This final report of the School Building Models for Educating Children with Disabilities in the Regular Education Environment project provides a conceptual framework and describes the problem solving-planning process which links school-wide collaboration, individual professional development, and inclusionary practices with shared responsibility…

This practicum was designed to utilize a shared decision making (SDM) committee model as a mechanism through which a long-range, comprehensive computer technology plan would be developed for a Jackman (Maine) school system. On-site research coupled with an extensive review of current literature produced a finding that long-range technology…

The Georgia League of Professional Schools is a school and university collaborative formed to support school renewal. It currently includes 54 elementary and secondary schools and the University of Georgia. Schoolwide action research is simply cooperative disciplined inquiry within a framework that provides some structures for working together.…

This study was conducted to determine how reform at the middle school level translates into classroom practice within the framework of innovation and decision-making. A set of field notes was developed through formal and informal interviews with the building principal and two interdisciplinary teams of teachers (N=11) who had moved away from…

Strategies for teacher selection, recruitment, and retention are summarized in this report, which is based on results of a national survey of trends, practices, and opinions of school administrators. Thirteen chapters are contained in three sections, which deal specifically with the teacher selection, recruitment, and retention processes. The…

Beginning with a review of traditional perspectives on educational leadership, the link between effective principals and school effectiveness, and the bases of social power, this document goes on to report on a 1986-87 study conducted to determine how the types of power used by principals relate to school effectiveness. Subjects were…

According to Jack Blaney, there are three basic learning modes, each with their own characteristics, requirements, and implications. While each is appropriate within the proper parameters, there is wide support in the adult education literature for the use of the collaborative mode in facilitating adult learning. An analysis of the works of…

This proposal is for a pilot project that applies the best features of private schools to the racially diverse, urban, public elementary schools of Minneapolis (Minnesota). The following features are outlined: (1) classrooms will have a 14:1 student-teacher ratio; (2) all supplemental and compensatory programs will be eliminated; (3) 198 students…

This document records the reactions of the Brazilian author/educator Paulo Freire to the questions: (1) what should educators do when the people with whom they work are not interested in the ideas of dialogical analysis and participatory decision making?; (2) what should educators do when they encounter hostility from people who feel that a…

This report describes activities from 1986 through 1990 of the Mastery in Learning Project, which focused on "restructuring the school" and "sharing decision making" at one elementary school in Lewiston, Idaho. Based on need surveys of various constituents of school life (administrators, students, teachers, and parents), a…

The 19 papers in this conference report examine the formative period of the field of adult education, the development of workers' education, and the interrelationships of the two fields. The four papers in Section I, on defining adult education are: "Challenging the System: The Adult Education Movement and the Educational Bureaucracy of the…

In response to legislative mandate, three proposals were developed for encouraging student participation in the governance of California's community colleges and for establishing a minimum standard regulation for local procedures. The proposals are intended to improve and enhance access to governance mechanisms, improve accountability, enhance the…

It is a common public perception that schools are failing to perform their fundamental mission; in the public eye, the responsibility for this failure lies with the administrators leading the schools. Consequently, there has been a litany of criticisms of the programs that prepare administrators, particularly programs located in major research…

The practices and perceptions of a shared planning team decision-making model and the effects on student achievement and attendance are examined in this study. Survey results, test scores, and background data on schools were utilized to analyze the relationships among the degree of shared decision-making and planning effectiveness ratings, student…

Because the ultimate power to control school reform is in the hands of the superintendent or some other similarly positioned administrator, the reforms tend to benefit some student or constituency groups more than others. Judging from the personal characteristics of most superintendents and the political context of the superintendency itself, it…