Investigates perceptions about democratic leadership as they relate to serving students with disabilities. Qualitative data were collected through 15 interviews with both administrative and nonadministrative school staff. Discussion focuses on how democratic leaders share decisions and use tensions in the administration of special education.…

Highlights the importance of participatory management as a prerequisite for high quality day-care program functioning. Suggests that teachers and directors often have very different perceptions of what is going on in a center. Successful management requires patience, persistence, and a genuine willingness to consider differing points of view as…

Presents the conclusions of three Norwegian guidance booklets on joint location and coordinated use in the community. Provides information on planning and coordination of spaces for schools and other premises for the community in order to help make the most efficient use of resources. (AIM)

Provides a general overview of Total Quality Management (TQM) and explains why there is pressure for change in higher education institutions. Defines TQM and the various themes, tools, and beliefs that make it different from other management approaches. Presents 14 principles and how they might be applied to student affairs. (RJM)

The executive director of Public Agenda describes the seven-stage journey toward public consensus, underlines the importance of genuine public involvement, and provides some common-sense principles to guide those seeking to foster public engagement. Reform-minded educators should listen carefully, create an ongoing process, seek diverse…

The Hattiesburg (Mississippi) Area Education Foundation (HAEF), a local fund serving the community's educational interests since 1988, recently evaluated its own organizational effectiveness and identified barriers to its work (multidistrict environment, business ambivalence toward education, and white flight). HAEF encouraged five districts to…

Reports on interviews with six headteachers of Roman Catholic primary schools on the composition and responsibilities of their senior management teams. Findings explore the reasons for the schools' success and, in particular, the centrality of the Catholic faith and the practice of the senior management teams. (Contains 23 references.) (MLF)

Explains the teaching-research method of instruction that employs the teacher and students as collaborative partners in the learning process. States that students attain knowledge through assimilating experiences in ways that are most meaningful for them. Case studies are included. (GG)

How a college governs itself has the potential for building consensus among faculty, administrators, students, and trustees, but hierarchical governance works against positive collegiality in a scholarly community. A model developed by Sherry Arnstein involving levels of citizen participation in urban planning can be adapted to describe governance…

The Sheffield Curriculum Initiative (SCI), a partnership between schools, local education authority, university and polytechnic seeks to radically change the curriculum district-wide. Central to SCI is the teacher secondment (sabbatical) program. Teachers spend half of the week in professional development activities, and half in their own schools…

Discusses some of the main considerations that relate specifically to the head librarian of a public library as an individual in the role of administrator. These considerations include personal attributes of the head librarian, the internal administration of the library, and external relations with the trustees, local government, and general…

If schools are to fulfill their roles as civic educators, non-democratic decision-making processes must give way to a more participatory set of practices that foster collaboration and reduce fragmentation and stratification. (IAH)

Whereas participative management and quality circles have foundered in American schools, teacher and principal empowerment, a more focused process, has great potential for facilitating significant, long-lasting school improvement. For empowerment to succeed, educators must be trained to take risks and be exposed to challenging conditions. (MLH)

Presents a view of democracy as a cultural form that goes beyond political participation and civic responsibility to include the notions of community, participative decision making, critical thinking, historical awareness, and equitable distribution of resources. (TE)

Effective discipline is achieved in San Diego County, California, schools by applying four qualities identified in defective schools research: (1) high expectations; (2) frequent monitoring; (3) shared leadership; and (4) home school relations. (MLF)