In recent years policymakers have seized on teacher evaluation as a primary lever for improving schools. Of all school factors--from expanded school calendars to smaller class sizes to community and family engagement programs--teachers contribute the most to student achievement. Policymakers reason that evaluating teachers based on their students'…

Describes how a principal of an Australian parochial school tackled an onsite enterprise bargaining process. Indepth interviews suggested that to succeed, principals must be opportunists and reassurers, initiators and communicators, researchers and information providers, learners and responders, and standard-bearers and pragmatists. (Contains 25…

Administrator bargaining in the public schools has altered the traditional pro-managerial outlook of many principals. A survey of school administrators in New Jersey revealed that, on issues such as dismissal procedures, grievance rights, and use of outside arbitrators, middle managers diverged from superintendents and took a more pro-labor…

Reduction in the size of classes from Kindergarten to Grade 3 was a major Liberal Party campaign promise in Ontario's 2003 provincial election. It was intended to demonstrate a new government's commitment to improving public education. By the 2008-09 school year, the provincial government's goals had been achieved: over 90% of all primary classes…

The effects of collective bargaining contracts on school administration and teacher-principal relations are neither as visible nor as far-reaching as has been believed. Interviews with 189 teachers and 100 administrators, conducted in 18 schools in six diverse districts in as many states, indicate that implementation of contract provisions varies…

Collective bargaining contracts with teachers unions have reduced principals' autonomy but have still left them opportunities for effective administration of their schools. Interviews with 289 educators in six diverse school districts across the country show that contracts have limited principals' powers both from above, by centralizing labor…

This document proposes a model for the administrative involvement necessary to the negotiation of effective labor contracts in the schools. A historical analysis of laws, statutes, and significant court cases provides insight into the present scope, complexity, and limitations of collective bargaining in the schools of Washington State. Trends in…

This document reports on a study in the San Diego City Schools designed to (1) assess the level of satisfaction that school site staffs derived from the services of the Personnel Administration Department (PAD) and (2) make recommendations for improving PAD services to sites. The report, organized in five chapters, focuses on three major…

This paper reports a survey of the attitudes of school personnel toward teacher unions and draws some implications concerning the dynamics of labor relations in school systems. Teachers, principals, superintendents, and school board members responded to questions on what areas unions should be involved in, degree of satisfaction with the local,…

This study offers a comprehensive analysis of the process of gaining and implementing public school administrators' right to unionize. The first two chapters consider why school administrators perceive the need for negotiation rights. Chapter I incorporates literature on the changing role, status, and work ethos of educational administration.…

A study of 10 schools in 3 school districts examined how labor relations affect teachers' work attitudes and behavior, and how labor relations and contract provisions take on practical significance in the school and classroom. A three "generation" model of labor relations development--based on levels of conflict and the legitimacy accorded the…

Drawing on survey data from 83 New York school districts and case studies of 6 districts, the project reported here explores several aspects of schools and districts as organizations. The conceptual framework guiding the study emphasizes that educational organizations are not governed either by their structure or by the reactions of individuals,…