This study examined a Queensland secondary school where students select a track: Academic, Commercial, or General. Six months into their program, Grade 9 students were queried about their school experience, track choice, peer relationships, and future plans. Responses of the three track groups are summarized, with consideration of sex differences.…

Examined is the fairly broad consensus that the break with the traditional centralism of Australian public schooling is a progressive move. The social and ideological meaning of this change in the direction of administrative policy against the background of contemporary Australian society is discussed. (13 references) (SI)

Issues raised by the devolution of decision-making to the school level in Western Australia are described in this paper. The first part provides a background of governance structures and school organization. Prior to 1980, Western Australia had the most centralized system of educational administration in Australia. The second part describes the…

This paper analyzes the relative funding model developed as part of the reorganization resulting from the 1988 Australian Government's White Paper on Higher Education Policy. This reorganization created the Unified National System which has resulted in fewer but larger higher education institutions. The relative funding model is described in terms…

This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of a report concerned with preschoolers and kindergarteners in Tasmania. The committee recommended that preschools should be established as a common extension of the statutory provision for education; a general director should be responsible for the whole area of education…

This book contains seventeen thumb-nail sketches of schools in Europe, the United States, Asia, Britain, and Australia, as they appeared in the eye of the author as a professional educator and a journalist while travelling around the world. The author considers the schools described to be good schools, and not necessarily the 17 best schools in…

This book presents ways in which school administrators can identify and redirect school funds to improve student performance. It quantifies the degree of overall financial inequality in the country using figures for all districts and shows how education dollars are currently spent, why these dollars are ineffectual, and how different and more…

Replacement of Australia's binary system, which separates the roles of colleges and universities, is discussed in this seminar report. In addition to seven seminar papers, information is provided on the Australian higher education system, including access, the curriculum, research, fiscal accountability, and program relevance and quality. In the…

Recent literature has made little attempt to apply historical studies to the problems of contemporary educational administration or to use historical studies as the basis for analysis or prediction. This article examines the role of historical insights in relation to educational administration and proposes approaches that might enhance their…

If contemporary plans for devolved decision making to schools in Australia are to be realized, the role of all teachers in curriculum decision-making processes will need to be acknowledged. This paper presents findings of a study that sought to build a theory of curriculum leadership from the teachers' own perspectives--a theory of curriculum…

The rhetoric of current blueprints for (Australian) school reform must be scrutinized to ensure a power redistribution furthering improved outcomes for more students, particularly the least advantaged. A desirable social justice outcome might be achieved through blending equality aspects ensured by the old centralized system with the progressive…

This paper compares two Australian educational administration texts published in 1963 to reflect critically on the radical changes that have occurred in educational administration in Australia since then. The books are "Headmasters for Better Schools," by Bassett, Crane, and Walker; and "Training the Administrator," by…

This paper revisits the literature on the nature of school organizations and presents a view of secondary schools as complex social systems, as opposed to bureaucratic-rational structures. Research was conducted into three Western Australia secondary schools planning to implement school-based decision making and planning procedures. The…

The refinement and application of the School Organizational Climate Questionnaire (SOCQ), an instrument for measuring organizational climate, is described in this report. The instrument is a mechanism by which schools can direct their school improvement efforts. In two case studies, a small urban elementary and a large urban secondary school…

This article traces the development and rationale of the School Improvement Program proposed by the new Labor Government of Victoria (Australia). The program would be based on school communities, each voluntarily developing a long-term project improving the school as an educational entity. The design assumptions, funding criteria, and implications…