The demand for educational reform has reopened several debates concerning fundamental aspects of education. Three of these debates--the goals of education, school governance structures, and the locus of control for reform--are linked to teacher participation. This paper suggests that education's goals could best be addressed by action research applied at the school site level. Shared governance would shift the locus of control from administrators to teachers in a process of teacher empowerment. In this model, the reform occurs through a web of teacher interaction instead of depending on a top-down, pyramidic intervention. The teacher group would use action research, increased professionalism, and empowerment to implement the processes necessary to reach mutually acceptable school improvement goals. The participative approach would lead to many diverse processes, depending on the perceived needs of the individuals closest to the reform action. There are many instances of teacher restructuring of schools already in use. The process described here combines Nominal Group Techniques with Force Field Analysis to allow school staffs to plan, implement, and evaluate school improvement initiatives. An appendix contains extensive background information for teacher groups and a bibliography. (35 references) (MLH)