Teachers are often placed in teams and expected to work together without support or instruction. This paper presents findings of a study that identified and described the extent to which individual teachers collaborate and the conditions under which collaboration occurs. The study, which focused on three middle schools with a strong commitment to…

This study examined changes in private college governance during the years 1960-90, and at how external forces affected decision making structures and processes and at faculty's powers. The theoretical construct for the study was largely based on H. Mintzberg's (1983) concepts of organizational structure and power. Historical and case study…

This paper chronicles a process of structural change in the College of Education at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Data for the study were derived from interviews with 40 of the participants, plus archival material collected from the college planning office. The paper summarizes some of the historical context surrounding the change and…

Discussions of teacher participation in the reform literature do not take into account the different meanings of the term, teacher participation. This paper uses a critical perspective to review the main approaches to teacher participation; to bring to light issues these approaches fail to address; and to offer alternatives. It is argued that…

This descriptive study identified teacher education programs that involve undergraduate preservice teachers in research projects. Information was gathered using interviews, documents, and telecommunications. Data were analyzed utilizing the following questions: (1) What are the goals of student teacher research projects? (2) What are the problems…

This curriculum guide contains seven Technology Student Association (TSA) units of study for secondary students. The units focus on helping students to develop and apply social, civic, and technology-related skills and achieve course competencies in applied technology courses. Each of the instructional units includes some or all of the basic…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined how teachers restructuring schools came to understand the meaning of the term "unity of purpose." Fourteen Louisiana schools, comprised primarily of high-risk student populations, implemented the accelerated-schools model of restructuring. The accelerated school model is based on…

As a last resort to catalyze change in its innercity schools, Memphis City School District (Tennessee) designated seven schools as school-based decision-making (SBDM) sites in April 1989. In the same month, Memphis State University researchers were appointed official observers/researchers of SBDM implementation. Not to be confused with…

In most schools, especially urban high schools, teachers are colleagues in name only. Some schools, however, do foster substantial collegial relationships among teachers; and when schools are organized to support such teacher collaboration, the benefits are substantial. To make teacher collaboration possible and effective, two fundamental…

California educational legislation enacted in July 1990, ended state issuance of community college credentials. Faculty in the state's community colleges now assume significant responsibility for evaluating the qualifications of prospective teaching personnel. Within the next 10 years, 50% of current community college faculty will retire and…

A study created a typology of 271 adult literacy programs nationwide describing their distribution along two dimensions: (1) relevance of materials to learner needs and sociocultural context (life-contextual/decontextual), and (2) extent of learner control of decisions about program activities (dialogic/monologic). A questionnaire elicited…

This book contains 17 papers, chosen from those presented within the last 2 years at the annual National Conference on Creating the Quality School, hosted by the Center for the Study of Small/Rural Schools at the University of Oklahoma. The papers are grouped into three sections: leadership for school improvement; classroom practices for school…

This book is intended to guide library administrators--directors and departmental managers in public, school, and academic libraries--through the many complex decisions inherent in managing public Internet access. The handbook systematically deals with each possible element of an Internet policy. It identifies the options available at each…

This study focused on innercity elementary school staff perceptions of the process they engaged in, which emerged from the principal's initiative to move the school culture in a more collaborative direction and thus further develop pedagogical practice and student social and academic growth. Research in this case study involved observations and…

Although empowerment is a necessary change in improving education, the typical school system is not organized or governed in a way that encourages significant change. Educational systems need to be restructured to achieve decentralization in order for organizations to be ready for changes like empowerment. The current structure encourages…