School based decision making (SBDM) has become one of the of hottest issues in education today. In SBDM the local governing body consists of parents, teachers, community members, and school administrators responsible for the legislative duties of running their school. Since most decision-making programs are geared for use in business settings…

Findings of a study that examined the perceived effects of school-based decision making (SBDM) on school curriculum, particularly vocational education, and decision-making processes are presented in this document. Sixty-nine secondary schools in Kentucky participated in SBDM during the 1991-92 school year. Data were obtained from a survey mailed…

Findings of a study that examined eight South Carolina school-improvement councils (SICs) that were identified as effective are presented in this report. The sample included SICs from two high schools, two middle schools, and four elementary schools that had indicated in a previous survey that they had basic organizational structures, effective…

This paper describes the process undertaken by the Meneley Elementary School in Douglas County, Nevada, to develop a plan for shared governance. In 1989, the school became a participant in the Nevada School Improvement Project (SIP). The new governance plan established a Decision Making Council (DMC), composed of representatives from each grade…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the role principals play as schools institute democratic governance structures. During 2.5 years, data were collected through interviews, observations, and document analysis at six schools engaged in a shared decision-making (SDM) project. Findings suggest that for principals to foster SDM in…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined teachers' perceptions of opportunities for and their willingness to participate in decision making regarding program evaluation. Questionnaires were mailed to a random sample of 477 K-12 teachers in the New York public school system, eliciting an unspecified number of responses. Overall,…

This bibliography is useful to those interested in the intersection of collaborative learning concerns and enhanced citizen participation. In addition to an introduction, there are five parts: (1) general information on study circles and small group discussion (8 references); (2) the theory of collaborative learning in small groups and study…

This study examined trends and issues in the involvement of college faculty in institutional governance between 1994 and 1997. The study reviewed 132 issues of "The Chronicle of Higher Education" published during this period to identify any article or news report related to faculty involvement in governance. These topics included faculty…

Quality circles, a management practice that involves groups of workers from the same work area voluntarily meeting on a regular basis to identify, analyze, and solve various work-related problems, have been used in Japan for over 40 years. In the United States, quality circles have been tried in many organizations during the past 2 decades and…

First-year outcomes of a restructuring project in four Maryland middle schools are summarized in this paper, with a focus on new rules, roles, and relationships. Methodology involved interviews with 52 teachers and building administrators and 18 state department of education staff members; observation of school improvement teams; and document…

Over the years, Neumann College (Pennsylvania) and surrounding school districts have cooperated informally in providing clinical sites for student teaching experiences. The growth of education programs at Neumann prompted a formalization of the clinical experience process in order to maintain the quality of its teacher preparation programs. The…

A review of literature on the principal's changing role in shared decision making is provided in this paper, which discusses the following areas: policy development; the egalitarian ethic for teacher participation; the principal/faculty relationship; the principal's functions in shared decision making; and elements of successful decision making.…

Findings from a project that utilized student input in the restructuring of school practices are presented in this paper. The 6-month doctoral project was implemented in an urban middle school. Methodology was based on solicitation of student input about classroom practices and data collection of school and departmental issues, which resulted in…

Findings of a study that examined the progress of three Indiana schools (Beech Grove Senior High School, Indianapolis; Linton-Stockton Elementary School, southwestern Indiana; and Richmond High School) toward educational innovation goals under the 21st Century Schools Pilot Project are presented in this paper. Each school is described in terms of…

School-based management (SBM) is a strategy to decentralize decision-making authority to the individual school site. This document describes the principles of SBM, of which devolution of authority is the fundamental concept. Local control and shared decision-making are manifested in five educational operations: goals, budget, personnel, curriculum…