Emphasizes the need for intimate faculty involvement in planning a new school gymnasium. Once an architect has been chosen, planners should consider flexibility for newer sports and other functions and be aware of choices regarding size, flooring, use of dividers, and maintenance. Because gym requirements vary by region and school system, careful…

To ensure full participation in establishing school system goals, the Iowa City (Iowa) schools initiated a priority-setting exercise in which all 600 professional employees (and community members) participate. The process involves gathering ideas and status reports, holding workshops, making progress reports, presenting new priorities to staff,…

Describes the Birmingham (Michigan) Public Schools' morale-boosting program. First the superintendent established a district communications team (composed of administrators, teachers, and noncertified staff members) to plan morale-building events. The district also hired a consultant to work with staff and students to improve specific aspects of…

The Canandaigua City (New York) School District successfully incorporated educational technology into a capital project, thanks to efficient planning. Planners should build a team, shape a vision, work backwards toward specifics, keep the plan flexible, put off hardware decisions, choose the best software, invest in training and support, and…

Sharing decision making with teachers and parents actually increases the principal's influence. Offers 10 steps to translate leadership skills into school restructuring. (MLF)

A pilot program in school-based management in Prince William County, Virginia, gave principals at five schools their share of the school system's budget to allocate. (MLF)

Describes what is happening with school-based management in the public school systems of Dade and Sarasota Counties, Florida; and Savannah Chatham County, Georgia. (MLF)

Some enlightened approaches to encouraging staff participation and ownership culled from Oregonian school executives include 4 C's (comments, criticisms, complaints, and compliments) advisory committee, 5-minute stand-up staff meetings, potlatches (monthly dinner workshops), "5/10" (short-answer) reports eliciting teacher comments,…

Principals must become new-age leaders dedicated to achieving a learning renaissance in the nation's schools. Like Sisyphus, principals often find themselves in the ultimate organization box, facing endless uphill struggles. Two exemplary Los Angeles practitioners have transformed their work places into egalitarian learning networks. A new…

A state-sponsored pilot program is allowing the faculty at two North Carolina schools to experiment with school reform. Lead teachers serve as instructional leaders and coordinate teachers' efforts to develop class schedules, plan and organize inservice training, and analyze test scores. (MLF)

By giving teachers control over improving the curriculum, an Idaho school system has created a systemwide syllabus that guides each teacher in each subject and grade. (MLF)

School leaders striving to comply with federal laws that mandate access to classrooms and playgrounds for children with disabilities can learn from the experiences of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School in Oak Park, Illinois. A sidebar summarizes schools' obligations to disability law and lists resources for more information on accessible…

Since December 1992, the Capac (Michigan) Community School District has adopted zero-based budgeting for 40% of its budget. Instead of building on the previous year's budget, the superintendent requires every staff member and school to justify projected expenditures based on contributions to future educational goals. Academic programs benefit.…

Tupelo (Mississippi) Superintendent Mike Walters eschewed his former "happy bureaucrat" role for a facilitative role allowing teachers to reinvent curriculum and instruction. Inspired by Deming's continuous-improvement precept and aided by a $3.5 million grant from the area's Fortune-500 business community, this superintendent finds…

Effective discipline is achieved in San Diego County, California, schools by applying four qualities identified in defective schools research: (1) high expectations; (2) frequent monitoring; (3) shared leadership; and (4) home school relations. (MLF)