The pros and cons of decentralization of decision-making authority to the school-site level as a public school management technique are intended to serve as an informational summary for the members of the California State Board of Education, and as a resource for school district governing boards and district administrators to use to determine the…

This book systematically considers governance in the community college, focusing on how decisions are actually made and describing the roles and interactions of all participant groups in the governance process. Community college governance today is an amalgam of procedures borrowed from colleges, universities and high schools, but there are signs…

The casebook is designed for use during graduate classes in administration and supervision in industrial-technical education, or for use by other individuals who are already employed or who are preparing for employment as administrators or supervisors. Problems and situations which can be solved in many different ways are presented for discussion.…

This study takes a critical look at the current status of elementary school principals and their schools. The report concludes that the causes for a leadership crisis which exists in the elementary schools are both pbulic and professional. Through the use of questionnaires and personal interviews, the researchers talked with 291 principals in 50…

A recent Fifth United States Circuit Court of Appeals decision stipulates that a school board may regulate "employe expression" only in rare circumstances--to prevent, for example, serious disruption of school activities--and only where the board has allowed for a timely review of the superintendent's decisions about distributing…

This paper describes a study that explored superintendent and school-board evaluations. Specifically, it looked at some of the methods and uses of boards' evaluations of superintendents and some of the needs and methods of boards' evaluation of themselves. Data for the study were collected from 188 surveys of selected school superintendents in…

Argues that the current structure of non-profit child care centers is outmoded, hinders creative leadership, and presents management problems for directors. Presents six illustrations of management problems: (1) shifting constituency; (2) time constraints on board members; (3) short-circuited entrepreneurism; (4) director accountability; (5)…

In higher education's new environment, colleges and universities must re-examine their tenure codes and practices and consider various forms of post-tenure review. Elimination of tenure does not necessarily end academic freedom. However, any new employment policies must emerge through a process of genuine discussion and negotiation among faculty…

Guidelines are given for new governing board trustees to prepare themselves for their responsibilities. Briefly outlined are the trustee's 10 major responsibilities: selection, nurture, and termination of the president; financial support and management; maintenance and expansion of the physical plant; public relations; clarification of purpose;…

Present and past efforts to enhance school efficiency have failed. Progressive Era reforms of a half-century ago contributed to the creation of a publicly insensitive, professionally dominated education system. Accountability enthusiasts of the '70s failed to understand the fundamental misalignment between the assumptions underlying private sector…

The Intermediate Administrative Unit of Polk County, Iowa is outlined in this document. Items discussed include board of education philosophy and policy, personnel, educational services, administrative organization, county board of education and superintendent relationships, county board and local board relationships, budgeting, and fiscal…

This booklet is intended to provide new school board members with the background and basic information they need to perform their tasks successfully. It attempts to convey a broad understanding of the board member's role, including its scope, limitations, responsibilities, potential pitfalls, and opportunities. Various chapters discuss the…

This book, written by three school communications and public relations consultants who are also practitioners, provides guidelines designed to help the school official implement an improved communications program. Classified by the authors as a "how-to-do-it" book, it is comprised of numerous workable ideas for improving a school official's…

In this article, the author proposes and discusses a collection of ten governance habits of boards of trustees that distinguish the average board from those that perform with excellence. They are interconnected, interlocking, and systemic. In the aggregate, the benefits of these habits are greater than the sum of their parts, because they function…

A survey of school district superintendents sought to gather data on a number of characteristics and compare the data to studies conducted in 1971 and 1982. From a random sample of 2,536 superintendents, stratified by district size, usable survey responses were received from 1,724, for a return rate of 68 percent, or 11 percent of all United…