Discusses strategies for inviting middle school students to participate in class planning and presenting of information, noting the payoffs of this student-centered approach in greater student investment in the curriculum and receptiveness to learning. Considers the value of allowing time for students to reflect on their learning processes. (JPB)

Current conceptualizations of (Canadian) community college leadership associate leadership with hierarchical organizational structures. Today's community college leaders must respond to external changes and their effects and solve actual problems that have damaged these institutions. Managerial teams offer a less hierarchical, more democratic…

Describes a study seeking to develop a theory of instructional leadership grounded in interview data from practicing administrators and their teachers. Effective elementary instructional leaders engaged in various strategies designed to balance power inequities in their school community. They exemplified the use of collaborative power based on…

Describes changes at Lake Labish Elementary in Salem, Oregon, resulting from the school's participation in the federal Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration program. Comprehensive reform streamlines every aspect of the school, from leadership, curriculum, and instruction to attitudes, resources, and parent involvement. The school's new reading…

Reports on the redesign of Pima Community College's (PCC) West Campus library/student center. States that the college made the redesign a participatory process, developing a master plan through a series of intensive multiple-day workshops that included faculty members, staff, students, and community members. Concludes that consistent participation…

Interviews with staff and students explore the purposes of Puget Sound Community School (Seattle, Washington), which offers self-directed and community-based learning for students aged 12-18. Since its inception 7 years ago, the alternative school gradually became more scheduled, until the students initiated a restructuring to restore flexibility.…

To ensure that students recognize themselves as stakeholders in their education, they must participate in planning and executing their education. This can include making decisions regarding course selection, curriculum, and independent learning. The Internet provides one avenue for independent learning. It is important for students to reflect on…

This paper reports on an ethnographic study of 25 teacher leaders in five schools within a large midwestern city school district. Data was collected through unstructured interviews and observations of teachers. Three central themes appeared repeatedly, and explain the presence of and support for teachers as leaders, including: (1) specific school…

Over the last few years there has been increasing interest in process-based approaches in higher education administration, including "business process modelling" for development of information systems, "process redesign" to remove duplication and bottlenecks, and "process management" to improve operational…

Proponents of school restructuring often promote the purported benefits of professional forms of management that call for staff cooperation and collegiality, teachers' participation in school decision making, and supportive leadership by school principals. A theoretical perspective on organizations known as contingency theory refers to such…

In addition to classroom activities, teachers provide personal and instructional supports meant to facilitate the developing sense of student autonomy. In this article, we offer a way of thinking about autonomy-supportive practices that suggests that such practices can be distinguished at a featural level and that different practices may in fact…

Historically, adult education has focused on civic and social responsibility, participatory democracy, liberatory social action, and equity. Colin and Heaney (2001) claim that democracy in education requires an environment in which students are free to discuss their varied experiences and "confront intellectual censorship," often disguised as…

The question addressed in this article and one that has been the focus of the author's research is: how can colleges and universities have greater success with collaborative work? The author argues that to foster group and cross-divisional activities that have trouble succeeding in a context structured to support solo work, academic organizations…

The desirability of parents and professionals in special education working in partnership continues to be expressed through Government policy and legislation and through voluntary sector initiatives. Moreover, partnership working attracts significant financial investment. Yet effective, working parent-professional partnerships often remain elusive…

In searching for a new budget formula for the College of Business at California State University at Long Beach, a major university in the west, several rational budget formulas were explored. This report develops an explanation in quantitative terms of the reasoning process pursued by the department chairs in arriving at the compromise budget…