U.S. and British school leaders are preoccupied with many of the same issues, including the curriculum and its assessment, the reporting of pupil achievement and use of raw scores, site-based management, parental choice as a quality lever, small schools, the school board's role, and different approaches to quality improvement. Overemphasis of…

Describes a multifaceted administrator leadership workshop that relies on case studies, role playing, and peer coaching exercises to enhance leadership skills. Administrators work collaboratively with staff members to analyze problems, prioritize needs, make decisions, and facilitate these three processes by using a repertoire of group dynamic…

Major problems facing Korean education are education aimed only at preparation for college-entrance examinations, poor public financial support, heavy costs for parents, a centralized educational-administration system, and program uniformity. Reform strategies include school-based management, a new student-record system, and a curriculum stressing…

Examines the ways in which school-based performance award (SBPA) programs motivate teachers to modify or improve teaching practice. Qualitative and survey data from Kentucky, North Carolina, Colorado, and Maryland suggest that SBPA programs motivate teachers largely by creating conditions that increase intrinsic rewards and focus teacher efforts.…

Reform in Chicago's public schools has involved decentralizing decision-making to parent-dominated Local School Councils (LSCs). School data are analyzed to determine what aspects of LSC governance matter for student achievement. Concludes that training LSCs might be important for their functioning and lead to higher student achievement. An…

To understand which factors predict effective school leadership teams, researchers analyzed survey data from 71 elementary and 71 secondary schools with 1 year of training. The strongest predictor of ability to focus on teaching and learning was use of collected school data to identify needs and guide decisions. (Contains 77 references.) (MLH)

Site-based management is especially relevant for large, complex, and bureaucratic city districts. A recent study of six urban midwestern schools shows that effective SBM schools fully involve parents, challenge current principal/teacher relationships, eliminate destructive district/school relationships, build a trusting climate, create meaningful…

In 1992 and 1993, the Boston Public Schools and Boston Teachers' Union contracts established school-based management as a schoolwide policy. Now Boston's school-site councils are focusing on varied educational improvement issues, including educational missions, effective teaching strategies, genuine parent involvement, a student-centered…

Educators have long recognized the negative pedagogical effects of the strong centralization, curricular uniformity, and fragmentation that characterizes Israel's equity-driven education system. A recent experiment with site-based management at nine elementary schools may increase teacher and parental involvement, improve school climate, and…

Examines the charter school approach in educational reform, discusses where it needs improvement and what state policy action may be needed in start-up, and presents some key recommendations. The nature of charter schools, their general purpose, composition, benefits, and problems also are examined. (GR)

Accountability has become a politically incorrect issue because governments have encountered the limitations of simplistic market thinking while pressures for intervention in education have waned. However, accepting responsibility in education implies public accountability, which in turn requires formative evaluation, educative reporting…

Discusses promises of and problems with participatory school reforms, reviewing recent research on site-based councils; examining patterns of site-based councils that include parents and councils that consist of teachers and principals, noting discrepancies between participatory promises and actual practices, and making recommendations for…

Discusses burgeoning charter-school movement in Arizona and its effect on public schools. Asserts evidence gathered through surveys and interviews suggests competition incrementally improves education for all students. Identifies ways in which schools hit hardest by competition react and refutes critics' claims regarding school choice. Discusses…

This paper identifies an emerging capability in technology and considers relevant applications through school-site administration that could release teachers' creative human potential in ways beneficial to students. The paper examines the use of multimedia authoring tools in relation to curriculum development and enhancement, instructional…

This paper presents a history of restructuring efforts undertaken since 1991 at one high school located in a predominantly white suburban community. Data were gathered through document analysis, interviews, and a faculty survey (to which 35 out of 63 teachers responded). Since the late 1980s, the school's student population declined and became…