The Hattiesburg (Mississippi) Area Education Foundation (HAEF), a local fund serving the community's educational interests since 1988, recently evaluated its own organizational effectiveness and identified barriers to its work (multidistrict environment, business ambivalence toward education, and white flight). HAEF encouraged five districts to…

Reports on interviews with six headteachers of Roman Catholic primary schools on the composition and responsibilities of their senior management teams. Findings explore the reasons for the schools' success and, in particular, the centrality of the Catholic faith and the practice of the senior management teams. (Contains 23 references.) (MLF)

Explains the teaching-research method of instruction that employs the teacher and students as collaborative partners in the learning process. States that students attain knowledge through assimilating experiences in ways that are most meaningful for them. Case studies are included. (GG)

How a college governs itself has the potential for building consensus among faculty, administrators, students, and trustees, but hierarchical governance works against positive collegiality in a scholarly community. A model developed by Sherry Arnstein involving levels of citizen participation in urban planning can be adapted to describe governance…

The Sheffield Curriculum Initiative (SCI), a partnership between schools, local education authority, university and polytechnic seeks to radically change the curriculum district-wide. Central to SCI is the teacher secondment (sabbatical) program. Teachers spend half of the week in professional development activities, and half in their own schools…

Discusses some of the main considerations that relate specifically to the head librarian of a public library as an individual in the role of administrator. These considerations include personal attributes of the head librarian, the internal administration of the library, and external relations with the trustees, local government, and general…

If schools are to fulfill their roles as civic educators, non-democratic decision-making processes must give way to a more participatory set of practices that foster collaboration and reduce fragmentation and stratification. (IAH)

Whereas participative management and quality circles have foundered in American schools, teacher and principal empowerment, a more focused process, has great potential for facilitating significant, long-lasting school improvement. For empowerment to succeed, educators must be trained to take risks and be exposed to challenging conditions. (MLH)

Presents a view of democracy as a cultural form that goes beyond political participation and civic responsibility to include the notions of community, participative decision making, critical thinking, historical awareness, and equitable distribution of resources. (TE)

Effective discipline is achieved in San Diego County, California, schools by applying four qualities identified in defective schools research: (1) high expectations; (2) frequent monitoring; (3) shared leadership; and (4) home school relations. (MLF)

The article describes how Susan Derse, principal of a Seattle high school, works with her school to facilitate and encourage change, focusing on her approach to staff development. Ms. Derse uses a collaborative, participatory style of leadership that allows plenty of time for teachers to meet and work together. (SM)

Focuses on a model of school-based management (SBM) and on generalities that can be drawn from recent research on SBM in several southern states. A case study of SBM in Kentucky, where the Kentucky Education Reform Act mandated SBM, illustrates issues in its implementation. (SLD)

Computer-assisted studies (CAS) attract foreign language professionals' attention due to the reliability of personal computers, the decreasing cost of available technology, and the new generation of students for whom electronic media are a familiar habitat. This article focuses on a project of the Defense Language Institute that produced over…

A Group Support System (GSS) is a network of microcomputers with software for the support of meetings and other group work. Using a GSS, meeting participants are able to brainstorm by submitting comments over the network, ranking and rating items in a list, and performing collaborative work. GSS provides anonymity, parallel communication, and…

Argues that to give hope back to today's youth, communities and educational systems must be restructured. Proposes the concept of a system of schools, indicating that successful school systems use decentralized and shared decision making, encourage substantial changes, embrace diversity, support continuous improvement, and are accountable for…