To help local school officials implement the federal Education Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA) of 1981, this handbook offers a step-by-step walk through the new law and presents recommendations for local policies concerning the law. ECIA replaces most categorical programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act with block grants…

There is virtually nothing taught in the American public school that is not potentially explosive at some time or place. America's cultural makeup provides for the development of controversy whenever such issues as sex, religion, politics, and economics are raised, and particularly when they are raised in the school environment. School…

Designed as an informational resource and planning document, this manual assists administrators in ensuring that district special education programs are in compliance with federal and New York State laws and regulations and that handicapped students are educated appropriately. Because Article 89 of the Education Law and Part 200 of the Regulations…

Grievance procedures must be fast and fair to satisfy everyone and to disrupt the normal workflow as little as possible. The following factors help make for effective procedures: (1) binding arbitration, because it is orderly and unbiased; (2) contributions to contract language by the contract administrators; (3) absolute honesty about contract…

THE AUTHOR STATES THAT DEFINITION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT'S ROLE IN COLLECTIVE NEGOTIATIONS IS A MAJOR PROBLEM. THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR MAY SERVE AS NEGOTIATOR FOR THE BOARD, SPOKESMAN FOR THE TEACHERS, MEDIATOR FOR BOTH, OR MAY BE COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT. A STUDY OF 98 SUPERINTENDENTS IN 469 SCHOOLS IN SEVEN MIDWESTERN STATES REVEALED THAT 87…

The Danville Community Consolidated School District of Danville, Illinois, uses the remediation process to remove unsatisfactory but tenured faculty. The teacher is told what must be remedied and faces several evaluations. The basic obstacles to such a firing process are board policies, negotiated contracts, the employees' defensive actions, and…

Guidelines to assist school board members in collective negotiations with teachers associations are developed from the author's experience as a negotiations consultant to school boards and to management in industry. Particular attention is given to the bargaining process, preparations for negotiation, the initial agreement, third-part…

Grievance adjustment between teachers and administrators is viewed as a misunderstood process. The problem is treated under four main headings: (1) Purposes and characteristics of an effective grievance procedure, (2) status of grievance procedures in education, (3) relationship of grievance procedures to professional negotiation procedures, and…

This research is an empirical investigation and analysis of corpus of trustees meeting activity in a sample of 21 public 4-year colleges and universities. The data input instruments were the board minutes for the year 1963-64 and 1971-72, bylaws, standing orders, procedural manuals and other documents as well as copies of all state legislation…

If principals are to become true decision makers, suggests the author, then consider some of the techniques used by the West Bloomfield School District of Orchard Lake, Michigan. These techniques, which feature collaborative decision making, use the intellectual and research expertise of the total professional administrative team. (Author/RK)

The purpose of this bulletin is to describe the current status of proposals for formalizing negotiation procedures between teachers and their boards of education, indicating some potential trends. The entire issue of collective negotiation by teachers remains of relatively recent origin in terms of interest on a national scale, and the directions…

Based on an address given at a conference for school trustees in London, Ontario, on March 27, 1969.

Superintendents and school board presidents help school board members remain dedicated, hardworking, and enthusiastic by eliminating unnecessary meetings, delegating tasks to administrators, avoiding information overload, requesting members' presence only when necessary, using the "proper channels" method to reduce workload and increase…

Lists seven guidelines to help school board members use teachers' and administrators' role perceptions to promote the chances of making lasting changes in their schools. (JM)

Outlines initiatives that principals, superintendents, and boards of education should take to implement and support a Discipline-Based Art Education program. Discusses values and benefits of DBAE, inevitable obstacles to change, and ways to generate support. In these initiatives and activities, the principal is the prime mover. (MLH)