A seminar held on a kibbutz in Israel in which educators from the United Kingdom, Canada, and Israel discussed school-based curriculum development is described. (RM)

Asserts that organizations do not have wills of their own but are only groups of individuals acting in concert. Argues that trying to run an organization by consensus results in the loss of accountability and merely relocates conflict without eliminating it. Urges adopting leadership by consent in educational organizations. (PGD)

Leadership styles change over time and with individuals. The relationship between presidential style and effect is explored. The essay suggests that crisis and change do not lend themselves to extensive collaboration and planning, but that to ignore the traditions of faculty input threatens the ability of an institution to move forward.…

A model for examining the relationship between the professor and teaching assistant (TA) was tested at the University of California, Irvine. Based on an open communication system between professor and TA, problem identification and solutions strategies were a participatory process. Professor and TA opinions about participative restructuring were…

Quality Circle members identify problems, select one for attention, analyze the potential causes of the problem, and identify and select preferred solutions that are proposed to the administration. Skills, knowledge, and experience gained by people in an education Quality Circle become theirs as well as those of the school. (MLF)

A cross-section of teachers in California were surveyed regarding working conditions, organizational support, participation in decision making, and teacher support for proposed reforms. Findings are presented. (MT)

Issues raised by the Yugoslavian practice of worker self-management are examined: government flexibility, effects of cultural pluralism and adult education, structural changes and trends, and social class formation. (SK)

Teacher involvement in decision making at the secondary school level was studied to analyze when, to what extent, and in which issues teachers should be involved. Implications which may benefit school administrators are discussed. (DF)

This school parent involvement policy is divided into three sections: (1) Development and Adoption of the Parent Involvement Policy; (2) Contents of the Parent Involvement Policy; and (3) Distributing and Revising the School's Parent Involvement Policy. This paper presents the provision of the Section 1118 of Title I of the No Child Left Behind…

Earlier this year, the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence released a report highlighting practices in Kentucky's high-performing, high-poverty schools. Researchers collected information using the same audit tool that the Kentucky Department of Education uses to diagnose problems in schools identified for improvement, then compared those…

This newsletter defines teacher leadership and offers concrete ways teachers can step forward, sometimes out of their comfort zones, into leadership roles. In most schools, traditional structures are in place that define certain teachers as leaders such as department heads and grade-level team leaders. Many schools also have a leadership team,…

In 2000, a study entitled "Youth in Decision-Making: A Study on the Impacts of Youth on Adults and Organizations," examined organizations that actively involved youth in decision making roles and found that adults and organizations had experienced significant positive changes as a result. Building on focus groups and interviews conducted…

This qualitative study examined the degree to which a school principal, faculty, and community achieved shared decision making. Through faculty interviews, observations of meetings, and review of the school's documentation of committee structures, the study investigated strengths and weaknesses in the decision-making process. First, participants…

A position paper addresses the current round of school closings in the District of Columbia arguing that these closings are not within the context of the 10-year educational facilities plan that included community input, and valid criteria for closing decisions being consistently and objectively applied. Current closings decisions are viewed as…

In Chicago, local school councils (LSCs) with a majority of elected parent and community members, exercise substantial school-level decision making powers. They hire their school principals on performance contracts, set priorities for school improvement, and determine school budgets. This report summarizes two 1997 studies that analyzed LSC…