This book is based on a review of the literature on decentralization and teacher management. The focus is on basic formal education, mainly the primary and junior secondary levels of schooling, and on presenting a rationale for decentralizing teacher management. The book presents three models of decentralized teacher management, explores the…

This publication is the second in a series of monographs developed as a resource for middle-level leaders. It presents case studies at three fictional schools to show variations in improvement efforts and to examine faculty members' participation in the process. The teachers at one school were informed about change initiatives but were never…

In New York City, a $25 million Annenberg grant was targeted to 100 individual schools to empower their staffs via innovative networks and accountability structures. However, the changes that graced the proposals did not create the desired momentum. Targeting school-level groups cannot in itself lead to systemwide change. Problems arose from…

According to National Center of Educational Statistics data, principals perceive that their influence on schoolwide issues has increased slightly (from 75% in 1987-88 to 85% in 1993-94). Teachers perceive their own influence as remaining the same and primarily confined to classrooms. Only 35% of teachers said they had considerable influence in…

The article describes a longitudinal professional development project in rural Florida (USA) schools that supports the efforts of inservice teachers to make pedagogical transitions from total reliance on prepackaged commercial programmes to making informed decisions about curriculum and pedagogy autonomously. It demonstrates that in order to…

This study investigates an assumption used to legitimate charter school legislation, namely that such schools will reduce regulatory constraint burdening schools and school personnel. Reformers and policymakers have argued that charter schools will increase teacher empowerment and enable teachers to better carry out their education functions.…

This paper describes ways that administrators can empower teachers and build strong, effective teams in a school. It opens by defining power and explains that traditional organizational hierarchical structures tend to motivate people to use power in self-protective ways. It claims that for empowerment to work, leaders must help people use their…

Describes discussions and changes currently taking place within the National Education Association concerning its relationship with the American Federation of Teachers and school improvement. Addresses the need to revitalize America's public schools from within by pursuing an aggressive agenda of excellence and reform and empowering teachers as…

Workforce remodeling in England has been presented as a means to empower school staff through a restructuring process which has possibilities to dramatically shift the ways in which they operate. This initiative has also included a number of legislative requirements intended to help embed the more technocratic aspects of the remodeling process.…

In Spring 2007, educators in 63 participating Ohio school districts across the state spoke out on working conditions in their schools by participating in a web-based survey that addressed key teaching and learning conditions related to time, empowerment, school leadership, professional development, and facilities and resources. This is the final…

Instead of concentrating on improving educational quality for children and adolescents, present reform machinations are centered on school leadership and accountability issues. This article discusses three educational reform paradoxes (equity, teacher empowerment, and school effectiveness) that are ignored in most reform reports. Included are 14…

Meeting the needs specified by accountability measures under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has provided the importance for schools to create innovative systems for curricular management. To meet adequate yearly progress, schools must be able to address standards and assessment changes in an effective manner. This case study chronicles one…

Describes school councils in Kentucky as illustrative of decentralization and empowerment; notes the largely disappointing results on teacher job attraction to council positions and on teacher and parent empowerment. Concludes that the teacher-parent-student relationship for poor families, precisely those targeted by the Kentucky reform cycle, is…

Teacher empowerment should begin by preparing teachers to make wise decisions about educational experiences and control decisions about educational quality. If teacher educators feel their efforts are shaped by elements beyond their control in situations prizing faculty governance and autonomy, a compliance-oriented socialization process begins…

How should district and school leaders improve education for students traditionally underserved by public education: by increasing control over teaching and curriculum, or by empowering groups of teachers to have more collective autonomy, responsibility, and opportunities for professional learning? The second approach--promoting multiple…