Between 1938-1980, the local administrative units of American education were transformed from small, informal community arrangements into large professionally run bureaucracies. This paper explores this structural change by analyzing variation among states in the speed and extent of school district consolidation. Consolidation stemmed largely from…

Presents an analysis of the concept of "teacher participation in school decision making," a set of empirically based hypotheses concerning the current scope and extent of teacher participation, and an outline for a systematic program of research that could provide information for policy development concerning teacher participation.…

Reviews a study of the formal organizational charts of 104 community colleges conducted to determine if a preferred organization structure exists in medium-sized community colleges and if organizational patterns are related to any definable characteristics or operating dynamics. (DMM)

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.…

Analyzes an urban alternative school program to determine the extent to which the social relations underlying educational encounters were transformed. Found that students and teachers were both reproducing previously learned social definitions of roles and behaviors and altering the fundamental character of the social relations underlying…

Reports on a study that examined teacher attitudes and behaviors in the community the classroom, and the school. Concludes that teachers, although active in their communities, are reluctant to assume a critical stance in relation to school authorities and tend to pass this lesson in conformity on to their students. (Author/GC)

Another in a series of articles summarizing results of a study sponsored by the National Science Foundation, discusses the minimal impact of curriculum revision due to the extraordinary social complexity of schools and systems. (Author/MLF)

Queried 571 elementary school principals in 12 states to determine: (1) the frequency of nontraditional (combination and nongraded) classes; and (2) changes in the use of combination classes during recent years. Found that although combination classes represented 17% of California classrooms, most states contained only 3 to 7%. Nongraded classes…

Presents a framework for understanding the volume and content of socialization messages within primary school classrooms (n=64). Explains that the framework includes five levels of classroom and school organization. Utilizes three methods for data collection: (1) classroom observation; (2) interviews with teachers and principals; and (3) reading…

Examined over 3 years high-achieving high-poverty middle schools to determine school practices and policies associated with higher student achievement. Found that high-poverty middle schools that are high performing acquire grants and manage money well, use a variety of teaming configurations, and use data-based goals to improve student…

Studies ways that teachers and principals in South Carolina can influence (fudge) personnel evaluation programs. Discusses the shared nature of power in school organization that permits such practices. (FMW)

Discusses the use of the Work Environment Scale (WES) to measure teachers' perceptions of psychosocial dimensions of their school environment. Describes an application of WES in which work climates of different school types were compared and contrasted. (RJC)

Finds that teachers' professional efficacy is related to the environment in which they practice. Explains higher levels of efficacy in Catholic schools by organizational differences. Cites principal leadership and communal organization as essential to teacher satisfaction. Suggests fostering cooperative environments and reasonable teacher autonomy…

To determine if governance structures affected perceptions of teacher empowerment, 55 teachers completed the Teacher Perception Survey. Subjects were from two matched Missouri elementary schools with differing organizational structures and administrative philosophies. Unlike the traditional model, an Accelerated School model strongly influenced…

A case study of San Jose State University examined how changes in what counts as knowledge are reflected in universities' academic structure. Found that the multidimensionality of academic structure, with bureaucratic (departmental) structure relatively fixed and programmatic (degree program) structure relatively open, enables universities to…