Argues that teachers lack a sense of professional responsibility for the poor condition of education because they have little say over the standards that govern them. Describes a year-long internship (the "Toledo Plan") for those entering teaching, with experienced teachers controlling personnel decisions. Reports on the plan's successes…

The City School is a K-8 magnet school in Lowell, Massachusetts. Student, teacher, and parent participation in the school's curriculum and governance have resulted in a strong sense of ownership and an effective and exciting educational environment. (GC)

To obtain far-reaching results from educational change, it is necessary to keep purposes and processes balanced and to apply the six-step Purpose Identification Model to the perceived problem, thus bringing a more meaningful relationship between purposes and processes. (Author/DCS)

Central Michigan University's Chamber of Commerce/University Business Education Services Committee has been revitalized by the committee's decision in 1982 to share program-generating responsibility with more than 900 university faculty members and administrators. The numerous successful programs that have resulted, including faculty-conducted…

British secondary school department heads surveyed generally wanted a higher level of participation in decision making, especially in the areas of resource allocation, budgeting, use of community funds, and school curriculum design. Improved communication, better decisions, and greater commitment to organizational policy are identified as probable…

Following a summary of traditional views on organizational effectiveness, the author describes relativistic, developmental, power, and social justice approaches that appeal to the various interests of organizational participants or constituents. Affirming the advantages of social justice based theories, the article then proposes an alternative…

The use of advisory committees is well established in the public school system. The purpose of advisory committees is to provide leadership, guidance and technical assistance to maintain, improve and develop quality career and technical education programs. This manual is written for those planning to form new advisory technical skills committees,…

Governing boards have the authority to make many decisions for colleges and universities, but authority itself is built on trust and respect, and those two attributes can be established only over time and through human interaction. In this article, the authors describe shared governance at Colby College, and how it has helped to promote mutual…

Asset mapping is an effective tool for understanding the wealth of talent and resources that exists in each community--even those with small populations or suffering from poverty and economic distress. The long-term development of a community rests on its ability to uncover and build on the strengths and assets of its people, institutions, and…

We utilized a Delphi technique to explore roles and competencies as identified and ranked by 106 upper level graduate students specializing in distance education. Student responses were compared to two previous studies utilizing distance education practitioner/scholar respondents. Although the roles identified were similar to previous studies, the…

Theoretically, schools that practice school-based management (SBM) should be more effective. However, researchers do not agree whether the effects of SBM are negative or positive. This paper discusses how the practice of a self-management framework (in which key actors practice self-management cycles at the school, group, and teacher levels) could…

Numerous attempts have been made to improve the effectiveness of decision-making in organizational settings. Some of the historical and contemporary organizational trends regarding these efforts, both in business and in school settings, are presented in this paper. The focus is on the related expectations and outcomes that are evident in diverse…

The lack of research on college students' involvement in the management and decision-making in a department led to an information search on these issues. Specifically, the researcher looked at whether or not it was a good idea to involve students in a department of psychology's decisions. Student involvement requires both student and faculty time.…

This longitudinal study examined elementary teachers' perceptions of the collaborative planning and decision-making process and their role in it. Nine teachers participated in grade- level teaming. Teachers ranged in experience from 1-9 years, with 3 teachers new to the team and 5 in their first or second year of teaching. Participants completed…

This paper examines the current state of parental involvement in site-based management (SBM) councils. It defines SBM as a formal alteration of the governance structure and as a form of decentralization that identifies the school as the primary unit of improvement. To assess SBM councils, surveys were mailed to 600 principals representing urban,…