School-site management alone cannot guarantee administrative decentralization or nonbureaucratic management of teachers. A collegial, professional work environment can only be created by adhering to a participatory managerial philosophy that respects teachers as professionals and decision-makers and considers the specific relationships arising…

One criticism of school-based management is that teachers are being asked to make disjointed decisions rather than decisions tied together by a common vision of change. This article discusses SBM's influences in changing school culture and presents a model embodying teacher-leader cooperation to change school policies and practices and adopt a…

The Scanlon Plan -- an industrial model -- has three essential aspects: group incentives for all employees in the organization; a negotiated, objective basis for distribution of incentives; and a formal system by which employees participate in decisions about management of the organization. (Author/JF)

Management and teacher leaders in Livermore (California) have turned to integrative bargaining as a means of resolving conflict and negotiating contracts. Integrative bargaining reduces the adversarial relations characteristic of the industrial relations model of collective bargaining. (WD)

The content of public education policy will increasingly be concerned with the organization and operation of schools. A plan that might meet the needs of this area is school-site management, which involves a shift of decision-making responsibility from the school district to the school site. (Author/IRT)

Describes the concept of quality circles: small, homogeneous groups of workers who discuss product improvement. The idea originated in Japan and has infiltrated U.S. industry and, ultimately, U.S. schools. Explains the quality circle program in the Muskegon (Michigan) schools and its effects in improving communication among employees and…

In 1990, Congress charged OERI with evaluating the nation's school-reform efforts. Representative planners subsequently called for research proposals in systemic reform, school-based management, uses of time, student assessment, curriculum reform, educator professionalism, school-to-work transition, early childhood education, parent and community…

Recounts the difficulties of establishing a shared decision-making model at an elementary school used to more authoritarian governance. In another school more familiar with participative methods, this principal deemphasized administrative perfectionism and maintained team management by acknowledging the value of controlled conflict and modeling…

Adults participating in a Los Angeles "school family" network will be engaged for the next several years in the Annenberg Challenge--a national reform initiative aimed at improving student performance. Participation offers opportunities to develop a coherent K-12 education plan, access extra resources, and pursue collaborative…

Describes Boston's efforts to abandon adversarial bargaining in favor of a reform-oriented contract establishing a shared decision-making model of school-based management. The model includes significant parent involvement, a mentoring program for new teachers, a voluntary peer-assistance program for veteran teachers, and collaborative…

Analyzes findings of a 1984 teacher attitude survey (from Dade County, Florida) showing declining job satisfaction and extrinsic rewards for a more experienced, better-educated work force than 20 years ago. Examines factors damaging teacher status, including outmoded administrative structures limiting teacher participation. Suggests sharing and…

Two years into five-year study of school-based decision making under Kentucky Education Reform Act, preliminary findings offer guidance and warnings considering decentralization. Across state, number of parents running for school councils and voting in elections is small. Most councils consist of six people with little teamwork or representative…