The potential usefulness of C. Perrow's (1967) social-technical approach to describing elementary schools is described. This approach is based on the organizational technology and proposed relationships among social, structural, and personnel dimensions of organizations. Perrow's formulation of technology contains two dimensions: (1)…

This article presents ethnographic data to elaborate the nature of teacher resistance and accommodation to the structural context of schooling, and it illustrates the dynamics of group solidarity among a group of eighth-grade middle school teachers. The analysis is predicated on concepts identified by Paul Willis in his study "Learning to…

According to this paper, the future will offer human beings the choice of becoming bees or architects. Although the bee-like way of treating teachers and students in schools came from American industry, the chances for shifting toward the architect/creative side may now be better in industry than in the schools. The practice of treating children's…

This study developed an index of communal school organization and used this measure to focus on specific features of high schools as social organizations. The philosphical and social perspectives of the school as a community are explored, focusing on the school as a social organization consisting of cooperative adults who share a common purpose…

The difficulties faced by Chicago's public school system have prompted two state-level investigative bodies to recommend the breaking up of the system into smaller, locally controlled units. Without exhaustively reviewing all of the factors involved in making the transition from a centralized to a decentralized school governance structure, this…

Swedish higher education is discussed with attention to reforms, the structure of higher education, study programs, entrance requirement and admissions, postgraduate studies, economic resources, student unions, and student financial aid. Educational reform created a unified higher education system, combining institutions that had previously been…

The reorganization of the College of Education and Allied Professions at the University of Toledo is discussed. The analysis is based on Baldridge's political model, Bacharach and Lawler's views of politics and power, Pirsig's concept of quality, and the Oxford English Dictionary definitions of "passion." To investigate the…

The philosophy upon which this monograph is based is the belief that one of the responsibilities of the schools is to prepare all youth to become active and well-informed participants in a democratic society. Alternatives and options are recommended for improving the school curriculum, governance, teacher effectiveness, testing, discipline, and…

Cooperative efforts, educational objectives, educational planning, school organization, and administrative organization are important in achieving unity within a school's vocational agriculture program. (EA)

The commonalities and uniquenesses of the organizational structural patterns in 52 colleges of education in land grant unitversities are analyzed. Variables studied include relation of college to university, organizational structures, span of control, single executive, governance, and instructional units. A special section analyzes 34…

Recently there has been a resurgence in demand for citizen participation in public school decision-making. To directly assess the degree of this phenomenon, 30 public school districts were selected from Pennsylvania (excluding Philadelphia and Pittsburgh), based on a random sample, for a citizen attitude measurement questionnaire that yielded 320…

One approach by the state of Georgia to ensure equal educational opportunity for all children has been to organize a method whereby several school systems within an identified geographical region may share services they cannot afford to provide individually. By legislative action in 1972, provisions for Cooperative Educational Service Agency…

The organizational characteristics of schools can be extremely important influences on student behavior, and student behavior problems can be reduced through organizational change. Organizations can be held to consist of objectives, processes for achieving those objectives, and structures for carrying out those processes. The term…

Traditionally, continuing education, though a recognized mission of the community college, has been relegated to an ancillary position outside of the policy-making and administrative mainstream. As traditional student populations shrink and outreach and career preparation become more important, community colleges have begun to realize that…

Drawing on documents and interviews with school staff, this report describes Oaklea Middle School, serving grades five through eight in the Junction City (Oregon) School District. An overview of the school's startup and philosophy stresses the priority assigned to students' educational, physical, social, and emotional needs. The author next…