Educational Leadership Commons^™

Internet Promises A Legacy With A Vision, Tina Sherrill-Range

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

For the first time educators are faced with teaching students skills, etiquette, techniques, and strategies which the educators themselves may never utilize to the fullest extent. Teachers and all of their extensions of staff, boards of education, parents, and communities are committing large amounts of district resources toward a future infrastructure which is, as yet, undefined for them. This future potential is one which will not be realized fully during their tenure.

Likened to caring for the global environment, Internet education for effective and efficient communication uses demands attention. Its promise is compelling for those charged with the caretaking of …

Executive Summary, Matthew A. Kollasch

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

The communication age, according to David Thornburg, is here (Betts, 1994). The prevailing evidence supporting Thornburg's assertion is the vast interest and growth of the Internet and the concurrent interest among K-12 educators in integrating this computer network into school life. Evidence of this keen interest can be found in the many Internet articles in the popular and professional literature, the rapid growth of commercial Internet vendors, and in communities developing and expanding community networks to provide citizens access to the Internet.

Schools, it seems, always get mentioned when the issue of Internet arises. America Online has numerous features for …

Issue Area Five: Access: Who Will Have Access? How Will It Be Accomplished?, Matthew A. Kollasch

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

The Internet has captured the imagination of both the popular media and education journals. Books dedicated solely to the Internet abound, and journals such as Internet World gain an ever increasing readership. While access to information about the Internet seems ubiquitous, educators throughout Iowa are struggling to gain Internet access so they can begin to realize its tremendous potential as touted by the media and by colleagues.

Access to the Internet for Iowa school districts depends on many factors, including: (a) leadership by local school districts and area education agencies, (b) the sheer complexity of the problem, (c) scarcity of …

Internet Access: The "Haves" And The "Have Nots", Marilyn Weber

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

As a consultant in an area education agency, I have "lived" Internet for the last six months to a year. In that time, I have experienced the gamut of emotions from delight to depression. We embarked on the Internet journey for real in September, 1993, when the Star Schools Grant supported the Internet activities in Iowa schools. Since that time, Internet access has been a paramount concern for Area Education Agency (AEA) 13 and most others across the state. We have wandered through the maze of software and equipment problems to enable our schools to go online successfully. Just as …

Internet Training A Must For All Interested Teachers, Sue Davis

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Curriculum integration of any new technology evolves slowly. The pace of integration depends on the interests, technological skills, and teaching styles of the educators involved. Teachers interested in new approaches and unafraid of the technology will be the first to integrate Internet information or activities into the curriculum. These educators must first of all be searching for new and more effective methods of teaching. Teachers who have restructured their classroom into activity/participation-based instruction and have already begun to modify their role from the "holder of the knowledge" to the facilitator will most likely be the ones ready to integrate Internet …

Issue Area Six: Ethical And Legal Concerns: What Are They And How Will They Be Addressed?, Barb Safford

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

New technologies always cause new concerns about moral and legal issues inherent in the new possibilities that change brings about. As the evidence mounts that students must have access to the Internet because of its unique resources, because some critical information skills can best be taught via those resources, and because some version of the Internet will be the way our students communicate in the future, it is essential that we investigate issues that make this technology work for students within the framework of responsible, democratic values.

Disparity in educational opportunity should not exist in a democracy. One of our …

American Education Enters Era Of Federalized, Socialistic Education, Harley G. Feldick

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

American education has been under severe scrutiny and criticism for at least the past 30 years. In 1963 the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores began a progressive decline from total scores of 980 in 1963 to 890 in 1980. They have remained at essentially the 850 to 900 score level since that time. SAT math and verbal scores revealed the same declining curve since 1963 (College Entrance Exam Board).

Sociologists and educators referred to this decline as a "happening." This "happening" was proceeded in 1962 by the separation of Church and State, thereby, removing all religious and moral principles from …

School-Based Shared Decision-Making: A Collection Of Papers [Complete Monograph]

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

No abstract provided.

Cover - Front Matter - Table Of Contents

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

No abstract provided.

Preface

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

The Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) is a Division of the College of Education at the University of Northern Iowa. The Institute's mission is to promote the improvement of elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education throughout the State of Iowa. To fulfill this mission the Institute serves as a catalyst for: informal dialogue on educational issues impacting the schools of Iowa, region and nation; developing collaborative relationships with individuals and/or organizations external to schools; and education policy development.

This compilation of position papers and issue group consensus reports represent the individual and collective wisdom of Iowa educational leaders.

