Examines why an elementary school, set up as a model school promoting learning effectiveness, was not working as predicted. Concentrates on staff assessments of principal's role. (JW)

This issue of the International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) Newsletter, published quarterly in English and French, focuses on the impact of decentralization of education management on education outcomes in Africa. It contains the following articles: (1) Decentralisation and School Improvement: A Comment on Research in West…

This document is a chapter in "The Principles and Practice of Educational Management," which aims to provide a systematic and analytical introduction to the study of educational management. The structure of the book reflects the main substantive areas of educational leadership and management, and most of the major themes are covered in the…

This document is a chapter in "The Principles and Practice of Educational Management," which aims to provide a systematic and analytical introduction to the study of educational management. The structure of the book reflects the main substantive areas of educational leadership and management, and most of the major themes are covered in the…

This paper examines the balance between autonomy and accountability in education from the perspective of Massachusetts and Texas charter schools and their state authorizers. By analyzing national survey data, interviews with key policymakers, and case studies of six low, medium, and high performing schools, the paper examines the organizational…

Over the past decade, the United Kingdom's central government education-reform program has created new leadership and management tasks. Key questions have arisen about how leaders will work to achieve the core purpose of their schools. This paper is based on a review of 15 major research studies that examined the impact of recent educational…

This paper explores the development of policy to facilitate self-examination by schools. The context is that of Flanders (Belgium), although there are implications for other school systems. In Flanders, more and more schools are becoming autonomous as they are being given some responsibility for providing high quality education, the supervision of…

This proceedings of an international conference examines the nature of school self-management around the world. The volume opens with the keynote address by, Tony Townsend, which provides an overview of school self-management, effective education, and the school-effectiveness movement. Some of the topics addressed include student achievement, the…

Everybody knows what happened to educational reform in the Los Angeles Unified School District. As former mayor Richard Riordan once told the author, "That's simple; LEARN failed." Indeed, the Los Angeles Educational Alliance for Reform Now, which in the 1990s created a massive civic reform coalition, fell far short of building a…

Discusses themes in two forthcoming books. In "Beyond the Self-Managing School," coauthored by Jim Spinks, changes in public school education are placed on three tracks: creation of self-managing schools, unrelenting focus on student outcomes, and transformation of schools for the knowledge society. "The Future of Schools,"…

School-district central-office administration is responsible for creating the structure and framework for school staffs to work in the interest of their students. The district needs to establish strategic priorities for the use of funds. Schools should be held accountable for deploying the resources and controlling expenditures. (MLF)

In Canada, school-based decision making is a political expedient to co-opt public support for public education at the same time as financial resources to schools are being curtailed. School councils are advisory in nature and have no statutory position in either school or school-system decisions. (17 references) (MLF)

Examines school-based decision making, discussing its promise for urban settings, describing implementation of local control in New York and Detroit, highlighting decentralization effects in four locations, and making recommendations based on similarities and differences between and among sites that may be instructive to other urban settings…

Young was the first woman to head a large city school system, the first woman to serve as head of a large teachers college, and the first woman president of the National Education Association. Her visionary accomplishments offer inspiration for current women administrators to continue in the quest to improve education. (LSR)

Examines participation of minority representatives on local school-change teams in Kentucky and their feelings about the experience. Their reasons for dropping out indicate that minority parents do not feel accepted by the decision-making group (often because of perceptions of racism and classism) and lack the confidence to participate fully in…