Analysis of the applicability of a learning technology requires evaluating how the affordances of the technology respond to the users' needs. We examine affordances of a digital learning environment. We concentrate on organizational and socio-interactional affordances, which are based on technological affordances. The analysis shows how…

The purpose of this paper was to test the relationship between principal leadership and teacher collaboration around instructional improvement to determine whether these measures were statistically related and whether, together, they were associated with academic achievement in elementary schools. Data were obtained from 1,600 teachers in 96…

An overview is provided of the development of quality/performance circles at Lakeshore Technical Institute (LTI), Wisconsin, and of the projects undertaken through the quality/performance circle program during its 3-year history. First, background information is provided on the use of quality circles in Japan and the United States, including…

Teacher inservice education coordinators working with approximately 130 school districts were asked to report on their use of, and to rate the effectiveness of, 11 planning practices. The study's purpose was to determine if the emphasis in the literature of the past decade on collaborative planning and needs assessments beyond a teacher survey…

Evaluations of school restructuring, particularly school-based management (SBM) and shared decision making (SDM), have tended to focus on problems of implementation and on its consequent failure to fulfill its promises. Inadequate resources, unclear responsibilities, inhibiting regulations, and institutional resistance have all been cited as…

Much evidence indicates that raising the overall achievement level of an urban school requires parent participation in the school--participation beyond the traditional fundraising activities. This study identified program characteristics and district and school conditions that affect the implementation of parent-involvement programs. The first…

Research has documented that individuals feel a greater sense of responsibility and commitment to an organization when they are active members in organizational decision making. To investigate the level of student involvement in doctoral level counseling psychology programs, student involvement surveys were completed in the spring of 1983, by 28…

The Baltimore County Public School system implemented the use of quality circles in its school improvement programs to facilitate change through increased involvement of faculty in decision making. The program increased the productivity and the motivation of the staff in their efforts to strive toward excellence. This paper describes the program…

A study examined the influence of participation in the Accelerated Schools Project on teachers' instructional behaviors, with a focus on teachers' instructional decision-making and their implementation of inquiry processes. The Accelerated Schools Project was designed to integrate high-risk students into the educational mainstream by the end of…

An analysis of the evaluation of partnership programs with a focus on accountability is the purpose of this paper. Research for the book, "Partnerships in Education: Measuring Their Success," entailed a survey of various partnership leaders from education, business, government, and nonprofit organizations. The survey results are discussed in this…

The National Education Association's "Operation Rescue" employs a two-tiered approach to combating the dropout rate: the first approach is research and information sharing, the second is to facilitate direct action at the local level through a grants program to fund dropout prevention programs in the schools. In order to focus Operation…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the efforts of one Dade County, Florida, high school to use site-based management/shared decision making (SBM/SDM) over a 7-year period. The study examined participants' beliefs about the distribution of authority, the nature of work, and conceptions of learning and compared those beliefs with…

In utilizing the theory of management by objectives (MBO), common goals are set by both managers and subordinates, individual members' areas of responsibilities are defined, and resource allocations are made according to the planning and achievement of objectives. At academic institutions, common benefits of MBO include measurable objectives…

Research suggests that school reform initiatives have had minimal success in engendering systemic instructional improvement in schools. Within this evaluative context, this paper explores the means through which the paradigm of thinking about school instruction dominant in the profession (that is, Hirsch's "thoughtworld") potentially…

This study assessed the role of inservice programs in bringing more developmentally appropriate practices to the early childhood classroom. Training was intended to accentuate the teachers' role in effecting educational change. Through classroom observations and teacher feedback, the researcher and participating teachers developed a 3-year…