Frustrated with years of below-average performance on standardized tests, high dropout rates and a negative image of its schools, the board of education in Maine School Administrative District 11, a 2,200-student school district in central Maine, charged a 15-member committee of educators, school board members and community representatives to…

Sophia Njaa, a senior at Maine's Portland High and a student representative on the district's school board, is one of a growing contingent of students across the country who are becoming more involved in school decision making through youth-empowerment programs. Her school board seat was established in 2004 through a collaborative effort between…

The study of 228 Maine principals measures actual and preferred roles of school principals during teacher-board contract negotiations, compares elementary and secondary data, and draws conclusions related to five role types (principals as administration representatives, as separate bargaining units, as part of teachers' organizations, as…