The Teacher Involvement and Participation Scale, version 2 (TIPS 2) helps schools assess eight dimensions of the decision-making process, including goals/vision/mission; facilitating procedures and structures; curriculum/instruction; budgeting; staffing; staff development; operations; and standards. This article explains additional applications…

True faculty empowerment involves decision participation, authority over issues concerning professional life, and opportunities to acquire knowledge necessary to warrant such activity. This paper describes selected experiences of four schools implementing a shared governance model, identifying factors facilitating meaningful involvement and…

Fear frequently underlies confusion about shared decision making. Participative decision makers do agree on three basics: focus on improving school effectiveness by involving teachers and parents; need for school teams or councils charged with decision-making authority over certain issues; and a process to improve overall decision-making quality…

It is difficult to assemble the necessary conditions for school-based management when staff are struggling with basic civility. A New Jersey superintendent proceeded slowly while recognizing that things could go wrong and providing staff with needed conflict-resolution tools. School and district councils helped diffuse acrimony and motivate staff…

Educators commonly compare their restructuring efforts to rebuilding a 747 while in flight. Working smarter means monitoring the efficiency of faculty work from two standpoints: productivity in reaching desired student outcomes and depletion of important resources, including human energy. This article presents a five-stage model of the progress…

To measure teacher involvement in decision-making, the authors developed Teacher Decision-Making Instrument, a 68-item survey with 8 categories. This instrument can be used for follow-up analyses and for comparisons between teacher and administrator responses. The Shared Education Decisions Survey is designed for use by members of school…

In the new culture of shared decision making, strong principals recognize the need to improve the leadership skills of teachers and other staff. Believing that leadership is learned and can be nurtured, they take responsibility for arranging training focused on interpersonal, conceptual, and technical skills. As leaders of leaders, principals must…

Uses the Job Characteristics Model and Job Diagnostic Survey instrument to study the effects of 73 San Diego teachers' motivation and satisfaction on participatory management. Teachers are generally dissatisfied by the absence of feedback, autonomy, and task-related interaction. Participatory management opportunities must be differentiated…

To avoid bad decisions, principals must be willing to invest time, energy, and resources and prepare the problem-solving team for the frustrations involved in tackling tough problems. Simple probing techniques such as "creating (or intensifying) the problem,""the Five Whys""I wish" statements, the nominal Group Technique, and multivoting can aid…

To promote academic excellence and active teacher involvement, secondary school principals must advocate the "all students can learn" philosophy, focus on supervising instruction through classroom observation, understand and apply conferencing and coaching techniques to instructional improvement, and encourage decisions fostering greater…

Describes a business consultant's frustrated efforts to participate in the New American Schools Development Corporation's reform process. Instead of encouraging broad participation from business people, social scientists, learning theorists, parents, and others, NASDC confined its chief advisory panel to educators, eschewed creative…

In today's context of increasing demands and diminishing resources, many Canadian teachers successfully manage the interrelated challenges in classrooms and school corridors. Yet teachers do not have a major voice in decisions affecting their work and development. Without a senior partnership in the boardroom, teachers will neither achieve true…

Niza's nontraditional pedagogical principles are observed at work in a Portuguese classroom of three- to six-year olds. All learning is thought to follow the scientific method of discovery. Classes are heterogeneous, reflecting natural society. Schoolwork is organized, developed, and implemented by both teachers and students interacting…

The notion that parents should have a greater role in school governance has become increasingly popular with education reformers and parents themselves. However, many teachers and other educators are wary of increased parent involvement. (IAH)

Despite the benefits of employee participation in decision making, it is not widespread. Making it work requires commitment, job security, training, access to information, communication channels, goal setting, flat organizational structures, and financial reinforcement. (SK)