The Jefferson County (Kentucky) Public Schools have a long-term plan for "inventing" schools that will offer excellent programs for students, induct new faculty members, and serve as "exemplars of practice." (Author/TE)

There exists a crisis of inequality in our education system. The concepts of the democratic school and of school and community-based teacher education, which can contribute to alleviating this inequality, represent an important yet neglected component of the reform agenda for teacher education. (IAH)

The Delphi technique was used to enable 36 gifted education experts, special education administrators, teachers, and parents of gifted students to reach consensus about appropriate gifted education goals for elementary school programs. Three priority goals were identified, in the areas of learning environment, educational climate, and thinking…

Teachers in rural West Virginia who had completed a Foxfire training course reported that they involved students to a greater extent in the design and participation of learning activities, especially in the use of discussions, peer teaching, and planning units of instruction. Teachers also reported incorporation of the community in the learning…

Findings are presented from a study of teachers' participation in decision making. Data from 637 teachers in a large and restructuring metropolitan district indicate that participation did not improve outcomes for teachers or students and that teachers did not feel sufficiently involved. (SLD)

With decentralization and school-based management, central office personnel assume new roles as experts and brokers in staff development. The article examines the impact of decentralization and staff development, focusing on how central office personnel must relearn how to do business, preparing central office staff, and the role of staff…

Weber State University (Utah) has successfully implemented shared decision making and governance between faculty and administration. Critical elements were communication, faculty involvement, and trust. Two major decisions and their outcomes are compared. One was made without faculty input and the other was made with the new shared decision-making…

Many American schools that use site-based management and shared decision making have a lead teacher who continues teaching while accepting greater responsibility for the overall school success. The Southeastern Teacher Leadership Center helps lead teachers assume their new leadership roles. Program evaluation indicates it helps remove barriers…

Describes the fruitful and sometimes challenging collaborations within a small K-8 school district transforming its literacy practices, from the points of view of a fifth-grade teacher and a fourth-grade teacher in two different schools. Discusses the resulting development of literature-based and integrated units in their classrooms. (SR)

Details two of the many staff-community collaborations that supported the reading and writing growth of children in a small K-8 school district transforming its literacy practices. Describes the publishing center at Bee Meadow Elementary School, and a district-wide, week-long celebration of writing. (SR)

Describes community experiential education programs that empower local citizens to work with city planners in deciding the future direction of their urban neighborhoods. Questions whether such programs are true catalysts for social change when participants return to their home environments without a support system that values or utilizes learned…

Describes a consensus-building meeting, in which stakeholders representing students attending alternative schools, teachers and directors from alternative schools, high school teachers, directors of special education, and university teacher trainers participated. Participants reviewed and reached agreement on important indicators of educational…

Maintains that art education programs and art educators often lack power within college and school bureaucracies. Describes three ways in which a college art education program maintained its influence over time. Provides three recommendations for developing an awareness of and exercising academic influence. (CFR)

Reviews theory and research on the relationship between classroom climate and citizenship outcomes in elementary settings. Compares democratic learning environments described by three studies. Suggests that free expression, peer interaction in cooperative activities, respect for diverse viewpoints, and student participation in decision making…

Outlines the need for redefining the roles of library staff workers and the organizational structures that affect job satisfaction, recruitment, and productivity. Calls for a transition to a participative approach to management, creating the more humane work environment needed for libraries to survive in a technological and information-based…