"Built by the Past--Ready for the Future" is more than a school motto at Isaac E. Young Middle School in New Rochelle, NY. Built in 1925, Isaac became the iconic U.S. secondary school when Dick Sargent's painting of it appeared on the cover of the October 17, 1959, issue of "The Saturday Evening Post." The changes that the…

Family involvement in planning and choosing services has become a key intervention concept in developmental disability services. This study (N = 547) modeled patterns of family decision making and assessed benefits to persons with developmental disabilities (DDs) and their family members. A latent profile analysis identified 4 classes that were…

Consensus-based decision making can turn faculty meetings into meaningful and productive work sessions in which faculty members know that their input is respected and valued and important decisions are made. Reaching consensus has different meanings in different contexts. Decisions are made "by consensus" when the decision affects the entire…

The purpose of this article is to learn from active educational leaders engaged in the practice of democratic, ethical leadership. In this article, we share findings of a qualitative study that used narrative inquiry to examine the stories of eight educational leaders. We discuss three themes arising from the participants' narratives that define…

Members of a democratic polity should be prepared to participate in the practices of democratic governance if they are fully to enjoy their rights as citizens and discharge their civic responsibilities. This article highlights three fundamental practices of democratic life: (1) the capacity for deliberation with others about matters of public…

In this article, the role that formal leaders play in helping distributed leadership take root and flourish in schools is explored. The focus of the study is an urban middle school, one of six cases in a larger three-year investigation of distributed leadership in two mid-Atlantic states. Using interview and document-based data, the authors…

Among the five roles--leader, instructional partner, information specialist, teacher, and, program administrator--identified for the school librarian in "Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs" (AASL, 2009), the role of teacher is critical for improving student achievement. The school librarian is uniquely positioned in…

This article presents a conceptual framework derived from institutional theory in sociology that offers two competing policy contexts in which charter schools operate--a bureaucratic frame versus a decentralized frame. An analysis of evolving charter school types based on three underlying theories of action is considered. As charter school leaders…

This article highlights results from the Right Question Project-Mental Health (RQP-MH), an intervention designed to teach skills in question formulation and to increase patients' participation in decisions about mental health treatment. Of participants in the RQP-MH intervention, 83% were from a Latino background, and 75% of the interviews were…

In this study we examined the relative importance of teachers' psychological states, school organizational conditions (teacher collaboration and participative decision making), and the leadership practices (vision, individual consideration, and intellectual stimulation) of principals at their schools in explaining variation in teachers'…

Malagasy "players"--farmers, middle men, organic organisations and policy makers--see in export-orientated organic agriculture a way for Madagascar to build upon its historic export strengths: spices, essential oils, medicinal plants and tropical fruits. They point to the "de facto" organic status of most farming in the country…

It is common to understand the governing of rural space as the outcome of a conflict between some romantic protectors of a lost past on the one hand, and the people who worry about creating economic values on the other. However, the power to shape the rural should not only be searched for in the open struggle between protectors and developers, but…

Although critical thinking skills are important for all citizens participating in a democratic society, many community college students appear to lack these skills. This study addressed the apparent lack of research relating critical thinking instruction to campus climate. Critical thinking theory and Moos's organizational climate theory served as…

Several states and providers have embarked on initiatives to reduce using restraint and seclusion in residential programs. Restraint and seclusion are associated with harm to youth and staff, significant costs, reduced quality of care, and less engagement of youth and families. Successful reduction/prevention strategies have been identified,…

The technological complexity and richness of a child's environment today is far beyond what any adults today experienced when they were growing up. For example, no adult today knows what it is like to be a four-year-old using his or her first iPhone app or Webkinz account. Therefore, we seek ways to understand what children need in today's new…