When labor, management, and literacy educators collaborate to develop a learner-centered literacy program, literacy educators must be willing to learn about the work and lives of industrial workers. The Academy at Eastern Michigan University is an alternative to traditional adult basic education that engages adults in collaborative learning.…

The traditional, closed model of program development is being replaced in many places by local problem-solving groups. These community groups involve democratic decision making and require new skills of educators--listening, reflecting, and making inferences about needs. (SK)

To achieve excellence in education, school leaders need to dispel five myths concerning educators' talent and commitment, higher teacher salaries, societal influences on schools, tough educational standards, and the free market or voucher system. The key is visionary leadership based on openness to change and educator empowerment. (MLH)

Describes three strategies for involving faculty members in setting school goals and implementing programs to reach these goals. Offers principals suggestions for developing building-level faculty committees through administrative advisory and instructional improvement councils. Such activities enhance instructional leadership. (MLH)

Describes three interrelated models for faculty development: (1) the School Improvement approach, in which school staff identify institutional goals and their own needs; (2) the Readiness, Planning, Training, Implementation, Maintenance (RPTIM) model; and (3) a model of effective inservice activities in RPTIM training and implementation phases.…

A pilot program in school-based management in Prince William County, Virginia, gave principals at five schools their share of the school system's budget to allocate. (MLF)

Describes what is happening with school-based management in the public school systems of Dade and Sarasota Counties, Florida; and Savannah Chatham County, Georgia. (MLF)

Asked about principals' leadership role, Peters claims we've gone wrong by emphasizing the superstructure over the unit commander and by taking "leading" and "managing" distinctions too seriously. Vision and people skills are all-important. Unfortunately, schools have drawn from the worst of private-sector management and…

Efforts to empower teachers will be aided by parallel attempts to strengthen principals and other supervisors' ability to perform their job better. Principals need to be specifically trained in using personal power to help empower their teachers. Further research is needed concerning the exercise of power in schools. Includes nine references. (MLH)

Michael Strembitsky, director of the High Performance Management Program with the National Alliance for Restructuring Education, helps administrators, policymakers, and community leaders work through problems and challenges accompanying decentralization, deregulation, and results-driven reform efforts. He finds that school staff with…

Examined the nature of sociocognitive growth in 66 kindergarten and first-grade children by having pairs of children work together to solve spatial perspective-taking problems. Found that the entering performance composition of the dyads did not affect cognitive growth, whereas the construction of shared cognitive experiences in which children…

Examines school/family partnerships in the middle grades. Focuses on comprehensive district-wide programs, school restructuring, and adult/child learning programs studied at nine sites. Summarizes lessons concerned with high-stakes consequences, parental involvement opportunities, decision-making responsibility, leadership advocacy, support for…

Discusses administration, leadership, and management in academic libraries. Factors that meet the work-related needs of librarians and that lead to successful management are suggested, including sufficient knowledge, a measure of control over work, participation in decision making, and a sense of ownership in library service. (three references)…

Examines the effects of site-based management on elementary school teachers' perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU), or lack of clarity concerning significant knowledge desired or needed to perform effectively. There were significant PEU differences between the two schools studied. Results suggest that site-based management is a feasible…

A survey completed by 54 female and 79 male faculty (49 percent) at a Canadian university shows that women were less likely to perceive themselves as participants in university decision making. Academic rank, minority status, and network membership also influenced perceived participation. (SK)