School improvement involves long-range, visionary planning. Each school in one Buffalo (New York) school district has several planning teams that include parents, students, community members, and support staff, as well as teachers and administrators. The teams are not merely problem solvers, but visionary collaborators in promoting their final…

Defines self-managed work teams as small groups of co-workers who share tasks and responsibilities of a well-defined segment of work. Discusses internal and external leadership, the role of the administrator, the coach, and the advisor, and organizational considerations. (JOW)

Explains the role of senior congressional committee staff members--people recognized as very knowledgeable or influential. Two key limitations: they may be fired at will and must closely represent their bosses' views. Staff members' jobs have four aspects (connecting, collecting, initiating, and implementing) associated with forming national…

A transition program was developed which pairs learning-disabled high-school juniors with mentors. Mentor/protege teams work cooperatively to complete tasks related to the individual protege's goals. Preliminary results show increased graduation and postsecondary enrollment rates. (Author/PB)

The most frequently used cooperative learning models feature five common components: heterogeneous teams, teammate interdependence, team interdependence, accountability, and activity appropriateness. These elements are explained to assist supervisors desiring to evaluate teachers using cooperative learning methods. Includes seven references. (MLH)

Aurora (Colorado) Public Schools staff found that empowering students meant teaching students what enhances and what impedes learning; helping them recognize and develop their own personal learning strengths; teaching them specific thinking and learning strategies; and passing on learning responsibility to them. The key is willingness to share…

The transdisciplinary approach to intervention with handicapped infants is described. The joint team, staff development, and role release characterize the approach. Sections consider effective team functioning and remedies for team dysfunctions including problems in interpersonal relations, developmental process, team structure, and role release.…

States that esprit de corps is essential in companies that run 24-hour operations and depend on shiftworkers. Describes training programs that bring cohesion to daily targets and allow compatibility between the work force and the companies' methods of operation. (JOW)

This article describes the child protection team model emerging in rural Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada). Child protection teams encourage a community-based response to child abuse involving first, a community-wide focus on prevention through public education and awareness, advocacy, and professional development, and second, case conferences by…

Presents the case of radical humanism as an appropriate theory of social action within social democracies in the late 20th century, and argues that the team is a highly effective form of social organization which leads to the establishment of an organizational culture compatible with radical humanism. (JPS)

Investigates factors that members of organizational work teams (school administrators and personnel who volunteered to work with students with ongoing drug and alcohol problems) believe facilitate and inhibit group performance effectiveness. Finds that compatible work schedules, motivated group members, adequate informational resources, competent…

Defines high performance work organizations, summarizes research findings on their effectiveness, and describes examples in the auto, steel, apparel, airline, and computer industries. (SK)

"Virtual" conferences can be frustrating when interactions trigger information overload, topic drift, or aimless conversation. Long-distance learning improves when educators identify objectives, define participants' roles, create an ambience, nourish conversation, provide feedback, adjust the pace, support and recruit members, summarize…

Explains the theory of learning organizations and offers examples from and implications for library management practice. Parallels are drawn between academic library reorganization and the ideas of learning organizations. (Author/JKP)

About four years ago, a rural Maine middle school abandoned its computer classes and integrated computers into its curriculum. Now, instead of using educational software or spending lots of time on training, students are writing stories with word processors, illustrating science diagrams with paint utilities, creating interactive reports with…