This article summarizes the School Management Model discussed in the author's book, "Improving School Performance." Effective communication, staff evaluation, and performance information are presented as keys to building teamwork and upgrading performance. Teacher merit pay is analyzed in light of the model. (MJL)

Compiles policies and styles that administrators can utilize to upgrade conditions in their schools. Includes an inservice worksheet, a checklist for students' evaluation of teachers, and a School Climate Assessment Test. (MLF)

Having rewritten W. Edwards Deming's 14 points from an educational perspective, the superintendent of a state-run boarding school serving native Alaskans describes the transformation that the school and his own administrator role have undergone thanks to systems thinking and a paradigm shift demanding change at the top. (MLH)

The creator of the Policy Governance model explains a system whereby the superintendent/CEO is not responsible for governance. Under Policy Governance, the board is solely responsible for describing and fulfilling its own job (determining what the public purchases for the next generation), and the administrators run the schools. (MLH)

Public-school foundations are generally not expected to provide a substantial portion of their school district's budget. The most successful school foundations use fund raising to build bridges between schools and the community-particularly with nonparents and organizations with no direct connections with schools. Their support is indispensable.…

Today's superintendents are unaccustomed to sharing significant power with others and are expected to educate all youngsters effectively. Superintendents' responses to differences with their boards can profoundly affect progress in school improvement. By stressing dialog over discussion, superintendents might keep their jobs without sacrificing…

New Beginnings is a collaborative effort involving the city and county of San Diego, the school district, and the San Diego Housing Commission. The project's Center for Children and Families provides about 200 families with comprehensive family service planning, counseling, prevention, referral, and health education as needed. Success demands…

In the past, boards of education were created to run school districts. But as expectations of educators grew, a cadre of professional administrators developed who were capable of operating school districts quite well. What boards of education bring to the table is the link with local needs of the community in public education. This is far…

The principal authors of a new book, "Profiling Excellence in America's Schools," state that leadership is the single most important element for effective schools. The generic skills of leaders are flexibility, autonomy, risk taking, innovation, and commitment. Exceptional principals and teachers take their leadership and management roles…

An extended interview with management consultant Peter Senge who proposes that rethinking traditional patterns of leadership and interaction will produce a true learning community, where improvement becomes a lifelong journey. (MLF)

Results from a 1985 survey show female superintendents in only 2.4 percent of United States public school districts. A summary of interviews with women superintendents gives reasons for this underrepresentation, describes external barriers and internal constraints facing women superintendents, and offers advice to other women aspiring to the…

Calls on school administrators to protect education from further damage from federal legislation by being in closer touch with federal policymaking. Describes a Congressional shift away from instructional issues toward issues affecting noninstructional operations and a corresponding shift in lobbying effectiveness from a Washington-based emphasis…

Research conducted over the last decade yields no simple solution to increasing job satisfaction among educators. Factors affecting job satisfaction include management styles, demographics, financial support, and class size, to name a few. Focused upon is the role of school administrators in developing and maintaining satisfied teachers. (seven…

Management by spontaneity shuns job descriptions, supervisory duties, needs assessment, strategic planning, group process, and problem solving. Not for the fainthearted, MBS requires knowledge of psychology, lawyerly skills, and philosophic wisdom. MBS remains untested, as current job descriptions have confined authors to MBO and TQM. (MLH)

Used alone, mandated standards and tests provide a dangerously narrow approach to accountability. Superintendents' proper response is layering and realignment-working to improve standards' validity and contribution to school improvement. Superintendents should provide leadership that increases schools' adaptability and spurs environmental changes.…