Explores newly created opportunities for teachers in California charter schools, based on textual analysis of 86 charter proposal documents and followup interviews with selected directors and teachers. Most charter-school teachers have primary responsibility for governance, participate in hiring and peer evaluation, experience fewer bureaucratic…

Case study of two urban high schools explores how, paradoxically, professional autonomy and attention to individual needs are necessary and salient conditions of strong professional communities. Focuses on the important role that principals play in balancing individual and organizational needs and fostering professional community. Reinterprets…

By the year 2000, school decentralization could become another unfortunate, ineffectual pendulum swing. According to this article, a dynamic, ever-changing system of decentralization and centralization balances the benefits of local administrative autonomy with the pursuit of unified goals and helps each leadership level understand its…

Discusses the meaning, aims, and future directions of teacher empowerment. Generally, teacher empowerment is any activity or means that enhances teachers' professional status. Ideally, empowerment heightens teacher self-esteem, boosts knowledge of subject matter and pedagogy, and fosters greater collegiality. In reality (according to four…

After managing the nation's largest school system for two years, Chancellor Ray Cortines will be leaving New York City Public Schools on October 15th. Cortines insists his resignation was not spurred by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's efforts to overhaul the schools, despite skirmishes over budgets, bureaucracy, and staff. Having trimmed the budget,…

Examines control mechanisms that superintendents used to shape and direct suburban high school principals' work. Includes four hierarchical controls (supervision, input, behavior, and output) and two nonhierarchical controls (section/socialization and environmental), along with school social status and district size. The control mechanisms were…

Confronted by a disturbing dropout rate and low student achievement, the Newfoundland (Canada) government is attempting to rationalize organizational restructuring and curriculum reform based on a centralized core academic curriculum aimed at college entrance. This article argues for an expanded, hegemonic curriculum that is organic to the…

A recent Council for Advancement and Support of Education survey of 115 campus editors concerning the autonomy of their publications found editors have more editorial freedom, in comparison with a 1981 survey, but feel some pressure from direct supervisors and fund raisers to write or avoid certain stories. They generally feel their publication is…

Summarizes a case involving a Denver high school teacher's naming, in a government class, of a student observed in a public sexual rendezvous. The teacher lost on all fronts, because his speech was considered school-sponsored and did not meet the school district's pedagogical interests, based on the 1988 "Hazelwood" decision limiting…

The influence of supervision as an administrative control mechanism used by superintendents to direct the work of high school principals and the nature of administrative control in schools was studied for 12 principals. Supervision, measured by superintendent visits, was generally perceived as light, and principals felt they were afforded…

The California History-Social Science Framework seems less prescriptive than some other state curriculum guides and more open to individual teacher decision making. However, the framework's main audience appears to be textbook publishing companies. Reforms will be implemented not by knowledgeable teachers, but by sanctioned textbooks aligned with…

Describes various organizational structures and models, presents matrix management as an alternative to traditional hierarchical structures, and suggests matrix management as an appropriate organizational alternative for academic libraries. Benefits that are discussed include increased flexibility, a higher level of professional independence, and…

Results of 3 studies, involving 80 adult employees, 6,810 defense contractor employees, and 88 graduate students, support the reliability and validity of a new measure of global work autonomy, the Global Work Autonomy Scale (B. Ashforth and A. Saks, 1995). (SLD)

Teacher and principal autonomy in public and private secondary schools was studied through interviews with more than 30 teachers and administrators, observations, and document analyses. Results reveal the complexity of the concept of autonomy and challenge the myth that teachers and principals in private schools enjoy more autonomy. (SLD)

A 1-month follow-up of 33 medical professionals who committed to making practice changes after continuing education showed that 54% of intended changes had been accomplished. Insufficient time was the most frequent hindrance. Amount of professional autonomy influenced the degree to which changes were made. (SK)