To increase their odds for successful decentralized decision making, leaders must operate from a different set of realities about organizational change and design appropriate strategies to create more resilient organizations. Most people act first in their own self-interest; resist understanding the meaning of organizational change; and are…

For site-based management to succeed, supervisors must progress from advising teachers to empowering them to make classroom changes. The author changed her communication style by becoming aware of the subtle yet powerful role of communication in school leadership, discovering how unconscious scripts interfered with empowerment efforts,…

According to National Center of Educational Statistics data, principals perceive that their influence on schoolwide issues has increased slightly (from 75% in 1987-88 to 85% in 1993-94). Teachers perceive their own influence as remaining the same and primarily confined to classrooms. Only 35% of teachers said they had considerable influence in…

The eight chapters of this theme issue address two broad themes related to the study of school leadership in four countries. The first is the changing role of the principal/headteacher as a result of legislated change and societal expectations. The second is the implications of these changes for the roles of principals and headteachers. (SLD)

Examines the Fort Worth Independent School District's decentralized decision-making system through three lenses: a review of site-based decision-making procedures at several schools; an examination of who participates; and stakeholders' perceptions. Some schools operated democratically, significantly including teachers, parents, and community…

Summarizes results of surveys and interviews of community members from 29 New York City schools involved in school-level budgeting during 1995-96. Analyzes respondents' knowledge about school budgets, ideas about resource decision making, perceptions of budgetary power, and suggestions. Fully 80% of respondents supported a participatory process.…

Edmonton (Alberta) Public Schools have a comparatively flat organization, with no bureaucratic layering between the superintendent and 200 principals, who are allocated extensive budgeting and purchasing responsibilities. Some functions remain centralized. Central services provides leadership training and screens all teachers. The superintendent…

Teacher involvement in decisions may detract from teaching. This article presents three case studies (concerning a teacher-owned program, teacher involvement in selecting a new principal, and an autocratic principal's failed experiment with participation) that examine pitfalls. Sunset clauses, a good centralization/empowerment balance, and an…

Questions commonly held views on the necessity for leaders, particularly in education. Claims that educators do not need or want much leadership and that a hierarchy among professionals is neither necessary nor natural. Suggests that people coordinating certain functions to ensure that teaching and learning can take place need not be formal…

Describes a 1992-93 research project involving 66 state schools that attempted to ascertain the overall effectiveness of school-based management in Victoria, Australia. Findings of the Likert-style survey revealed substantial participant satisfaction with school councils' current composition, information provision, and overall functioning. (20…

Compares trends toward privatization and marketization of public education in socialist mainland China and capitalist Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China. Discusses policy shifts on the mainland toward decentralization, diversified educational services, and reduced government funding, and Hong Kong's efforts to promote…

Studied the barriers encountered by an urban school principal in implementing reforms within the context of the Kentucky Educational Reform Act. Results show how site-based decision making councils exemplify a policy decision that ignores the practical realities of distressed schools. (SLD)

Traces the history of higher education in Italy. Discusses the nature and function of the Italian university; changes in Italy's system of higher education over the years; the issue of academic autonomy in Italy; and reform in Italian universities over the next few years (going corporate and walking the tightrope between autonomy and national…

Surveys parents' opinions regarding two types of participative school councils in Flanders, Belgium. Whatever their other merits, these new bodies are not in themselves a sufficient condition for increasing parental participation in schools' decision-making processes. Councils must develop a culture of cooperation. (Contains 21 references.) (MLH)

Traces the development of Dutch educational policy since the compromise of 1917, by which private and public schools were given equal financial support. Examines the extent to which neoliberal reforms of the 1980s brought about radical changes in the Dutch education system, focusing on increased autonomy, freedom of school choice, privatization,…