Argues that education has an inherent political dimension. Provides illustrations from various historical periods and societies of the ways in which educators can be considered political actors. Focuses on curriculum decision making, classroom techniques, teacher-student relations, student evaluation, research, institutional politics, unions, and…

To test R. E. Callahan's (1962) theory about superintendents' vulnerability to interest groups, the career of E. C. Hartwell is examined. Hartwell's career in three cities (1914-22) demonstrates the power that a superintendent could acquire and wield. (SLD)

This review of literature describes the status of school-university collaboration and analyzes it as a cross-cultural activity. Differences in school and university cultures are related to four themes: focus, tempo, rewards, and power. Approximately 100 references are listed, including 53 sources of school-university project descriptions. (IAH)

Addresses the identity politics of modern communication and information technologies. These technologies embody social relations of domination and dependence, especially in their construction of specific forms of human subjectivity. The political implications of these construction systems are explored. Six recommendations for political work in…

Bennington College (Vermont) president Elizabeth Coleman is pursuing a controversial plan to transform the institution, financially and intellectually. Debate centers on whether her plan is truly innovative and will return the college to a former vitality or constitutes a hasty housecleaning. Faculty dismissals are under investigation. (MSE)

A discussion of management issues at teaching hospitals reviews their history and examines specific challenges in this context, including the ill-defined middle management level, the relative roles of the manager and department heads, separation and integration of managerial, academic, and medical responsibilities, and financing from more than one…

School effectiveness, rather than distribution of power, is the key school reform issue. The structure of shared decision making should be driven by what administrators and teachers believe is important for kids. In a recently restructured San Diego community school, the principal's primary function as chief executive officer is "keeper of…

Studies 25 male and 33 female college undergraduates' perceptions of how good-bad and powerful-powerless men and women feel during hypothetical social interactions. Results reflect beliefs that men are more powerful than women and that individuals are more powerful in interactions consistent with gender role stereotypes. (SLD)

Administrators must abandon transactional (control-oriented) and instructional leadership modes and use facilitative power to make second-order changes in their schools. Transformational leadership provides the proper focus by helping staff members develop and maintain a collaborative, professional school culture; fostering teacher development;…

Introduces a series of articles exploring the nature of discourse practices and power in the writing classroom. Until recently, student writers being initiated into academic discourse were expected to disregard their own experience. These articles challenge the established authority of teacher and text, encouraging student discussion within and…

Continuing an earlier historical review of educational needs assessment (ENA) in the United States, this article considers certain criticisms of ENA in light of basic assumptions about the process; the relationship between ENA theories and practices; and their impact on schools and students. ENA's role in educational planning and renewal is also…

The Supreme Court's Missouri v Jenkins decision changed the role of school administrators as well as their ability to set priorities and control implementation. By sanctioning court-ordered taxation, it also involved legislators in the partnership, although the courts are clearly senior partners in the relationship. (SK)

Boston University and the Chelsea School System (Massachusetts), which the university took over a year ago, have had a difficult first year marked by substantial administrative changes and bad feelings among the university, community, and previous district administration. The debate over the university's direct management style is expected to…

A national survey of 235 directors of programs offering Bachelors of Social Work found that sources of personal, structural, and institutional power were important predictors of power for middle managers in academic settings. Results also direct their programs and manage departmental resources. (Author/MSE)

Challenges ways in which a positivist view of science has led to hegemonic discourse on writing to learn science and highlights contradictions in this discourse. Argues for pedagogy that draws on critical, feminist, and hegemonic pedagogies and incorporates affective, creative, critical, cognitive, and diverse language practices set within…