This study examines a naturally occurring experiment in a large urban hospital faced with budget cuts, in which departments were ordered to reduce employees' overtime without jeopardizing service quality. The study focuses on two departments that chose to use behavior modification techniques. In one department (Radiology) the intervention combined…

In January 1986, the Learning Resource Center (LRC) of New River Community College in Virginia initiated efforts to increase the level, quality, responsiveness, and adaptability of LRC services. Central to these efforts was an emphasis on employee involvement and empowerment intended to create an atmosphere of trust and teamwork; enhance employee…

Described are six elementary schools in Virginia that were judged as meeting nine criteria for programs facilitating participatory decision-making by teachers. The term "participatory decision-making" refers to the sharing of decisions on school policies and practices between teachers and school administrators. Information on the…

This study investigated secondary teachers' perceptions of school organizational climate relative to their own professional growth and development attitudes. Instrumentation consisted of the "School Climate Profile," chosen for its range of determinants of school organizational climate in the secondary school, and a Likert scaling procedure to…

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…

An elementary school teacher developed a learning community classroom with four key characteristics: (1) task and objective monitoring systems; (2) use of heterogeneous groups; (3) fostering of individual responsibility; and (4) fostering of group responsibility for learning. It appeared that collaborative planning between teacher and pupils was…

A project sought to extend Central Piedmont Community College's (CPCC) expertise in quality circles. Objectives were to provide low-cost quality circle training for personnel in community colleges and business and industry and to provide instruction in quality circles for college students. Three hundred educators and business people attended…

The use of popular theatre to overcome community development problems in underdeveloped countries through adult education is introduced and its relationship to the concept of participatory research is explored. Material is arranged in four sections. The first of these presents an introduction to popular theatre and participatory research. Stemming…

"Faculty Salary Systems in Independent Schools"(1983) was a study of trends and patterns found in nine independent schools during l982-83. The present document is a follow-up report, based on additional information gathered from seven salary seminars held for representatives of independent schools throughout the United States during…

This study describes and analyzes the involvement of library and university groups and individuals in arriving at major library decisions concerning budgeting, automation, policy making, and operational issues in 12 selected university libraries. Site visits, interviews, and questionnaires were used to compare the decision making roles of…

To assess the effects of participative management (PM) in a suburban school district in an upstate New York metropolitan area, researchers examined the one-year-old program, surveyed staff members, and analyzed district records. The PM plan involved teams of teachers and administrators at both school building and district levels, providing advice…

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…

Focusing on problem-solving organizational structures, this report traces the history of the community education project of the Austin (Texas) Independent School District, which sought to involve neighborhood communities in the education process. After a brief profile of Austin, the report describes how the project started in a poor inner-city…

A team leadership program for academic administration was undertaken at the University of Akron under Kellogg Foundation Funding. A screened sample of 108 persons was admitted to training, which consisted of role analysis, education in the structure and function of the university and higher education in general, team building, analysis of…

Intended as a guide for educators in shared decision-making, this report summarizes the structures, procedures, and activities of local action teams in 49 schools involved in the National Institute of Education's Research and Development Utilization (RDU) program. Local action teams in the RDU program consisted of formal groups of teachers and…