National standards for education are important elements in the excellence process, but standards imposed by a central authority simply do not work in the Information Era. It would be wise to increase teachers' decision-making role in establishing and implementing local level excellence standards and train teachers to employ the Japanese "kaizen"…

Children collaborated in planning imaginary errands with novice peers, trained peers, or untrained adults. Collaborative planning of dyads with trained peers and with adults was equally sophisticated. Children who worked with adults planned better in posttests than those who collaborated with trained peers. (BC)

Tazewell Express leaves after lunch and returns to campus at midnight, as three educational administration instructors from East Tennessee State University travel to teach a cohort of teachers aspiring to become school leaders. The cohort will complete six themes developed from skills and competencies inspired by the National Policy Board for…

Community leaders employ a blend of tangible tools, but the effectiveness of these tools depends on leadership skills. Describes five leadership qualities (purpose, values, talents, resources, and vision), and presents questions on each for leaders to reflect upon and answer. Sidebar describes a community leadership activity based on an adventure…

Two questions must accompany educational reform: Who will make decisions regarding curriculum? and What kind of curriculum is most desired for students? This paper suggests that teachers and students, guided by other interested parties, should make curriculum decisions, and a highly personalized curriculum is most desirable. These changes require…

The five papers in this special section explore basic middle-management issues at the secondary level in various countries, including subject leader/department heads' range of responsibilities and effects of school cultures. New training standards demand a blending of line management, accountability, leadership, followership, and collegial…

Explores departmental-policy implementation challenges faced by Australian principals of one-teacher schools during a time of unprecedented structural and organizational change, highlighting international contextual influences on the nation's public sector. Over a five-year period, senior management's relationship to principals implementing policy…

An interview with Summerhill School's head describes how the independent boarding school challenged the British government's demands that it give compulsory lessons. A settlement required the school's philosophy to govern the government's approach to the school; recognized the pupils' voice in evaluations of the school; and acknowledged that…

Schools attempting to transform themselves by adopting desirable characteristics generally fail because they have skipped a long, difficult self-discovery process involved in becoming effective schools. Leadership may be as simple as knowing oneself, envisioning alternative realities, being persistent, and building everyday relationships. (MLH)

Middle schools can be developmentally responsive and meet requirements for high-stakes accountability. School cultures must change. The hope for highly implemented, successful programs lies in the principal's facilitation of comprehensive restructuring with broad-based involvement in establishing new visions of teaching and learning and…

Although democratic decision making offers the best hope for public support of schools, simple majority rule is not enough. Deliberation is needed for long-term community engagement. A Washington State elementary school's broad-based site leadership team sets school direction and handles issues influencing student learning. This team successfully…

Describes various strategies for directors of youth ministries, Catholic school principals, and pastors for managing change in the parish. Asserts that parish leaders should move away from control and direction and toward nurturing, sharing, collaborating, empowering, and networking. (JDI)

Students at Clovis (California) Unified School District are benefiting from GoalSHARING, a program growing out of the district's first annual education congress. Hundreds of educators, parents, and community leaders convened to determine better ways to run the schools. Parent teams now initiate changes at district and school levels. (MLH)

Using survey and interview responses, examines school members' perceptions of school autonomy over budget decisions, availability of budget information at the school level, and members' willingness to engage in shared decision making in Rochester, New York. Results suggest there are implementation barriers in Rochester pilot schools. Participants…

Describes the values and associated behaviors of seven school administrators who foster and sustain democratic practices in schools engaged in restructuring. These administrators reject the centrality of the principal's role and prominently display values supporting equity, inclusion, mutual influence, and candor. These administrators' behavior…