This study investigates principals' perceptions of the effect of teacher empowerment on their role as building administrators. The researcher conducted structured interviews with 10 principals, 5 elementary and 5 secondary, in 2 school systems characterized by wider applications of shared decisionmaking and greater professional autonomy among…

Sexual harassment is one concern of women graduate students in community psychology programs. When a sexual relationship exists between male faculty and female students, the distribution of power reflects the subordinate status of women and the dominant position of men. Many studies have documented the negative consequences of sexual contact…

Perspectives on connections between corporations, the military, and colleges are provided, with attention to whether corporate and government control is exerted over education. According to James Ridgeway's "The Closed Corporation," colleges are central to business/industrial and government/military activity. His examples include:…

To analyze high school students' access to the forms and content of knowledge, the author used nonparticipant ethnographic research in four midwestern high schools to study how the pattern of knowledge control in the classroom varies in different administrative contexts. Through observation of social studies classrooms and interviews with…

Research investigating why women are underrepresented in college and private organizational administrative positions is reviewed. It was found that the differential rate of women in administrative positions is not due to their lack of proper credentials. Other reasons that have been cited are: typical female characteristics make it impossible for…

Recommendations for improving leadership by college and university presidents are presented, based on the work of the Commission on Strengthening Presidential Leadership. The Commission exchanged views and conducted over 300 interviews with current and past presidents, board members, persons who had refused presidencies, executive search…

This ethnographic study relates the structural components of the educational system to the processes by which women gain admission, establish an administrative career, and finally advance within its hierarchy. It was found that the "opportunity structure,""power structure," and "sex ratio" were structural components contributing to the absence of…

Managerial communications are in ill health because of the conflict between employees and management caused by collective bargaining, the growing alienation between building-level administrators and central office personnel, the change in the relationship between the school and community manifest in parent and community pressure groups, and the…

From the monthly Saturday Review supplement, "Education in America, sponsored by the Charles F. Kettering Foundation.

Research on grades 9-12 in an elite, coeducational private school in an urban area examined the effects of the school's social organization on students' commitment to educational goals and their sense of academic purpose. The author gathered data through 2 years of participant observation as a teacher-researcher and through questionnaire…

Before citizen participation in administrative decision-making can be evaluated in a way that is both rigorous and relevant to policy development, there must be some minimal consensus among evaluators and policy-makers concerning the types of questions that should be asked and the methodologies that should be used. This document consists of edited…

Collective bargaining contracts with teachers unions have reduced principals' autonomy but have still left them opportunities for effective administration of their schools. Interviews with 289 educators in six diverse school districts across the country show that contracts have limited principals' powers both from above, by centralizing labor…

Perceptions of power identified with upper level, noninstructional staff (professional staff) in a complex university were studied based on interviews with professional staff, their superordinates and subordinates, and faculty. Professional staff offices included the upper echelon of the nonacademic staff hierarchy holding such titles as assistant…

This occupational skills instructional module on authority and responsibility is one of twelve making up a curriculum guide on the human aspects of working in organizations. The modules are designed for utilization at various educational levels ranging from high school to adult and continuing education, in either academic or vocational programs.…

This paper presents a conceptual framework for analyzing the impact of funding cutbacks on human services organizations (HSOs). HSOs include publicly-funded educational, health, welfare, and cultural organizations. The framework identifies five categories of variables which influence an organization's reaction to cutbacks. Category one, "objective…