Advantages And Challenges Of Shared Decision-Making, Jeffrey J. Burchfield

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

School-based shared decision-making is defined as a process and a discipline for empowering school-site stakeholders to participate in school improvement planning and implementation activities. Likewise, empowerment can also be defined as "the process in which a leader or manager shares his or her power with subordinates" (Sims & Lorenzi, 1992, p. 170).

With these definitions as a foundation, this paper will present the advantages and challenges that encompass shared decision-making in schools today. Discussion will present advantages for both faculty and administration, and also focus on the challenges of shared decision-making.

Shared Decision-Making: Education By Ownership, Dick Clark

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

School-based decision-making is the vehicle to move from "education by intimidation" to "education by ownership." The key to improving student performance is teacher ownership of the school program and students and students' ownership of their individual educational program. Our educational system has traditionally reinforced success with good grades and punished the unsuccessful with failures. Although attaining good grades has been a motivational tool for many students, the intimation of failure seems to be an increasingly negative motivator. Glickman (1993) used information from Rutters to make the point the least successful schools are the most punitive.

Shared Leadership Can Provide Impetus For Reform, Change, M. Sue Denny

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Restructure, transform, reform, change; these words cause educators to reflect on the practices that seem to have served Iowa schools well for decades. These words cause board members to question the decisions made by their administrators. And, these words cause a plethora of models to appear that show us what the "transformed school" should look like. Are we ready to change? Have we prepared ourselves with enough knowledge so we can determine the direction of our change? Do we really need to change? These questions follow closely behind when educators speak the words restructure, transform, and reform.

It is difficult …

School Restructuring Focuses On Inclusion Decision Process, Stephanie Heitman

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

School-based shared decision-making has become the basket into which we seem to be placing all of our educational eggs recently. As we move forward with the current initiative called school restructuring, we have become focused upon this more inclusive process of decision-making while at times losing sight of the overriding reason for the need for change in this age of ever-expanding information. This author does not pretend to have the answers to all the questions concerning this issue, but she can share some thoughts on the benefits and pitfalls from the perspective of a building level administrator who is currently …

Maximizing The Benefits Of School-Based Shared Decision-Making, Joan L. Moore

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

School-based shared decision-making can be a highly effective tool for bringing America's schools into the twenty-first century as viable institutions. Life in America has changed and will continue to change; therefore, our schools must change. For this needed change to be both effective and lasting, all stakeholders must be involved both in direction-setting and in implementation. As Wentworth stated, " ... it is unlikely that any significant change will occur-in the structure of schools or in the basic beliefs about teaching and learning-without the involvement of the entire school community"(l989, p. 1). School-based shared decision-making provides a way to increase …

A Vision For A Better Tomorrow, Joseph Potts, Darlene Vanek

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Educational psychologist Alfie Kohn wrote, "People are most motivated when they are able to participate in making decisions about organizational goals" (p. 193). Although site-based management takes many forms-allowing schools and educators different degrees of authority-most site-based management programs share a common assumption: By increasing autonomy of the school staff and faculty to make decisions particular to their school, teachers will become motivated, schools will run more effectively; and, as a derivative students will enjoy a better learning. White (1989) posited that "The ultimate goal of site-based management is to improve the teaching and learning environments for students."

School-Based Shared Decision-Making: Increasing Staff Commitment, Motivation, And Frustration, Harold D. Prior

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Public education, much like business and industry, came under intense scrutiny and criticism in the early to middle 1980s. In the book, Mega/rends, the point about SAT scores was made that "few would be pessimistic enough to guess that the 1970s would produce a continued steady decline or that in 1 1981 scores would have sunk to an all-time low of 424 and 466" (Naisbitt, 1982, p. 156). Naisbitt said the Gallop Poll reported that "for the first time in the nation's history, adults considered themselves better educated than young people" (p. 157). In 1983, the book A Nation At …

Issue Area Two: Assessment Of The Structures (Policies, Practices, Procedures) Needed Within A School District To Implement School-Based Shared Decision-Making: What Changes Are Necessary?

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

No abstract provided.

