Assessing an organization's effectiveness involves not only determining how successfully the organization achieves its stated objectives, but also ascertaining how thoroughly the needs of the individuals involved are met and how readily the organization can change to address the needs of both the organization and the individuals who compose it.…

Using complexity theory, examines standards-based accountability focused on improving school organization. Compares Chicago Public Schools' outcomes-based bureaucratic accountability approach with Baltimore City Schools' combined administrator-professional accountability. Concludes that the combined approach should result in more lasting change.…

Provides an essay review of "How Schools Work" (Barr and Dreeben, 1983). Maintains that the book is important because it focuses on the role of the curriculum and the multilevel nature of schooling, two important aspects of education which school effectiveness research has largely ignored. (JDH)

Analyzes Tanzania's efforts to modify the secondary curriculum by unifying academics and productive work. Teachers have not adopted the new approach. The author suggests that teachers' reactions are affected by the relationship between schools and the division of labor, difficulties of specifying what unity means, and problems of school…

As an aid and reference for administrators, quotes and extracts from 122 documents have been assembled by the author to summarize the arguments over the relative merits of junior high schools as opposed to middle schools. The materials are drawn from a literature search of the ERIC system, the National Diffusion Network, library resources, and…

This book is designed to inform the educational community about the empirical foundations of productive high schools. Part 1 focuses on the core technology (learning and teaching), the organizational systems in which the core function are nested (the ecology of the institution), and the institutional linkages between the school and its…

School organization and incentive structures help thwart large-scale adoption of innovative educational practices. Evidence from the progressive movement and past curriculum reform efforts suggest that wide-scale reforms are ineffective under current conditions. Change requires external normative structures, organizations that focus intrinsic…

Article challenges the division between student and academic affairs and encourages a view of learning and reason in a more holistic and integrated fashion. Outlines the historical factors for the separation of student and academic affairs and offers the programs instituted at Bellarmine College as examples of effective collaboration between…

This article provides an historical overview of organizational theory and research relevant to participation in decision making. Applications of this theory and research in schools are discussed. Two examples of organization development interventions which foster participation in school decision making are described. Implications of recent…

Evidence suggests that a middle school organizational design has some administrative advantages over the traditional junior high school program because of the more unified social and academic atmosphere. (LH)

Imposed legalistic school disciplinary codes are ineffectual and undemocratic. The focus and form of legalization in school discipline systems must shift to rule formation processes. The importance of evaluating impediments to participation is discussed. (BJV)

Discusses how schools are seen as powerful sources of health promotion in South Africa and how organization development is a potent strategy for managing change and enhancing the school's growth towards becoming a healthy learning environment. Addresses the implications for the role of school psychologists in contributing towards the development…

Based on current empirical data, school-based management is failing to produce radical changes in school practice. SBM, which holds untapped potential for democratizing the workplace and equitably addressing students' needs, can be analyzed in terms of formal and informal dimensions characterizing a site's scope of authority, involvement, and…

The general aim of this book is to provide a focussed discussion on decentralization and school-based management. In part 1, chapter 1, some problems, anticipations, and a recommendation concerning decentralization are presented. In part 2, chapters 2 through 6 review literature about the structural view of organizations, rationality and…

The last decade and a half was dominated by the view that schools do not matter, that schooling makes no difference, and that schools are powerless to change their students' destinies. Current research throws new light on these issues and prompts a questioning of these values. Recent studies present evidence that school experiences can indeed have…