Research on the nature of and support for systemic sustainable innovation with ICT is converging with research on policy implementation and studies of school change and improvement to highlight the complex interplay of personal and contextual factors that enable and constrain innovation. In each of these fields, leadership has been found to play a…

This paper contributes to the growing body of research on participatory democracy and the literature on associational democracy by exploring the impact that institutional reforms have on local-level configurations of civil society. In the 1980s a wide range of participatory experiments were initiated in Brazil, most notably Participatory Budgeting…

This paper distinguishes two pathways in the various proposals for innovative reforms of public sector agricultural extension. The two "pathways" involve the participatory trends toward democratization and farmer association and, in contrast, the push toward capitalistic commercial attitudes toward agriculture as business. The introduction reviews…

Since 2006, the Thomas W. Payzant School on the Move (SOM) Prize has been awarded annually to a Boston public school that has made significant progress in improving student achievement. This case study identifies the structures and strategies that best serve students in prizewinning schools, provides a profile of each of the four winning schools…

Success in Sight focuses on the interrelated parts of an education system. This systemic school improvement intervention is designed to address schools' specific needs while building their capacities to plan, implement, and evaluate school improvement practices. It is intended to help schools, leadership teams, and teachers systemically engage in…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 put great pressure to improve student achievement upon principals. Because the principals' work is much more complex since NCLB, it demands a more sophisticated set of skills and understandings than ever before. This qualitative case study examined changes in the principal's role and how current accountability…

The purpose of this study was to explore strategies to enable community colleges to develop and cultivate women for leadership roles through succession planning. According to the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the pace of administrative and other key staff retirements exceeds the pace at which these positions are being…

Purpose: This study seeks to explore the moderating role of teachers' personality traits from the Big Five typology on the relationship between participative management and teacher outcomes with respect to performance, satisfaction and strain. The study suggests that participative management may produce different results depending on teachers'…

As the dropout problem has grown--and as increasing numbers of students have started to see dropping out as a viable option for expressing their disaffection with school--practitioners, policymakers, and researchers have looked more closely at the factors that lead students to disengage from school and have attempted to find ways to create…

In Zimbabwe, there have been some debates on democratisation and decentralisation, which led to the development of policies meant to increase teacher participation in decision-making in schools. However, despite these developments, teacher participation in decision-making in Zimbabwean schools is regarded as insignificant. Teachers work closely…

This study investigated young children's perceptions of their role in curriculum development in one Canadian preschool. There is no consensus that children have a role to play in developing curriculum. However, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) confirms children's right to be listened to about all aspects of their…

This article proposes Hackman and Oldham's (1980) model of work group design to structure parent groups for involvement in school activities and decision making. Parent interviews from three studies of parental involvement provide examples to support this proposal. Participants in these studies described experiences working in groups. Parents'…

Negotiations present individuals with a paradox. On the one hand, individuals are expected via social norms and formal regulations to be honest and straightforward in their negotiations. On the other hand, individuals who mislead their negotiation counterpart are often rewarded with more favorable settlements. The authors investigate this paradox…

With the focus on test scores and accountability, the issues of student growth, leadership and civic responsibility often are overlooked. While achievement is important, leadership and responsibility issues are among those most sought by employers. Some of the most recognized studies, such as "A Nation At Risk" support and encourage what are…

As the demands on school leaders expand, it's becoming more and more important to lead from one's strengths. The authors' review of literature on essential school leadership responsibilities led them to write "Differentiated School Leadership: Effective Collaboration, Communication and Change through Personality Type," which revealed 26 separate…