Centralization, coordinated bargaining, and multi-unit representation are not the inevitable consequences of changes in school finance. Rather, bargaining structure continues to be a result of a complex interaction that includes many factors. (Author)

This paper presents a case study of a stakeholder-collaborative approach to the utilization of evaluation. The roles of participants were extended to incorporate: the design, administration, and interpretation of surveys and interviews; extensive data-gathering; and development of major portions of the final report. (Author/LMO)

U.S. educational systems and schools are now organized primarily for student custody and administrative convenience. This article describes how to redesign schools to achieve better educational results by focusing on an outcomes-based paradigm, illustrated by the High Success program being tried in various high schools. Includes four figures and…

Reviews the relationship between the management of schools and the sociology of education in England. Recent developments include the establishment of national centers for school management studies and the availability of financing for attending courses. (MD)

The passage of Title IX has had only minimal success in altering school structures. Sex bias in texts and curricula and sexist hiring, promotion, and tenure practices are still common in the education field. This article explores how educational institutions reinforce sexist attitudes. (DF)

In 1991 Australia's National Industry Education Forum released a policy statement that suggested ways to improve Australian schools. This report, an outgrowth of that statement, contains a blueprint for the decentralization of management for Australian schools. Studies were undertaken in 11 companies to draw lessons from business and industry.…

Across the United States, School/Community-Based Management (SCBM), also called site-based management, is gaining support. The effects of SCBM in some Pacific-region schools are detailed. SCBM arose in response to mandates giving decision-making powers to the people who have to carry out educational initiatives. One evaluation of SCBM…

The chief purpose of this study has been to determine what existing forms of American secondary-school organization are of greatest promise. The study has sought, in particular, to discover the effects of the junior high school movement upon practice in school organization, to secure objective evidence as to the comparative merits of reorganized…

In the late 1980s, radical administrative changes (setting up boards of trustees and relaxing zoning restrictions) were undertaken in New Zealand's education system to make schools more responsive to their communities. This paper describes the consequences of implementing these policies, using evidence from a study of a particular high school.…

Explores the assumption that Australian state school systems are too highly centralized and inflexible to cater to students' diverse educational needs. An examination of Queensland and New South Wales schools shows that system-level directives are not unduly prescriptive. Regional office staff often practice "benign neglect" of central…

A 1988 Johns Hopkins University survey gathered data on organizational variations among schools containing grade seven to study how grade span affects school programs, teaching practices, and student progress. This article reports selected results on the relation of grade span to school size, grade level enrollment, school goals, report card…

For the U.S. to survive despite intensifying international competition, accelerating technological change, oppressive public and private debt, and demographic and work force changes, the learning enterprise must become far more productive. Two 1998 scenarios are presented: business-as-usual (favoring the rich) and a restructured system based on…

Drawing on NAEP assessment data and economic and educational arguments for restructuring, this article discusses the Holweide Comprehensive School experiment in Cologne, West Germany, and presents an Incentive Schools plan stressing team management, cooperative learning, and revamped assessment methods. Includes 16 references. (MLH)

Speculates about connections among educators' ideas of best practice, school organization, and policy. Develops six principles of best educational practice. These connect to organization and policy through resolving four recurring problems: how students are grouped, how teachers' work is defined, how content is allocated to time, and how student…

Current proclamations to reform schools with national examinations related to a national curriculum are a reflection of ignorance and destined to fail. We need to address educational improvement with seriousness and complexity and reconsider workplace structure, curriculum character, teaching practices, and the forms used to appraise our quality…