This study examined curriculum procedures and the roles, decision-making processes, and perceptions of central administrators, building administrators, and teachers in five school districts. Qualitative data collection included taped interviews using a focused indepth interview schedule, field notes, observation, and document collection. The study…

This paper describes the Denver public schools' Standards of Excellence Program, a research-based means of developing and implementing school improvements while reinforcing existing practices characteristic of effective schools. Researchers have identified four indicators of school effectiveness that can be observed, measured, controlled, and…

This Caribbean Regional Workshop was organized to bring together representatives of private, voluntary, and community development organizations, governmental agencies, and other non-governmental organizations in the Eastern Caribbean who were concerned with environmental quality. The conference was intended to improve the level of citizen…

The instructional and political validity of current educational policy regarding categorical programs for low-achieving elementary school students are examined. The categorical organization of services for these students, characterized by a vast array of eligibility requirements, rules and regulations, and accounting systems, has resulted in a…

This report details a series of specific recommendations aimed at improving the conditions of learning and teaching, teacher preparation and licensure, recruitment and minority recruitment, and accountability in New York State. The necessity of restructuring schools in the state is first discussed. Recommendations are then made in the following…

This book is a compilation of the recommendations on leadership contained in education reports and management studies over the past 5 years. In addition exemplary programs reported in a survey by the American Association of School Administrators are presented throughout the book in sections titled "Promising Practices." Eight issues identified in…

At Wytheville Community College (WCC) in Virginia, the seminal management style is collegial, while the seminal management structure is bureaucratic. Formal bureaucratic structures exist for normal and routine communication and for policy decisions. However, faculty are encouraged to share their concerns with the president and other administrators…

Intended to help vocational instructors and administrators involve local advisory councils in improving the quality of vocational programs, this handbook provides information on the role of councils and makes specific suggestions on how administrators and instructors can prepare for council meetings and obtain feedback from council members. The…

The Success Project was initiated by the San Diego Community College District in 1985 to improve remedial instruction and support services, increase faculty participation in instructional decision making, and provide a means for following up on decisions. In the first year, task forces on instructional assessment, student assessment, remediation,…

The extent of democratization of Scandinavian higher education is evaluated. Democratization is considered to include: (1) the subordination of university decision-making to parliamentary democracy and, in Sweden, to corporate representative bodies; (2) the decentralization of higher education regionally, important particularly in Finland, Norway,…

This study examines the organizational structures of schools and school systems using six complementary but distinct perspectives--societal, intentional, structural, analytical, portrait, and narrative--in order to ascertain the appropriateness of structural revision in relation to changes in Canadian society. Following an examination of the…

Reductions in resources and increases in external demands place schools under pressure that can be relieved to some extent by organizational changes. When resources are sufficient, these changes may take the form of technical rationality--that is, decisions concerning policy and practices are made on the basis of neutral, measurable data rather…

This paper argues that cautious and participatory desegregation efforts yield less desirable outcomes than either sweeping, authoritative desegregation policies or no imposed effort at all. The author proceeds to support these claims by identifying 10 goals of school desegregation and examining the rules and consequences of incremental and…

The relationships of perceived participation in decision-making, communication variables, and employment and employee job satisfaction were examined. A survey was conducted with 103 classified employees (clerks, secretaries, and the lowest level supervisors) in three administrative units at a comprehensive, eastern university. Employees were asked…

According to the author of this report, enthusiasm for inservice programs has been lacking, partly due to disagreement over program control and partly due to a perceived lack of relevance in the programs. This overview of a number of research and development projects suggests that the programs' relevance is the more important of these factors and…