The superintendent, as a district-level influence, may have significant effect on second-order school change, yet there is little research on the behaviors of the superintendent in the context of second-order change. The purpose of this research was to study the transformational behaviors of a school district superintendent and the effects of…

Past researchers of education candidates have remarked that educational administration (EA) has attracted students of below-average verbal, quantitative, and analytic scores as measured by standardized tests. This is a two-fold problem: (1) Principals with high overall academic ability are more likely to be viewed as leaders in…

Findings of a study that examined facilitator leadership in three teacher collegial groups (TCGs) and the effect of school organization on facilitator leadership behaviors are presented in this paper. The teacher work redesign program was implemented in a rural Georgian school district to enhance teacher independence and empowerment. Methodology…

Three policy strategies interpreted as intended to empower teachers within the new policy context of school autonomy were studied. Teacher services in Kentucky's school councils seemed to have little effect on empowering teachers since the researchers found in two studies involving 168 and 318 Kentucky teachers that teachers were not even…

This paper unites theory and practice in examining the concept of "theory in practice." It contends that good administrators are theoretical about their work and that they construct categories using common, essential characteristics across similar situations so that few situations are viewed as unique. Two school superintendents were interviewed…

Findings of a study that examined patterns in coalition-building for school restructuring are presented in this paper, which focuses on the adoption and early implementation stages of educational change. A case study analysis of two high schools and one district involved in school restructuring was undertaken through site observation and…

This paper describes a case study evaluation of the first year of an inservice staff development program in Galax City Schools, Virginia. The program was designed to teach teachers how to deliver subject matter associated with "The Teaching of Thinking Skills Program," sponsored by a Chapter II Competitive Block Grant. The program had…

Given the important role of local school boards in the school-restructuring movement, this paper presents findings of a study that identified what board chairs in North Carolina knew about school restructuring. The study also examined the extent to which chairs agreed with major ideological tenets of school restructuring and with their…

This study compared the equity and adequacy outcomes for plaintiff and nonplaintiff school districts as they relate to the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990. Both descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were used in comparing variables and in determining the differences in selected finance measures. There were three major…

Based on the assertion that significant school restructuring depends on the maximization of student cognitive development, this paper examines emerging patterns of change in restructuring schools at the school and classroom levels. The first part defines school restructuring and explains the premise of student cognitive development. The second…

Schooling has long reflected a bureaucratized, assembly line organization. The National Governors' Association has advocated a systematic restructuring of schools to increase student learning. This paper has four goals: (1) to define school restructuring; (2) to suggest how principals, teachers, and students may forge new relationships; (3) to…

This paper presents findings of a case study of 4 first-year superintendents, which comprised part of a national study of 18 superintendents conducted from 1992-94. Data were collected from interviews, observation, and document analysis. All four superintendents had agendas focused on improving services for children. Three superintendents with the…

This study examined teachers' attraction to school council service and factors that impacted that attraction. Participants were randomly selected public school teachers enrolled in graduate education courses at three Kentucky state universities. They performed three tasks. First, they completed a biographical form that yielded descriptive…

This paper reports on a study that investigated how local school board chairs (N=16) in North Carolina framed school restructuring. It examines major problems awaiting to be addressed in public education and discusses what board members can do to create the conditions under which schools help students become productive citizens. Data collected…

The process of school-empowerment ultimately may be intellectual: an awareness and understanding by schools as unique collective learning communities that new school structures, roles, and relationships are necessary in the first place. First, preliminary results from field studies of schools undergoing restructuring are used to show that school…