Downsizing schools--creating small schools, schools-within-schools, and small learning communities--has been a highly favored school reform strategy of recent years, one that is supported by considerable research. Yet for many of these schools, the going has not been easy, bedeviled by bureaucratic resistance, public misunderstanding, and…

This book offers a strategy for institutional change and an examination of the role of leadership in organizations. Essays focus on the shift away from faculty to a concentration on learning, especially on changes in the role of the department chair. The 12 essays are organized in three parts: Part 1, "Leading Change," includes: "A Teamwork…

Staff interviews addressed the changing roles and relationships between principals of one-teacher schools and administrators of the North West Region of the New South Wales Department of School Education. Over a five-year period, the approaches employed by administrators to implement departmental policy changes altered significantly and resulted…

The Trouble-Shooting Checklist (TSC) is an empirically-developed, descriptive instrument which is based on the responses of six educational change agents. It enables an agent to predict a given institution's success in adopting innovations by ordering its levels of concerns and innovation usage. It focuses on two types of innovation:…

The first section of this manual contains a selective review of organizational change literature which focuses on predictive institutional variables as they affect the adoption-diffusion process. The second section describes the development of the Trouble Shooting Checklist (TSC). The third section presents two Trouble Shooting Checklists (TSC-A…

This report builds a case for survey feedback as a useful method of assisting schools to respond actively, rather than passively, to uncertainty and complexity in the school environment. The main argument is that passive responses, such as defensiveness and buffering, reduce educational effectiveness. Planning, an active response, creates…

Research shows that small schools and schools within schools can yield positive outcomes for students and improved satisfaction and effectiveness among school staff. Small schools can be less costly than larger ones if judged by expenditure per graduate instead of cost per pupil enrolled. Examination of the policy environments of urban schools in…

This document is intended to provide the higher education community with information from recent and classic research studies that can serve as a guide to improving the climate for diversity on campus. The first section of the report examines the literature on campus climate for diversity, the experiences of various racial/ethnic groups, and the…

A study team was commissioned to critically review three independent reports on youth and schooling: "Youth: Transition to Adulthood"; "The Education of Adolescents"; and "The Reform of Secondary Education." The study team examined the reports in light of the most recent available social science evidence. The three reports, presenting similar…

Provides an excellent overview of the major arguments for and against elimination of tenure. Considers the positions of tenured faculty, faculty unions, administrators, boards of regents, students, and parents. Neatly summarizes and critiques each of these positions. Concludes with a set of creative and productive options. (MJP)

A review of the literature on school climate provides a conceptual framework for this study in which the Kettering School Climate Profile was administered twice to students, teachers, parents, and administrators in the Stoughton Middle School (Stoughton, Wisconsin). The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between organizational…

This book explores the various forces affecting the culture of higher education, exploring that environment by examining the feelings, attitudes, and actions of the faculty, staff, and administrators who work in U.S. colleges and universities. Through discussions and numerous case studies the book's seven chapters examine the following issues: (1)…

This book, which is intended for academics, educators, educational managers, and policymakers concerned with higher education, examines how universities and colleges can prepare their students for lifelong learning through continuing education, specialized courses for adults, and mainstream teaching programs geared toward traditional students. The…