Coordinators, as described in this speech, refer to persons called department chairmen, chairpersons, heads, or leaders. The history of the use of coordinators and the responsibilities assigned to them by principals are discussed. The major emphasis of the paper is placed on the considerations necessary for the successful use of coordinators in…

This paper discusses the training of department heads to be administrators. Some of the suggestions discussed are to increase their pay and time to do the job, let them share in decision-making, provide specialized training, and expose them to all levels of administration. The paper concludes that many good principals do not achieve their…

This study examined forms of collaboration existing between Dutch secondary teachers within different departments, noting reasons for any differences. The paper begins by examining the literature on teacher collaboration, then describes the study. Researchers collected data from three secondary schools using interviews, observations, documents,…

Two education professors conducting research on the curriculum planning at a high school near Boise (Idaho) found that their status as observer and/or participant in discussions among teachers, administrators and parents made things more difficult. Usually in ethnography it is assumed that the hard part is to achieve insider status--to be accepted…

Many English handbooks and "grammars" fail to offer sound advice to writers about matters of exactness in diction and precision in sentence structure. A gap between linguists and English teachers, the literary bias of most graduate departments of English, and a national obsession with the all-powerful capabilities of common sense, have…

A study explored perceptions of teachers of agriculture regarding resource sharing between secondary school teachers of agriculture and science departments in the United States. Data were collected between October and December 1990 following the Dillman procedure for mail questionnaire administration to a random sample of 400 secondary school…

This paper describes an approach to faculty timetabling and course scheduling that uses computerized linear programming. After reviewing the literature on linear programming, the paper discusses the process whereby a timetable was created for a department at the University of New Brunswick. Faculty were surveyed with respect to course offerings…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined outcomes of a professional-development program designed to help department heads in Ontario, Canada, facilitate change in secondary schools. Department heads in three schools in two Roman Catholic school districts in Ontario participated in the program. The heads were faced with implementing…

This research examines how department heads in (British) secondary schools perceive their management roles and their access to the real decision-making power that occurs outside departmental confines, but within schools. In structured interviews, 30 department heads from 21 schools were encouraged to reflect on opportunities for collegial…

South Carolina's first major dropout prevention initiative began two decades ago when leaders became more interested in the industrial development of the State. A 1966 study found that black youths were experiencing a dropout rate of 72%, while that of white youth was 48%. Statewide efforts taken in the early 1970's to alleviate this problem were…

This study identifies and evaluates changes in secondary schools not meeting the minimum standards required by New Jersey as tested on the Minimum Basic Skills Test. The study identified the deficiencies in three urban high schools and evaluated the progress toward meeting the standards. All but 2 of the 76 recommendations made were implemented.…

Since public education must compete for public dollars with a range of other services, teachers must learn to present a good image and to create an environment in which their objectives and procedures are immediately obvious to parents, students, and school board members. A high priority for English department chairpersons, therefore, is to teach,…

In examining the dynamics of change processes in high schools, this study makes initial interpretations about school officials who serve as change facilitators. The researchers found that a trend exists for the source of change to come from outside the high school. Principals, assistant principals, and department heads as well as central office…

This paper asserts that an English department that wishes to involve other departments in helping to improve students' writing skills must proceed through four distinct phases: (1) preparation of a rationale for involving other departments in the teaching of writing; (2) administration of a writing-attitude inventory to colleagues in other…

English teachers and the English Department are in danger of losing their identity. This paper describes the problems that English departments can expect in the future. Faced with budgetary cutbacks and public demands for teaching basic skills and for minimum-competency tests, future English department administrators and teachers will be expected…