This booklet explores the nature of participation, representation and decision-making in school governance in South Africa based on a collective case-study of six schools in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) that was undertaken between 2002 and 2004. The different types of schools were compared by the following criteria: their interpretation of the…

Department chairs are in a position to help shape a culture where student learning is the central focus of faculty, staff, and students (Gmelch & Schuh, 2004). They hire, socialize, and evaluate faculty members' performance, guide curriculum development, and maintain the quality of academic programs. At the same time, department chairs typically…

This document states that many studies have identified faculty recruitment as a specific job responsibility of college department chairs. Because the recruitment process is time consuming and costly, the chair must also ensure that recruitment leads to retention. This paper closely examines what strategies academic chairs use to recruit and retain…

Educational reform poses problems for administrators in rural areas who have limited time and resources. This guide offers a process that can be used by rural administrators to engage the community in activities that will enhance children's success in the classroom and in their adult lives. Section 1 discusses the importance of community…

Four school resource officers (SROs) and four school administrators were brought together by the Center for the Prevention of School Violence, located in the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, to discuss effective SRO-administrator relationships. This brief research bulletin describes the results of that…

Understanding today's Internet-based distance learning systems for effective and successful implementations is a growing interest both for researchers and practitioners. This paper clarifies the differences among the first- and second-generation Internet-based distance learning systems. A closer look is given to the key players in this area: the…

This monograph explores the social context of the school and how this context influences, for better or worse, the academic and social behavior of students. It reviews how most student behavior serves a meaningful purpose for the student and how similar behaviors may serve distinctly different functions for various students. It also explores how…

This paper reports on an examination of the effects of leadership practices on student achievement. It includes a meta-analysis of nearly every available study since the 1970s, including doctoral dissertations, that indicated it examined the effects of leadership on student achievement. From a total of more than 5,000 studies, 70 met the…

This report describes a study that utilized the qualitative methodological approach of the focus group, followed by interviews, to gauge the perception of senior educational leaders in Trinidad and Tobago on issues pertaining to school effectiveness. Specifically, the study sought to ascertain from primary and secondary principals, school…

A problem facing many supervisors and administrators in K-12 and higher education is how to effectively integrate technology into the instructional proram. Professional development plays a key role in providing training and support required to develop the instructional technology (IT) skills necessary to have a positive effect on instruction. This…

This study reports on the job challenges and corresponding response strategies that department chairs at graduate and undergraduate colleges and universities encounter and rely upon. Literature and research related to marketing department chairs, marketing education, and marketing majors indicates that business schools have come under attack by…

This set of six videotapes provides a comprehensive guide to meetings to develop Individualized Education Programs (IEP) for students who are blind. The tapes include reenactments of IEP meetings, conferences with experts, and the views of a variety of participants. Emphasis is on requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act…

Drawing on data collected in a national evaluation, this paper explores the contribution of Frontline Management Initiative (FMI) to the practice of management learning in selected enterprises in Australia. (A competence-based management development strategy, FMI places learning in an organization and links management performance to the…

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) Taking Care of Novice Teachers: Researchers Suggest How Administrators Can Keep Their Newer Teachers Teaching and Maintain a First-Rate Faculty (Reino Makkonen); (2) Assessing…

After a major governing board decision regarding faculty pay policy caused serious faculty dissatisfaction, the Association of Governing Boards assisted the administration in providing a workshop to help faculty understand the policymaking process of the board and administration. (MSE)