This reference guide outlines what is new for educational programs under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. It also describes how the NCLB's four guiding principles--(1) focus on what works; (2) reduce bureaucracy and increase flexibility; (3) increase accountability for student performance; and (4) empower parents--are brought to bear…

Elected school boards' skeptical eyes can guard against bad management practices and ensure that different voices get heard. Problems with board governance are a product of too little democracy. A democratic reform strategy would make board elections partisan, hold them on the same day as elections for more prominent state or national offices,…

This resource guide addresses Outcome 8 of Quality Performance Accreditation (QPA), which was adopted by the Kansas State Board of Education in 1991, to be implemented in all school districts by 1994-95. QPA's stated purpose is to prepare learners to live, learn, and work in a global society. Ten outcomes are identified for schools and communities…

Describes the views of A. S. Neill on democracy in school administration. Explains the reasoning behind Neill's arrangement of community-based decision making. Questions how democratic England's Summerhill School was in view of Neill's authority. Suggests giving children the right to participate in community government as an educationally…

In 1989, Chicago (Illinois) Public Schools began an experiment with the radical decentralization of power and authority. This book tells the story of what happened in Chicago's elementary schools in the first four years of this reform. Implicit in the reform was the theory that expanded local democratic participation would stimulate organizational…

Describes the organization, content, and outcomes of a program to train Inuit leaders to be effective school board members for the Baffin Divisional Board of Education when the Inuit first assumed control of that region's schools. Topics include school board role and formulation of educational goals and policies. (JHZ)

Describes the public education system in Norway. Discusses steering and decentralization, political and professional responsibility, and proposals for governing by goals. Identifies the EMIL plan, which calls for establishing goals and evaluating results from the view of the government and teachers. Lists political and professional…

This book is an introduction and guide to school-based management, a decentralized form of organization in which decisions that have traditionally been made by a superintendent or school board are made by the local school. Chapter 1 provides an overview of decision-making in public school systems starting with a brief history of the trend toward…

Conclusions reached by the Illinois State Board of Education Study, released in May 1985, that small schools are inferior and inefficient, that Illinois has too many schools, and that over half its schools should be closed seem to be an educational step backward. Without linking the two concepts, the study implies that school consolidation will…

This article closes off a debate in this journal between the author and James D. Kaminsky concerning the latter's philosophical analysis of a "Freedom and Authority Memorandum" delivered to South Australian public schools in the early 1970s by then Director-General of Education, A. W. Jones. (TE)

A 3-year study of decentralization of Alaska schools identified several factors that influenced whether a school was locally controlled and found patterns of control associated in important ways with staff and community attitudes toward school. Information was gathered by surveys and interviews conducted in 28 communities randomly selected to…

Using techniques of the reputational method to study community power structure, this report identifies components of power structure in a Tennessee school district, demonstrates that proven methodologies can facilitate educational leaders' reform efforts, and serves as a pilot study for further investigation. Researchers investigated the district…

Proceedings of a Navajo Bilingual Education Conference held April 26 and 27, 1985, are summarized in this report which focuses on the implementation of Navajo language and cultural education at the Dzlith Na O Dith Hle Community School (DCS). The paper begins by stating that the conference was intended to assist educators in understanding and…

Summarizes data extracted from a national survey of Canadian provinces concerning educational policy towards arts education. Discovers greater centralized control in the more populous provinces with the remote areas ceding authority to local boards. Different provinces appear to conceive of the arts in significantly different ways. (MJP)

Prepared by independent evaluators at the request of the Interlake Tribal Division for Schools, this report assesses the status of education in Fairford and makes recommendations for comprehensive educational improvements that would enable the community to regain local control of education. The opening sections describe the present situation,…