This study examined teachers' attraction to school council service and factors that impacted that attraction. Participants were randomly selected public school teachers enrolled in graduate education courses at three Kentucky state universities. They performed three tasks. First, they completed a biographical form that yielded descriptive…

This article analyzes the effects of senior secondary-education reform in The Netherlands and the effects that these changes have exerted on teachers. It focuses on the way that changes, such as profiles, new exam programs, and alterations in "study house," interacted with and influenced teachers' tasks. The paper provides an overview of…

Motivated by the increasing prevalence of shared decision making and distributed leadership in restructured schools, six teams of Canadian secondary teachers were interviewed to explore their collective learning and the conditions influencing it. Qualitative and quantitative evidence identified numerous conditions to explain across-team learning…

Describes three networks of British schools that are successfully banding together to assist one another with restructuring, school-based management, curriculum changes, staff development, and record keeping. Networks varied in size and scope, but all three were committed to dialog, cooperation, and solidarity in the interest of improving…

Documents the impact of school-based management on educational leadership in Australia. Locates the emergence of new models of leadership within a corporate managerialist philosophy of a new-liberal state that devalues the pedagogical attributes of school leadership and reinforces a growing divide between teachers and administrators. (Contains 39…

Comparative case study of factors related to operation of school-level financial management in five UK community/foundation schools and five US charter schools. Uses on-site interviews with UK head teachers and bursars and US directors and business officials. Explores four themes and related conclusions: control, evolution, shared leadership, and…

School site management and teacher empowerment have raised concerns about their effect on collective negotiations. Examines in case law the issues of who is management and what managerial prerogatives the board retains. Points out that state legislatures can allow delegation of any area of responsibility by the local school board. (MLF)

Utilizes data from a four-year longitudinal study of two suburban school districts to explore obstacles to implementation of school based management (SBM) at the school district and building levels. Examines delegation of authority, functioning of site councils, and program advocacy. (FMW)

Effective schools research indicates that a good plan for school improvement grows out of the school and the school system in which it will be used. Outlines 11 components of a school system's improvement plan, and current educational trends to take into account in developing the plan. (MLF)

The Dade County, Florida, school system selected 32 schools to participate in a pilot program for shared decision making. Evaluators found similar problems and solutions in a variety of school settings and classified them into 9 categories. (MLF)

Drawing on concepts from an institutional theory of organizations, this study describes policy, teacher union, and academic actors who shaped and promoted school-based management in the national arena, their interests, and the network that linked them. School-based management was at least partially the product of institutional environment. (SLD)

The pendulum has swung from strong parent involvement in the home- and community-based schools of the agrarian 17th century to the bureaucratic factory-model schools of the industrial revolution. Today's parents are making inroads. The tension between professional educators and parents is being expressed in open forums such as…

Student achievement needs to rise much faster than resources to attain high levels of cognitive achievement for all. The article discusses the nature of funding changes, changes in achievement, productivity problems, central notions of systemic reform (decentralized management), and the new type of school finance policy structure. (SM)

Responses from 682 members of school-based leadership councils in Los Angeles (California) demonstrate how a council's decision-making quality is affected by 5 dimensions of council diversity. Diversity of role and tenure is related to decision-making quality, but ethnic and gender diversity and diversity in experience are not. (SLD)

Raises philosophical and theoretical issues (concerning leadership, productivity, change, adequacy, equity) that must be addressed for school-based management to succeed. Structural changes do not always produce increased autonomy for those at lower organizational levels; nor does leadership naturally evolve that empowers others. Most principals…