Following a brief presentation of Harold Lasswell's model of the social process, the authors discuss problems of policy formation and meaning determination, describe the "decision seminar" proposed by Lasswell as a technique for facilitating collective problem-solving, and provide illustrations of the seminar's successful application to…

Assesses a democratic society's ability to govern by focusing on three areas: (1) individual philosophical and/or religious beliefs and how they interweave with governance; (2) the making of basic public policy in constituent assemblies; and (3) the conversion of understandings into laws that reflect thoughtful programs and changing times. (BC)

Describes how quality circles were implemented at Des Moines Area Community College, following the administration of a quality of work life survey of college employees. Reveals benefits in terms of improved quality and satisfaction; provides information on the quality circle process. (DMM)

Stressing that in order for quality circles to work, members must believe that their participation makes a difference, the author outlines procedures for setting up quality circles within schools and school districts and describes their successful operation. (MJL)

Based on real events that have yielded positive results for both school culture and student achievement, this inspiring story introduces the students and staff of Knownwell High School and involves you in their journey of school improvement. "Students Are Stakeholders Too!" captures students' uncanny insights in their own words and illustrates how…

Effective planning strategies drive achievement of an overall technology goal to increase access to electronic information in real time in order to increase efficiency, productivity, and communication across campus. Planning relies on providing access, 'Anytime Anywhere' to student information, calendar, email, course management tools, and the…

This guide helps child welfare agencies and their partners craft more family-focused and neighborhood-based service systems. It suggests a framework that agencies can use to assess their current policies and practices and develop plans to integrate Family to Family values, principles, and strategies into existing initiatives and activities. Family…

Leadership for school change, this book contends, must be shared. Administrators, teachers, staff, parents, and community members must become more knowledgeable about the change process and more proficient at working through it. This book provides guidance and resources for school leadership teams and practitioners and students of change. The…

Parent involvement in education, focusing on the National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs is discussed. The standards emphasize the importance of communication between home and school; promoting and supporting parenting skills; the parent's role in student learning; parents as volunteers; parents as full partners in decision…

This paper reports on part of a larger study examining public/private school partnerships throughout the United States. It focuses on a limited analysis of data generated by respondents to questionnaires sent by the Forum for Public and Private Education to schools that were members nationwide and regionally of independent school associations. A…

This technical guide is a training tool to help members of Head Start governing bodies, policy groups, agency directors, and Head Start and Early Head Start directors understand their responsibilities in a Head Start environment that emphasizes shared decision-making. The guide offers a framework for clarifying expectations and provides concrete,…

This book examines school-based management and provides strategies to implement management changes. The 14 chapters examine the components of good schools, including clarity of purpose, leadership, professionalism, lack of bureaucratic control, competition, and choice. The text describes the components of school-based management and the need for…

In this paper the work of democratic theorists is applied to an analysis of democratic decision-making in a public high school. The article opens with a brief description of democratic decision-making as a school-reform strategy. The data for the study were collected in 1998 and 1999 and were based on 52 interviews with teachers, administrators,…

This document reports on a 1998 conference of some 30 parents, educators, social workers, advocates, physicians, nurses, and social scientists who met to develop an action plan for improving the quality of services and cultural competence of providers of services to children with special health care needs from diverse cultural backgrounds. The…

The article describes an approach used in organizing a large secondary school for leadership that emphasizes the importance of curriculum and instructional leadership. The lead author was the director of curriculum and instruction in the school. The principal utilized his position in linking the several organizational levels in the school in a…