This study attempted to examine the organizational structures of elementary schools in terms of complexity, centralization, formalization, stratification, and job satisfaction; and to analyze the relationship of these variables to the adaptiveness of elementary schools. More specifically, it compared the Multiunit School-Elementary (MUS-E) type of…

This review surveys documents previously cited in RIE that deal with the concept, the accompanying controversy, programs in operation, and several models for implementation and evaluation. Also included are a discussion of the problems in adopting such organizational and role changes and a list of bibliographies on differentiated staffing. Thirty…

This document reports the experiences of organizational development specialists and compares organizational development with two other change strategies. Organizational development aims to increase the effectiveness of task groups in schools by teaching them how to communicate clearly, use systematic methods to solve problems, draw out and use…

This paper focuses on variables to be considered in implementing the team approach to planned change in educational organizations. The first part deals with team considerations -- recruitment and selection, composition, training, and future roles of members in the client system. The second section presents various strategies and tactics for…

This report is a response to what is perceived as the need for a systematic collection of information on the effects of semestering a secondary school, particularly as those effects are felt in teaching and learning. Chapters deal with monitoring the present school organization in the areas of student course selection and credit accumulation; the…

The more schools seem to change, the more they deepen old ruts--a discussion of social scientists' ideas for innovations that tend not to be put into practice. (MM)

School organizations need to make changes in the organizational culture of schools in order to achieve excellence. An analogy between cognitive systems and organizational belief systems helps to explain the ways that beliefs and values are structured in school organizations. (MLF)

Specific suggestions to educators who wish to transform their schools into social communities. Draws primarily on a previous work that broached the concept of a therapeutic community'' approach (See Kappan, May '72). Opts for taking seriously the school function as a social community and the changes in structure and attitudes required for…

If they are to be effective, organizations must acquire and create new knowledge in order to achieve their goals. Service organizations, such as schools, must employ the concept of organizational learning. Organizational learning is an intentional process directed at improving organizational effectiveness. The process involves four…

During the mid- to late-1990s, the declining economy in Nova Scotia led to a reduction in the number of school boards and the closure or amalgamation of smaller schools. This paper presents findings from the first phase of a longitudinal case study that explored the amalgamation of five elementary schools in Gold Cove, Nova Scotia. The study uses…

Issues raised by the devolution of decision-making to the school level in Western Australia are described in this paper. The first part provides a background of governance structures and school organization. Prior to 1980, Western Australia had the most centralized system of educational administration in Australia. The second part describes the…

The understanding and management of the changes called for by fundamental restructuring are discussed in this sixth guidebook in a series of nine video conferences on school restructuring. Offered are a summary of school improvement over the last 30 years, a systems framework for individual and team changes, and strategies for organizational…

Structural reorganization was investigated as one factor associated with the development of the University of New Mexico from an undergraduate teaching institution toward becoming of a nationally-ranked graduate research university. A longitudinal, ethnohistorical study was undertaken for the 1967-1978 period. The qualitative research methodology…

Focusing on the problem of authority, an analysis of the theories of Max Weber, James D. Thompson, and Elliott Jaques forms the basis for this proposal for improved organizational effectiveness in public schools. Basic assumptions are that modern organizations are established and operated under rational principles and subject to rational analysis,…

The difficulties faced by Chicago's public school system have prompted two state-level investigative bodies to recommend the breaking up of the system into smaller, locally controlled units. Without exhaustively reviewing all of the factors involved in making the transition from a centralized to a decentralized school governance structure, this…