Examines literature on empowerment, and participation of parents and teachers in school decision making in the context of school governance. Discusses changing roles of parents and teachers under conditions of restructuring and examines how the changing organizational context in schools influences the nature and quality of relationships between…

A California high school English teacher uses, with students, a culturally sensitive process of facilitating classroom decision making through consensus. He correlates communication and language skills with consensus building, the facilitation of which is a slow process implemented in small portions over the school year. Sidebar provides a…

Explores community college faculty's perception of their involvement in decision making. Reports the responses of 70 Midwest community college instructors in five areas: finance, instruction, personnel, goals, and students. Finds that respondents feel little sense of decision-making involvement. Warns that presidents may alienate the faculty if…

The Free School is an independent, alternative elementary school in inner-city Albany (New York) based on open democratic education dedicated to the authentic lives of children. Emotional freedom is balanced by meetings in which everyone participates in solving discipline problems. The highly flexible and individualized curriculum uses the…

Site-based decision making (SBDM) represents one of the more progressive paradigmatic shifts in decentralization. Varieties of the model have been implemented. Surveys issues emerging from the variety of experiments in SBDM. Concludes that, at its best, SBDM is the grand experiment of letting local schools determine how to meet the district's…

Recent school improvement trends, notably the emphasis on accountability and academic standards, are changing the school principal's role. Developing a school vision for teaching and learning is becoming the top priority for principals. Leadership skills that help accomplish this include collaboration, participative decision making, and listening.…

Describes values underlying one university's co-reform practices and ways that those beliefs have been enacted through practice, discussing: context and impetus for change; making the tacit explicit; involving teachers in decision making and instruction; modeling effective teaching; understanding the daily work of teaching; professional…

Describes a study conducted by Development Strategies that analyzes the local influence of three Catholic schools in the City of St. Louis. Outlines four reasons why these schools are important neighborhood assets: active lay leadership, active pastors, outreach programs, and autonomy afforded by the archdiocese. (JDI)

Summarizes an ethnographic study examining interactions perceived as empowering in four inner-city primary schools in Victoria, Australia. Teachers wanted interactions between themselves and principals to be characterized by trust, recognition, respect, support, and reliability, but were disheartened by vanishing career and professional…

Provides personal narratives of four teachers regarding their work to create more democratic classrooms in urban settings. Explores the issues of authority and democracy in day-to-day teaching in the areas of (1) authority, democracy, and relationships; (2) formations; (3) authority and democracy in the writing workshop; and (4) reformations. (NH)

An interview with Summerhill School's head describes how the independent boarding school challenged the British government's demands that it give compulsory lessons. A settlement required the school's philosophy to govern the government's approach to the school; recognized the pupils' voice in evaluations of the school; and acknowledged that…

Presents findings from a two-year evaluation of a family literacy program in rural Appalachian Ohio. Demonstrates positive results for both impact/outcome and process objectives. Highlights an extensive network of interpersonal and interagency relationships that maximized resources and supported families as they changed. Suggests the importance of…

Rex Putnam High School (Milwaukie, Oregon) received a New American High School (NAHS) award for reform efforts that included small learning environments; career pathways programs; career-related learning experiences in the community; and involvement of parents, staff, and community members in decision making. An interview with an assistant…

Examined the influence on schools and classrooms of advisory school councils. Interviews with students, teachers, administrators, and parents from five schools indicated that councils had weak positive to negative influences on schools and classrooms. More influential councils had facilitative principals and used a collaborative team approach.…

To minimize the effect of partisan politics on curriculum development and change, we must encourage broad involvement of educators and citizens in discussions about such curricular issues as the balance of subjects, social and intellectual skills to be emphasized, standards to be set, and how to develop the personal characteristics important to…