The Policy Governance model's philosophical foundations lie in Rousseau's social contract, Greenleaf's servant-leadership, and modern management theory. Policy Governance stresses primacy of the owner-representative role; full-board authority; superintendents as chief executive officers; authoritative prescription of "ends," bounded…

Periods of executive change provide an ideal time for the development of planning efforts for public school systems and for self-examination of the system's strengths, weaknesses, and long-range needs. In the anonymous school system under study, the new superintendent's application of general systems theory to school district management entailed a…

Key players in U.S. and Canadian vocational education and workforce training resemble each other. Motives from cultural values, ethics, or personal gain drive players' interaction. The U.S. government is increasing availability of grant funding but influencing policy by stipulating conditions on grant monies. In Canada, the federal government is…

This brief paper suggests that state leaders create charter districts in which all or most schools are charter or contract schools. Such districts, according to the paper, would help policymakers create school systems that focus on student achievement and provide high-quality choices to students and parents. The paper examines why charter…

Substance abuse affects American children across all geographic and economic boundaries and has been linked to poor academic performance, truancy, and dropping out. Schools lacking clear alcohol and drug policies are more likely to experience problems with substance abuse. A districtwide substance abuse policy makes a public statement that…

This document consists primarily of copies of overhead transparencies that outline the content of a presentation on the establishment of policy for the implementation of educational technology. Individual displays present three fundamental goals for the implementation of educational technology; broad areas affected by changes in technology; a…

A school board's proposal to require secondary school students to repeat all required courses in which they received grades of D or F would probably result in significant, unintended increases in enrollment, overcrowding of facilities, and a need to hire many additional staff members. Analysis of the district's current procedures, which deny…

Designed for boards of education of Catholic schools, this handbook presents a comprehensive and ongoing program of board development made up of preservice and inservice education activities. Six components of such a program are presented: (1) new membership orientation, (2) inservice education integrated with regularly scheduled meetings, (3)…

This manual, an update of the 1979 publication, "Pennsylvania Guidelines for Student Discipline," is intended for use by Pennsylvania school districts as they review or revise their student discipline codes. It presents a structure for responses to student misconduct, which lists student misbehaviors by type and assigns appropriate…

During the 1976 session of the General Assembly, a stalemate between the House of Representatives, which passed the Board of Regents bill, and the Senate, which adopted an amendment for a commission to study the structure of higher education, resulted in a conference committee suggestion that the Legislative Program Review and Investigations…

Summarizes the organizational process and political bargaining models of policy change, and considers the rational decision-making model as an alternative. Models are interrelated with each other to show how each reveals a dimension of the politics of school decentralization. (Author/AM)

The fictive account of a school board's problems with a new policy illustrates the need to involve all affected groups in the policy-making process. The "Sleepy Hollow Board of Education" early in the school year adopts a policy discontinuing social promotions of academically unqualified students. After a year of pressure and protest…

Using the experiences of individual school districts, such as the Yonkers (New York) Public Schools, the author provides advice on how a board should carry out a reduction in force (RIF). She stresses the need to develop a written RIF policy and recommends involving staff and the community in the policy development process. Issues the policy…

THIS REPORT SUMMARIZES RESEARCH ON THE FACTORS INVOLVED IN THE DECISIONS OF LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS IN EIGHT CITIES TO DESEGREGATE SCHOOL SYSTEMS, AND DISCUSSES THE RESPONSES OF THE COMMUNITIES TO SUCH DECISIONS. IN EACH OF THE CITIES, WHERE DECISIONS WERE MADE IN FAVOR OF SCHOOL DESEGREGATION, THE SCHOOL BOARDS EITHER PRESENTED THE ISSUE TO THE…

This handbook for parents defines and describes the process of citizen participation in educational decision making. After describing the history of citizen involvement, the booklet answers questions regarding why and how community members can become involved in policy formation. Problems in participatory decision making and strategies for…