Article presented a number of responses to a survey of wherein rests the responsibility for governing schools in America. (RK)

Summarizes the organizational process and political bargaining models of policy change, and considers the rational decision-making model as an alternative. Models are interrelated with each other to show how each reveals a dimension of the politics of school decentralization. (Author/AM)

Responses from inquiries to the superintendents of 32 urban school systems across the country provided the basis for classifying and evaluating modes of decentralization and extent of community control. Main features of the school systems' operations are reported under nine categories: (1) decentralized decision making with centralized…

Reviews books which emphasize the modicum of influence exercised by the public on educational policy. Data were obtained on community-school interaction in 17 communities. Control of educational policy was demonstrated to be in the hands of administrators, with tacit consent of the public. (Author/DB)

Defines the concept of comprehensive high school, reviews the inadequac

Described attempts to report "hard" research in the area of educational administration and its relation to the community and expressed the hope that the school environment might be changed in order that a more rigorous research could be developed. (Author/RK)

The purposes of this study were: (1) to ascertain the extent to which urban school systems have decentralized the administration of their schools, (2) to obtain opinions on its workability in terms of curriculum development, (3) to begin development of an instrument for clarifying role and function issues at various echelons of decision-making,…

This discussion is organized into four sections. In an introductory section, it is pointed out that the word "decentralization" appears to have many meanings. There is a need to clarify definitions, and to examine decentralization in a practical, working context. In Part 1, "Background and Issues", some of the major issues…

Even though public school districts are structured with the expectation of responsive governance, most school boards are not particularly responsive to their constituents. School boards from politically contentious districts tend to be more responsive, but they have even less success challenging the dominance of the superintendent than do less…

Although the break-up of the unresponsive school bureaucracy in New York will be a move toward greater accountability, the basic question is: will this raise achievement levels? Its possible advantagees include: the increase in both the operating efficiency of the schools and the responsiveness of schools to the lay public; increased student fate…

A questionnaire survey of 180 Texas school district superintendents sought to determine both their perceptions of how community power structures influenced school board decisions and their techniques for communicating with their local power structure. The study analyzed four power structure types--monopolistic, multigroup noncompetitive,…

A historical analysis of the ways in which representatives of the business and professional communities were able to control the development of a city school system, based on documentation from the 1920's to the late 1960's in the Cincinnati, Ohio, school system. (Author/DCS)

Describes the process of obtaining and refining community input by major stakeholders utilized in 10 superintendent searches in a Southern state. Professional and personal characteristics and qualifications deemed important for the superintendent were solicited and used by the school boards in selecting the superintendent. (Contains 2 tables and…

If needed significant educational change is to be achieved, some countervailing power source capable of confronting administrative bureaucracy and making it conform to the present needs of the public must be established. Community control, the subdivision of the large system into appropriate communities and the control of each community by its…

The belief that structural change providing for the representation of minority parents in urban school districts would improve educational services for their children has led to an emphasis on school-system controlled or affiliated channels for participation. This emphasis, based on assumptions about parent participation in suburban districts, has…