The founder of an all-women canoe-tripping company describes the components that have made it successful: shared leadership, outdoor guides as facilitators, support of individual choices, a nonprescriptive agenda, conflict avoidance and resolution, balance between getting somewhere and experiencing the moment, focus on women's strengths, and a…

Defends student councils as effective vehicles for teaching democratic literacy. Presents guidelines for effective council activities as well as suggestions for integrating a student council into an already crowded school program. (NH)

In a school-based decision-making environment, a primary role of central office leadership is preparing school councils to carry out their responsibilities effectively. Challenges include reluctant participants, time constraints, the tendency to administer, and legal complexities. A Kentucky school district has developed a forum where…

In a learning environment, leadership style reflects a leader's deeply held educational beliefs, which are mirrored in the school's culture. Case studies illustrate how the leadership styles of three principals affect school ambience. Good leadership practice means acknowledging each person's differing gifts, strengths, and concerns, and utilizing…

Investigates teacher empowerment in high schools that had school councils over varying time periods. Participants taught in a state mandating an inclusive school governance process. A School Participant Empowerment Scale measured empowerment over six subscales: decision making, autonomy, self-efficacy, professional growth, status, and impact.…

Examines how children in a Milan (Italy) district involved themselves in urban planning when a new freeway was planned near their school. It describes the children's work with architects experienced in environmental education to research the issues, create maps and models of local streets, and present their findings to the community and the mayor.…

A review of research on innovative school reform for urban minority students is presented with a focus on school-based management (SBM). Through participation in SBM minority parents can improve the education and success levels of their children. Their involvement can be enhanced with the assistance of properly prepared principals. (MMU)

Reports on a method of curriculum design which allows student empowerment while simultaneously promoting essential literacy skills in a developmental-education course. States that students designed their own curriculum through the use of collaborative groups and peer decision making. Finds students continued to sharpen literacy skills throughout…

Presents relational and structural conditions necessary to successful collaboration between college faculty and administrators. Relational conditions include "refuse to play zero-sum games" and "the most important power in a college is the power to persuade." Structural conditions include "clarify the roles of players" and "prefer a matrix…

Asserts that academic freedom requires a governance system in which faculty expertise--often residing in an individual, but also expressed at times in a collective fashion--is the determining factor in institutional decisions affecting academic matters. Discusses why faculty governance is especially important in protecting liberal education…

The key to successful junior high to middle school transitions is participatory planning that involves all school-community members. This article discusses essential questions, describes the Howard County (Maryland) Public Schools' model approach, and stresses the importance of securing teacher commitment and know-how and evaluating the planning…

In 1997, former Edmonton (Alberta) school superintendent Michael Strembitsky instituted school-based management in seven schools. Although the district retained policymaking responsibility, schools could decide matters such as class organization, number of teachers, and budgeting for learning resources and equipment. Giving schools control over…

Describes Bi-Polar Situational Leadership as a model for educational administration. Discusses problem solving and leadership styles, the importance of trust and concern, a balance of authority-based leading and participation-style decision making, collaboration, leader values and development, and improvement of the learning environment. (AEF)

Over time, Bellevue, Washington, Public Schools will be able to renovate each of its 27 schools every 20 years. Site-based input for modernization worked in the district's most recent project. At Eastgate Elementary School a team was composed of the entire staff of 20 teachers, plus the principal and support personnel. A center room was created by…

The increasing complexity of the principal's job makes distributing leadership (among teachers, coaches, and literacy specialists) a survival tactic and a sound organizational strategy. Distributive leadership benefits principals who generally lack time to commit to particular initiatives and the content/instructional expertise to implement…