Organizational changes, within the existing structure of public schooling, have the potential to decrease the oppositional behavior of students and to foster humane, positive learning and working enviroments. It has been documented that managers can create organizational structures that promote positive behaviors and facilitate people's…

Educational restructuring, an emerging concept without a single definition or a definitive model, supports the notion of multiple alternatives. Typical school improvement and excellence initiatives do not, by themselves, constitute restructuring. Restructuring means that schools should be organized according to children's learning needs. To…

General interest in decentralized decision-making in education is increasing in both Canada and the United States. This paper attempts a preliminary study of school-based management, which shifts some budgetary decision-making authority from the central office to individual schools. Although many academic specialties have explored decentralization…

Research on school-based management approaches to educational reform, including effective schools research, is presented. Included are an introductory section on school-based improvement and its link to effective schools, by Anne T. Henderson; descriptive summaries of 53 references; a list of organizations to contact for further information; and a…

The examination of school organization from a cultural perspective focuses on value orientation and commitment in elementary and secondary schools, and relates the predicted cultural differences to specific organizational and demographic attributes. A cluster-sampling procedure first selected schools as the unit of analysis, and then selected…

In the United States, a "two-tiered" school system--elementary and secondary education--is often spoken of, yet throughout this century the trend has been toward a "three tiered" system--elementary, junior high/intermediate/middle school, and high school. This paper reviews literature and research regarding these trends, the advantages and…

In March 1988, the South County Community College District (SCCCD) requested the approval of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to change the status of the Livermore Education Center from an "educational center" to a "college." An analysis by the Chancellor's Office of the request indicated that the District met Title 5…

The second wave of reform involves a comprehensive view of restructuring schools. This means rebuilding relationships among all school community members, changing organizational arrangements, and rethinking the curriculum. Written by second wave educators committed to professionalizing teaching and building a more collaborative school culture, the…

A case is made for public schools of choice based on major strands of evidence from the perspective of students, parents, and teachers. This is followed by a brief overview covering the extent of schools of choice, the nature of their support, their organizational features, and their accomplishments. The critical feature of the school choice issue…

The implementation of a matrix structure as an alternative to the traditional collegial/bureaucratic form at a college of education in a medium-size state university is described. Matrix organizational structures are differentiated from hierarchical bureaucratic structures by dividing the organization's tasks into functional units across which an…

A handbook for teaching assistants (TAs) at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Maryland, College Park, is presented to provide information concerning departmental organization and facilities as well as teaching ideas and problems. TAs with the department are either graders who primarily grade homework and tests and…

New and continuing missions for the modern university are discussed. "Multiuniversities" are viewed as institutions with multiple purposes that have retained the basic university organization. The main response of multiuniversities to demands for cross-disciplinary activities has been the creation of relatively small centers and institutes each…

While history helps to trace the development of the American public school as a bureaucratic institution and the role of teachers within that institution, a more sociological view helps to clarify the authority relationships within the school and the teacher's role within that structure. It is the teacher's willingness to claim autonomy based…

Describes the experiences of an organizational training workshop conducted for the staff of a reconstituted school, i.e. a school which had been reorganized in terms of personnel, grade patterns, instructional patterns, and student bodies as a result of the desegregation process. (Author/JM)

Investigates the relationship between school climate and the black females' academic self-concept in different elementary school settings and to determine which of the social-psychological variables comprising school climate most strongly affect the academic self-concept of the black female. (Author/JM)