Although the (British) government's "league tables" may be an inappropriate method of comparing schools' relative effectiveness, analysis of the 1992 examination results points to Catholic schools' apparent success. A summary of the limited research evidence on Catholic school effectiveness suggests that a rigorous study of their…

Synthesizes evidence from three independent studies of conditions fostering organizational learning in schools conducted in different contexts, but using comparable methods. The purpose was to identify such conditions from state, district, and school sources, relying on qualitative data from 111 teachers in 14 schools. Collegial atmosphere and…

To determine if governance structures affected perceptions of teacher empowerment, 55 teachers completed the Teacher Perception Survey. Subjects were from two matched Missouri elementary schools with differing organizational structures and administrative philosophies. Unlike the traditional model, an Accelerated School model strongly influenced…

Draws upon organizational theory to analyze the community college environment with a focus on faculty as the technical core of educational organizations. Predicts a change to a more complex and less centralized organizational structure in colleges, and an accompanying transformation in the role of community college faculty from that of…

Justifies and develops a conceptual framework for a cross-cultural approach to educational administration, focusing on the school as the baseline unit for analysis. The proposed framework is built around interrelationships among core concepts: culture, organizational structures, leadership and management processes, curriculum, and teaching and…

Describes Greek education, noting central reforms marking its development. Argues that despite considerable progress, Greece's educational system faces the challenge of decentralization. Describes the structure of the school administrative system, presenting a critical analysis investigating the efficiency of educational services in Greece. Offers…

A case study of San Jose State University examined how changes in what counts as knowledge are reflected in universities' academic structure. Found that the multidimensionality of academic structure, with bureaucratic (departmental) structure relatively fixed and programmatic (degree program) structure relatively open, enables universities to…

Examines the nature of non-decision-making, its empirical operationalization, and practical realization in the school sector. Studies on decision-making fail to consider an integral element: the conscious or unconscious decision to exclude certain areas from formal decision locations and relevant decision makers. Implications are discussed.…

Examines how public school system structure influences both education spending and student performance in California. Finds considerable support for the public-exchange model predicting that greater competition improves student performance. Higher spending and market power probably leads to lower student achievement in fourth and eighth grades.…

In Prince George's County, Maryland, Superintendent Jerome Clark told staffs of low-performing schools to resign and reapply for positions. New principals were hired, and schools were restaffed. San Francisco has experimented with reconstituting or jumpstarting dysfunctional schools since the 1980s. A Department of Education study shows mixed…

The nation's governors adjourned their two-day summit on high schools armed with an expanded arsenal of political and financial commitments to prepare all students for success in college and the workplace. But despite the enthusiastic launch of two major initiatives at the February 26-27, 2005 meeting here, observers cautioned that improving…

This study identified the enabling conditions related to building instructional capacity created by the councils in three high-performance schools in an urban district. The authors collected the data through observation, interview, and document mining. School-level data were sorted inductively into themes through constant comparative analysis.…

Reacts to articles by Charles Bidwell, Paul Kingston, and Carolyn Riehl in the 2001 theme issue of Sociology of Education. Argues that Bidwell and Kingston's articles show the strengths that the educational sociology field has exhibited over the years. Evaluates Riehl's article as a movement toward examination of the current intellectually…

Five years ago, Robert E. Lee High School was a big school with big problems. Overcrowding at the 3,100-student school forced some students to use air-conditioning units for chairs. Hallway fights broke out daily. At least half the freshmen disappeared from the roll books before reaching 12th grade. The thing to do, school leaders decided, was to…

School-based management (SBM) has become a very popular movement over the past decade. The World Bank Education Team's SBM work program emerged out of a need to define the concept more clearly, review the evidence, support impact assessments in various countries, and provide some initial feedback to teams preparing education projects. During the…