A review of models of group and organization life cycle development is provided and the applicability of those models for institutions of higher education are discussed. An understanding of the problems and characteristics present in different life cycle stages can help institutions manage transitions more effectively. (Author/MLW)

The issue of retrenchment as an organizational adaptation to changing conditions is discussed here in relation to four interrelated policy questions: What is the economic future of schooling? What economic assumptions underlie the institutional model of school organization? How could economics be interpreted in terms of a human investment model of…

Examines the Swedish school as an institution created by society for certain purposes and with certain functions. The authors offer a model which describes the school as a social organization that steers the educational process. (AM)

Describes new theories in science, based on the construct of "order through fluctuations," which lead to new understanding of the emergence of creativity from turbulence, both in the universe and in education. Attempts to develop new metaphors for "becoming" in education. (Author/KH)

The author criticizes as inadequate the study of educational organizations based on theories that do not analyze schools themselves and proposes the development of organizational models of schools. The argument builds on Kenneth Boulding's typology of knowledge, which offers neutral middle ground in the debate between phenomenological and…

Examines the background of external degree programs in Germany and proposes a model that includes a critical discussion of various organizational forms for teaching university courses at a distance. (Author/IRT)

Contrasts the bureaucratic image of schools with four other possible images based on characteristics of social action in sects, legislatures, hospitals, and under anarchic conditions. Aims at developing a greater variety of ways to think about how schools can be organized. Various educational problems and means to resolve them are considered…

Models of organizational structures developed through the study of commercial organizations are not necessarily applicable to educational organizations. Technical organizations such as factories act to regulate the flow of their processes and products and, thus, to buffer them from external forces. Institutional organizations such as schools or…

Introduces an issue of "Educational Administration Quarterly" that reviews recent developments in educational administration studies. Summarizes trends since the 1960s and suggests that research in the 1980s will focus on school effects, motivational processes, and social models of organization and will involve greater integration of…

Four contingency theories of leadership are explored and contrasted. Predictions of leader types and leader behaviors that would follow from each are counterposed. External functions of the leader and interactions with organizational members who are not subordinates are discussed. (Author/MLW)

Presents a model relating the adequacy of an organization's problem-solving to its resources and to the appropriateness of its structures. Describes a test of the model, on 25 public elementary and secondary schools in southeastern Michigan, which found that different organizational structures use money differently and produce different outputs.…

If education is to be reformed to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, a new decentralized model based on colleagueship must be developed. Principals must share their vision of the school's purpose with teachers and set aside the "creaking norms" of an earlier day. All school professionals must be empowered. (MLH)

The author's dissertation, summarized in this presentation, was primarily concerned with the question, "Are public schools like Max Weber's conceptualization of bureaucracy?" From a survey of the literature discussing the nature of organizations, a taxonomy of organizational facets was used, first, to identify and classify the features…

Two competing images present schools as either rational bureaucracies or loosely coupled systems. Teachers in 13 Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) schools were surveyed on two dimensions distinguishing these images: goal consensus and influence centralization. The results suggest that high schools fit the loosely coupled image and elementary schools the…

A plan for schoolwide enrichment is presented as a model for promoting excellence in education and schoolwide change. Components of the plan include a nonelitist meaning of the term "gifted," a variety of important roles and responsibilities for all personnel involved, and creation of an atmosphere of excellence. (JDD)