This paper provides insight into distributed leadership by contrasting the oppositional messages found in the literature, and by examining differences in the rhetoric and reality associated with its application. Specifically, the treatment of power and accountability within the distributed leadership theoretical framework is difficult to…

Reports on a study designed to define the demographic and career characteristics and the values of lawmakers in the United States and Canada. Discusses how this information was used to predict policy decisions. (TW)

Decision-making in dual-career families is a salient issue due to the lack of societal norms for this type of family unit. A process-oriented model of joint decision making served as the basis for questionnaires and interviews used to study the predictive value of communication style on the outcomes of the decision making process in dual-career…

General interest in decentralized decision-making in education is increasing in both Canada and the United States. This paper attempts a preliminary study of school-based management, which shifts some budgetary decision-making authority from the central office to individual schools. Although many academic specialties have explored decentralization…

A field study of Canadian Government bureaucracy illustrates two perspectives on strategic decision processes. Processes follow a structured progression or are anarchic, wherein decisions are inferred from outcomes of fortuitous combinations of events. Both perspectives facilitate processual understanding but fail to specify the influence of…

Little is known about the process by which healthy families resolve everyday problems. Families with an adolescent diabetic must handle the usual adolescent problems as well as disease management problems, and must meet both the needs of the adolescent and those of the rest of the family. Phasing rationally is a term used to describe the orderly…

A community food security movement has begun to address problems of hunger and food insecurity by utilizing a community-based approach. Although various models have been implemented, little empirical research has assessed how power operates within community-based food security initiatives. The purpose of this research was to determine how power…

Interviews with administrators and reviews of official reports in 12 Ontario school districts provided data on the processes and participants involved in policymaking, the size of the central office administrative staff, and the nature of changes in administrative organization over the preceding decade. (PGD)

Reports on survey studying the human-machine interface in Canadian university, public, and special libraries. Highlights include position category and educational background of 118 participants, participants' feelings toward automation, physical effects of automation, diffusion in decision making, interpersonal communication, future trends,…

The 1982 school board elections in the geographical and political Ottawa-Carleton (Ontario) regions gave rise to a record number of new candidates for election to the two public and two separate school boards that comprise the region. This paper examines some of the reasons for the dramatic increase and develops a profile of their characteristics.…

The attempt to integrate school curricula with social concerns is a recurring motif in North American education. Impediments to integration can be reduced by incorporating a cognitive approach to social issues analysis. The approach was tested with 4seven9 grade 7-10 students in two Ontario, Canada, school systems with positive results. (MM)

This study focused on process measures to identify the major components of elementary school climate and to test the effectiveness of an intervention emphasizing the work of the principal. Nine schools of diverse size and in several locations in British Columbia formed the sample. Data included surveys of parents and teachers, interviews of…

This manual was developed in response to issues and concerns raised in "Directions and Program Policy Proposals" (1984), and in accordance with the Saskatchewan (Canada) School Improvement Program to help meet the need for more and improved monitoring and evaluation at the local school level. It is designed to provide school…

Inviting policy development is an attempt to cordially summon those who are involved and affected by rules, codes, and procedures to understand and participate in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of policies. This paper first presents criteria for an invitational framework for policy development and then goes on to discuss the…

This study of incumbent British Columbia school board members prior to election analyzes relationships between individual members' feelings of political efficacy and trust and their decisions to seek or not seek reelection. The 60 subjects, from 24 districts, represented candidates (those members seeking reelection) and retirees (members not…