This study discusses how a curriculum, based on the multiple influences of college educators, administrators, state officials, private industry and 4-year institutions, determines the kinds of knowledge available to students. Examined is the relationship between knowledge and power as inextricably linked factors in forming curriculum. The study…

An ethnographic study examined instructor uses of control, immediacy, and affinity-seeking behaviors in a large college lecture class. A class of 140 college sophomores was observed for 10 weeks, in an attempt to understand in a situational and non-quantitative manner, what instructor behaviors motivate students toward cognitive and affective…

Present attempts to transform the meaning and purposes of schooling through a radically reformed notion of leadership are examined in this paper. The first part presents a framework that explains the mechanisms through which school cultures are produced, reproduced, and transformed: pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, and discipline. The first…

Findings of a study that examined superintendents' perceptions of the methods used by the Ohio State Department of Education to implement legislative mandates are presented in this paper. Etzioni's compliance theory is used as a framework to understand superintendents' perceptions about the state's use of power. A survey of 205 Ohio public school…

This paper investigates the role of the budget as an instrument for realizing strategic change and as an influencing factor on the behavior of university faculty within the decentralized educational environment of the Netherlands. It distinguishes between a base component (lump sum allocation) and a special-purpose component (earmarked allocation)…

Site-based decisionmaking is the concept of collaboration between school faculty and administration in planning, problem solving, and decision making in school policies and practices. One reason to implement this type of management is that school reform requires the involvement of all stakeholders in the educational process to be effective. During…

The effectiveness, behavior, and role of the consultant as policy advisor is examined in light of three operating assumptions: (1) that educational organiztions are subject to politicization; (2) that the consultant's primary role is to assist in nonroutine, potentially controversial policy decisions; and (3) that the consultant must therefore…

Specific roles faculty members can play in their institution's budget processes are discussed, and the general ends served by budgets are identified. Each of the dimensions of institutional character (e.g., size, mission) determines the ways in which participants in budgeting will interact. For example, broader faculty participation in budgeting…

This four-part paper examines formal and informal organizational structures at Selinsgrove Area Middle School, which serves about 1,000 students in grades 5-8. Part I presents a brief history of the founding of the school and the court battles preceding its construction, and the reasons why the initial steering committee chose a middle school…

The assessment of attitudes and perceptions of various groups toward the school choice issue is the purpose of this exploratory study. A nonrandom pilot study administered to 342 parents, administrators, board members, and students used bivariate and univariate analyses to compare attitudinal differences. Findings indicate that attitude toward the…

This chapter of "Principles of School Business Management" explores the legal context in which school business officials and other school administrators operate. The chapter considers the legal sources for the power and authority of the district and its administrators and also examines the legal process as it affects schools and the performance of…

A study looks at the economic, social, cultural, and political factors involved in conflicts between New Brunswick language communities in the last two decades. The demographic, economic, cultural, and political relationships between the French and English language communities are presented and discussed in terms of political matters and principal…

A study looks at the economic, social, cultural, and political factors at work in conflicts between Quebec language communities in recent years. The historical and current demographic, economic, cultural, and political relationships between the French and English speaking communities are presented and discussed in terms of political issues and…

Unstructured interviews conducted in 1977 with eight respected elementary and secondary school principals revealed their conceptions of the principal's role and of the skills and activities that had gone into their efforts to fill that role. The eight principals are identified in terms of their outstanding characteristics, as revealed through…

Teachers unknowingly carry certain ideologies, preconceived roles, rules, value systems, and world views into the classroom. These notions are communicated to the student by the teacher's language style, comments, body language and gestures, use and organization of things in the classroom, and choice and use of teaching methods and materials. The…