Results of a staff development program designed to enhance participative decision-making through improving the quality circle process are presented in this practicum report. Methodology was based on two sets of interviews--needs assessment and followup--with school leaders at two school sites and onsite observation. After identifying problems in…

Project LIRO (Leadership for Improved Restructuring Outcomes) was an attempt to influence student outcomes and school change through a year-long work experience and training of department chairs and administrators. The project used Teacher Collegial Groups (TCGs) to encourage collaboration between personnel from Institutions of Higher Education…

A structured questionnaire was mailed to the directors (n=124) of all of the academic libraries belonging to the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) to obtain information on the status of participative management for support staff groups in major research libraries. Thirty of the 69 library administrators responding to the survey report that…

The proceedings of a 3-day conference, discussing the relationship between government and the arts in the United States, are presented. Issues that will confront the arts in the 1990s were identified and policy recommendations were suggested. Six basic principles were reflected in many of the discussions: (1) a flourishing artistic life is in the…

A detailed analysis of how and why school-based curriculum development (SBCD) occurs is provided in this book. Case studies from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States are presented to show that despite different contexts, common patterns exist, especially in terms of participant motivation and processes. An innovations…

Implementation processes and outcomes at a junior high school of the Mastery in Learning Project, an NEA-sponsored national school transformation effort, are described in this paper. Based on the principle that a school's decisions should be made by its faculty, the project seeks to develop teachers' ability to creatively and cooperatively use…

The University of Southern Maine offers a Master's degree in Instructional Leadership designed to prepare educators for the demands of working with others to promote educational excellence. Two themes of the program focus on: problem finding--the disposition to scrutinize aims as well as means; and a valuing of and practical experience with action…

In March 1990, teachers in 80% of the counties in West Virginia participated in a teacher strike. In this study, 83 striking teachers answered 10 open-ended questions put to them either through an interview or a questionnaire. The information was analyzed through a thematic analysis process. Teachers overwhelmingly felt they were not given the…

Applying industrial organizational theory to classroom management, the authors examined the organization of a complex bilingual curriculum for the effects of shared authority among students and teachers and the effects of shared decision-making among staff. Using a math-science curriculum called "Finding Out: Descubrimiento," the nine…

Types of small groups for instructional purposes, and procedures, structure, and practical arrangements are discussed, and reference is made to the British system. It is suggested that an orderly beginning to small group work best suits novice tutors and inexperienced students. In some subjects tightly organized group work may become progressively…

An analysis is presented of the organization and administration of public and private two-year colleges in the United States. Section I highlights the changes that took place within community colleges in the 1970's in budgeting, the expansion of collective bargaining, and the pressure to provide increased opportunities to minority students.…

This paper, for practitioners and researchers, is based on a computer search of the ERIC database and other references, and organizes and summarizes the literature on needs assessment in counseling, guidance, and personnel services. Following the brief introduction, a definition of terms used in the paper and a discussion of the purposes and…

Ralph W. Tyler's paper on "Curriculum Development and Research" contains examples of research findings which were or were not used in efforts to change or develop curriculum. The roles, use, and importance of action research, formulation of objectives, planning and organization of learning experiences, program assessment, relationship…

The reports included in this annotated bibliography of 11 publications on school improvement teams suggest that ownership and commitment to improvement are natural consequences of shared planning and decisionmaking, that overcentralization has severely limited the scope of teachers' professional discretion, and that quality circles--stressing…

As teachers assume a variety of leadership functions traditionally held by the principal and as they become much more of a self-managing professional work group, it is important to examine the implications of these changes for the leadership behavior of professionals credentialed as building principles. This paper presents data from indepth…