School-Based Management: Major Overhaul To Help Restructure Schools, Lois R. Christensen

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

The "restructuring of schools," whatever final product that phrase may define, will entail numerous changes in philosophy, policy, procedures, and practices. According to Fullan (1993), restructuring takes many forms, but usually involves school-base management; enhanced roles for teachers in instruction and decision-making; restructured programs and use of time; collaborative work cultures; new designs for teaching-learning; and new roles for teachers, administrators, parents, school board, and community members. Many of these restructuring forms may happen simultaneously; in fact, most are incorporated within the concept of school-based management. As a result, school-based management is emerging as a leading change mechanism for school …

Shared Decision-Making With A Shared Vision, Donald L. Grove

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

School-based decision-making is certainly not a new concept of school management. New York City began a city-wide decentralization plan as early as 1967. Detroit schools adopted a plan in 1970. School districts in California were managed under the philosophy of shared decision-making in the late 1970s. Since then many schools in many states have espoused the philosophy that sharing decisions by all the people involved provides more appropriate services to meet the specific needs of students.

Participants in site-based management (SBM) believe that the closer a decision is made to a student affected by the decision, the better the student …

Changing School Structures For Sbsdm, Marilyn Hageman

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Successful development of school-based shared decision-making (SBSDM) necessitates significant shifts in policies, practices, and procedures. Listing those changes creates a potential misunderstanding-a belief that if each item on the check list is "done," successful SBSDM will be a reality. Experience with SBSDM suggests that the movement to SBSDM has nothing to do with a step by step check list and everything to do with the beliefs and attitudes that are integral to making an effective SBSDM process and team. As in the pedagogy of whole language and cooperative learning, the success of the SBSDM practice depends strongly on the prerequisite …

Structures: What Needs To Change?, James Thornton

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

School-based shared decision-making (SBSDM) will be difficult to implement in school districts where existing governmental structures still promote centralized controls. Such traditional structures and restrictions often result from both federal and state laws as well as local policies and practices (Prasch, 1990).

Many traditional procedures, policies, and practices must be modified or completely changed for SBSDM to be implemented successfully. The SBSDM model relies on freedom of operation and decentralized decision-making; old structures often stand in the way of SBSDM (Prasch, 1990).

A well thought-out strategic plan and mission for the district are prerequisites for implementing of site-based management (Prasch, …

Shared Decision Making: Proceed . . . But With Caution, Mark J. Wittmer

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

"Changing the system" is never easy. For a district to move to shared decision-making requires an understanding of how organizations and the people within them function. Let me an athletic analogy. Suppose a coach wants to change his team's playing. That coach wants to move from a methodical, half-court game to an up-tempo, pressure style. How does he make that happen? He could go out and get all new players, but that is unlikely. A good coach will ask himself some vital questions. What skills do the players need to be successful? What principles do they need in to make …

Leadership For Educational Bamraising In A Field Of Dreams, Dave Christensen

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

''For a true awakening of our schools, we must return to their central goal: democratic participation" (Glickman, 1993, p. 149). Americans have slowly forgotten Thomas Jefferson's vision of practicing personal and interpersonal definitions of democracy. Rather than participate in grassroots democracy we generally let others do it for us. When technology didn't solve our twentieth century social problems, government tried to legislate a way out of problems. Today the changing global community demands that local communities rediscover democratic social arrangements. To create the optimum "village" environment that will prepare our 1993-1994 kindergarten students for graduation in 2006 we must look …

Study Teams: Our Vehicle For This Journey Called Change, Lou Howell

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

While working with the change process in our school district these past five years, I have recognized that educators cannot assume that our students are like those from the past, nor that their parents are Ward and June Cleaver, ever ready to support what we strive to attain in our schools with the students. And just as our students and parents have changed, so has the entire world for which we prepare these students. As the twentieth century's hammers and wrenches are being displaced by numbers and buttons in the twenty-first century, a whole new kind of learning must begin …

Skills And Training Are Keys To Continuous School Improvement, Harold Hulleman

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

The greatest challenge to the reformation or transformation of our schools may be the successful implementation of school-based shared decision-making. As schools examine this school improvement process, administrators, staff, and parents realize that their roles and responsibilities are very different from what they have been over the past decades. This can create a great deal of dissonance within each of these groups; this discomfort can be a roadblock to school improvement. To prevent this barrier, training is needed that includes both knowledge of shared decision-making and processes for group work.

Training Programs Require Discipline And Process, Georgianne I. Peterson

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

The development of appropriate training programs to support school-based management through shared decision-making requires both a discipline and a process. The discipline includes district strategic planning, stakeholder involvement, and an ongoing commitment to professional growth. The process includes training decision-makers, training content, duration and frequency of training programs, and participants to be trained.

School-Based Management: Ownership And Responsibility, Greg A. