To disrupt the escalating "arms race" between violent students and their schools, at least 5,000 U.S. elementary and secondary schools now use 1 of several conflict resolution models, including peer mediation, comprehensive whole-school programs, and curricular approaches (violence prevention and law-related education) designed for at-risk…

Describes one small Illinois school district's experience with collective bargaining. Emphasizes the superintendent's role. (PKP)

Participation in the Freedom Forum's California 3 R's project enabled The Ramona School District to find workable solutions to contentious religious issues without damaging the integrity of those involved. A sidebar outlines Ramona's board policy on student and staff rights and responsibilities, school calendars, religion in the curriculum,…

Managing communities in economic decline takes special management skills, including knowledge of the change process, conflict resolution, organizational decision-making and leadership styles, power-base utilization, and management theory. Planners should consider a multiyear time frame, clear mission, prioritized core services, reallocated…

Conflicts often are symptoms, not causes, of organizational problems. As school budgets shrink, the budget process becomes a battlefield. A systematic approach to revising the budget process involves clarifying the school vision, identifying leadership, clarifying participants' roles, organizing processes, exploring history, implementing change,…

Recounts difficulties experienced by an Ohio principal who chaired his district's contentious boundary-realignment process. The community was divided over dispersal of heavily concentrated low-income students to other schools within the district. In hindsight, this principal would have had someone take minutes, selected a more diverse committee,…

Inclusion is not a place, but an educational philosophy that encompasses curriculum and instructional practices, school culture and organization, and school staffing patterns. This article examines the superintendent's role in creating inclusive schools, highlighting planning, implementation, training, parental involvement, budgeting, and…

Designed by a leading public health administrator, the Violence Prevention Curriculum for Adolescents tries to raise teens' violence threshold by creating a nonviolent classroom ethos and extending students' repertoire of responses to anger. An ideal schoolwide program teaches social skills and features peer-mentoring and conflict resolution…

A superintendent who was nearly appointed New York City Schools chancellor explains the physical and mental stamina his job requires. Most school executives don't recognize job stresses leading to physical disorders, adverse effects on family life, and alcoholism. Since superintendents' demise usually centers on political/interpersonal conflicts,…

Describes the growing trend of conflicts between school boards and superintendents, some of the various causes behind these conflicts, and practical steps board members and superintendents can take to avoid and to solve them. (IW)