In this national survey, local changes in primary and intermediate schools are examined in response to radical administrative restructuring of the New Zealand educational system. Recent administrative moves toward decentralization are based on the assumption that such changes will improve educational quality. The study focuses on the relationships…

Decision-making responsibilities of participants in a school based management program in Chicago (Illinois) are discussed in this report. Tension among the local school board council, principal, and professional personnel advisory committee is examined, with a focus on learning decision making skills. Shared decision-making facilitates…

This manual is intended to help students who are officers of vocational student organizations (VSOs) to develop and lead their groups. The manual is organized in four short sections. The first section provides general information on creating an effective and fun VSO. Subsections include: Why a VSO?; Good Meetings; Democratic Interaction, and The…

Many potential dropouts have problems coping with the formal and impersonal structure of most high schools. In response to this, an effort was made to create an alternative, more supportive, organizational structure featuring participative management in the Louisiana State Youth Opportunities Unlimited (LSYOU) program. Program teachers, tutors,…

This study provides a description of a program initiated in 1980 by the Maryland State Education Agency (SEA). The School Improvement through Instructional Process (SITIP) program presents data for a study involving educators in 19 of 24 local education agencies. The SITIP design includes nine areas of activity: (1) SEA preparation; (2) building…

The role of telecommunications in higher education is discussed, along with a faculty involvement-based model for implementing a media/telecommunications service at Cameron University. Experience at the university supports the application of the Lindquist model in the implementation of telecommunications programs in higher education. Application…

A study examined the management style of non-Fortune 500 business leaders and its relationship to their organizations' environment in order to provide a profile of a cross-section of these leaders. The presidents or CEOs of 65 randomly selected Indiana companies with annual sales of at least $5 million were surveyed about situational leadership…

Democratic participation in education suggests that communities will be served best when decision-making is decentralized and when people--teachers, parents, and students alike--are encouraged to participate directly in making decisions that affect them. In contrast, the notion of administrative leadership implies hierarchical elevation of chief…

The future of academic content reforms relies on the relationship between policies and the decisions of teachers. Because the agreement of teachers with district policies is congruent with teacher autonomy, the dichotomy of district control and teacher autonomy is invalid. Districts execute instructional leadership by providing teacher autonomy or…

A study examined increasing employee participation in a Roman Catholic seminary using an analysis of management style to display a profile of recent changes in the seminary's management not unlike similar changes made in secular organizations. Management behaviors relevant to participation were analyzed according to Likert's taxonomy, which…

In 1985 the Urban League of Rochester organized an Education Initiative and held a series of Speak Out Forums and conferences for students, parents, educators, and the community to arrive at an answer to the question: What can be done to improve the academic performance of Rochester's students? This document contains the following papers pertinent…

President Reagan's promotion of merit pay as the main vehicle of educational change has prompted a sharp debate. This monograph presents arguments for and against merit pay and assesses its relative worth as a means of improving American education. First, merit pay is defined as a compensation system linking individual teachers' salaries to…

The role of the professional evaluator within a school district is essentially to provide data for use in informed decision making. In School District 4J in Eugene, Oregon, this role involves performing tasks in three basic categories: (1) maintaining and interpreting ongoing databases, (2) finding and analyzing information to answer specific…

Given the role that initiatives and referenda have played in state and local governance, it is interesting that there has never been a national initiative or referendum in the United States. The reason for this is that the Constitution of the United States does not provide for direct citizen initiation of, or direct popular votes on, either…

Recent research shows that principals can heavily influence schools' organizational effectiveness. This report describes the instructional leadership roles of elementary and high school principals participating in the Wayne State University Staff Development for School Improvement Program (SDSI) conducted from 1981 through 1984. The SDSI school…