This report describes how schools can draw on multiple voices to create a comprehensive portrait of important events in a school's history. In this "mapping" process, participants create a map that portrays the collective history of the school, facilitating an increased awareness of past actions and their connection to current conditions.…

The processes of educational leadership are educative when they both educate constituents and are informed by feedback from constituents; when they are conducted as an ongoing exercise of participatory problem solving. In short, educational leadership is educational when both its ends and its means are educative. John Dewey provided a theoretical…

This participant's manual provides materials related to a national teleconference on the next generation of independent living leadership for people with disabilities. Introductory material includes the conference agenda, information about the trainers, and information about the sponsoring organizations, the Independent Living Research Utilization…

The possible utilities and limitations of computer-assisted career guidance systems (CACG) have been widely discussed although the effectiveness of CACG has not been systematically considered. This paper investigates the effectiveness of a theory-based CACG program, integrating Sequential Elimination and Expected Utility strategies. Three types of…

This manual is intended as a resource guide for school councils in Arizona. The state created school site-based councils to bring together parents, the community, administrators, teachers, and students to form a decision-making body that can empower all stakeholders. The guide details the process of school councils as it relates to Arizona…

This paper reports on a study that investigated a top-down leadership approach that gradually shifted to a collaborative paradigm. It focuses on one junior high school's efforts to increase academic and social success for all its students. The restructuring process began when, for the first time, a female principal was hired in this 35-year-old…

This paper provides data from students in an educational administration class on use of teaming and collaboration to research educational problems. The instructor taught group dynamics and modeled the process of facilitating and developing collaboration in teams. Classes were offered in 3-1/2 hour sessions for 5 weeks. Various team-building…

Collaborations are usually developed on a school-to-school basis, and, at present, no vehicle is used for identifying or monitoring them. Little is known about what kinds of collaborations exist, and how many are true "collaborations" (as opposed to "cooperations and "coordinations"). Additionally, very little is known…

This paper discusses the misuse of power among boards of education, central office and building administrators, teachers, and the media. It describes several cases: members of a board of education who hired a family member; an assistant superintendent who, out of jealousy, organized a smear campaign against a new principal; a high school principal…

Assessment, with a capital "A", has become in the academy a politically loaded buzzword that closes many more doors than it opens. Assessment, with a small "a", however, is a necessary part of any attempt to find the best path forward in environments that change. At meetings this spring, Members of NERCHE's Departments Chairs…

Discusses the development since 1971 of an alternative school-within-a-school at the Wheatley School in East Williston (New York), emphasizing shared decision making, nontraditional teaching, and student self-evaluation. Describes recent changes in the program to improve both student evaluation and the program's communication with the traditional…

As applied at Lincoln Elementary School in Evansville (Indiana), the Teacher-Directed Inservice Education Program allowed teachers to direct their own learning by contracting for consultation during regular school hours to meet specific needs. The program meets seven guidelines suggested for effective inservice education, including administrator…

Investigated use of the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) as an informational input mechanism into the formulation of a Solar Energy Plan. Data collected from a questionnaire indicated that the NGT was rated as being a highly effective mechanism providing input into the solar energy planning process. (Author/RC)

In a four-year study, an assistant professor of educational administration asked superintendents and their staffs to characterize superintendents' leadership styles. Definitions generally fell into the category "power over" rather than "power with/to." Superintendents must learn to speak about power as a collaborative concept,…

Democratic schooling extends beyond governance structures into all areas of educational practice. What are appropriate practices for democratic schools? This question was addressed by a qualitative study of principals in schools striving to become more democratic. These principals expanded decision-making involvement and discourse, stressed…