in research about leadership for women, with a focus on leadership discourse, feminist perspectives, and organizational change. "Everyday problematic" refers to the discrepancy between what is defined as leadership and what…

Ways in which strategies drawn from the local change process literature can enhance the broader implementation of a new approach to site-based management (SBM) are described in this paper. The first section presents a new conceptual framework for SBM that is based on decentralizing power, knowledge, information, and rewards within systemic…

Twenty-nine members of a manufacturing organization were interviewed to learn how they identified, evaluated, and responded to what they perceived as significant changes in their organization. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze the interview transcripts. A model of the process of organizational change was constructed from emergent…

Existing literature on school-based management (SBM) policy and research is reviewed in this paper, which also highlights several themes related to both why school-based management does not work and how it can be designed to be more effective. The literature review suggests that past studies have tended to be general and descriptive in focus,…

This paper reviews the major ideas of the seminal total quality management theorists, such as Deming, Crosby, Juran, Ishikawa, and Imai, to illustrate how total quality management is applicable to education. It is argued that there is a need for a paradigm shift in educational administration. The first part reviews current Australian societal…

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.…

Changes in society such as unemployment, the economy, crime, violence, families, and technology all affect schools. Schools must understand how these changes in society will have an impact on education and respond appropriately. Schools are similar to other organizations, and research commonly assumes that they change strategically in response to…

This book illustrates how principals can simultaneously act as efficient managers and effective leaders. Through a mixture of "knowing about" and "knowing how," the book offers new strategies to help principals integrate the technical management role with the symbolic leadership role. Chapter 1 illustrates the tension between the two approaches in…

This paper presents three interrelated diagnostic tools that can be used by school staff as they begin to plan a systemic reform effort. These tools are designed to help educators reflect on their experiences in creating changes in their school and to examine the current barriers to and supports for the change process. The tools help school design…

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…

The total quality management (TQM) concepts of W. Edwards Deming were used at Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, Alaska. The school is an alternative school with about 210 students and 13 teachers. The students are a mix of native Alaskans and immigrants from other states. TQM was introduced into the school by a teacher. Students used TQM to…

Networking communities and school districts is crucial for effectively sharing resources and delivering services in rural areas. The study of the organization of southern non-metropolitan counties for the delivery of services is part of a regional project called "Analysis of Structural and Organizational Change in Rural Counties of the…

This document reports on the implementation of an innovation called "thoughtful teaching and learning" (which means lessons, teaching, class interactions, student-teacher relationships, and student assessment that promote the work of the mind as the prime claim on the curriculum) with a group of district and school administrators in a…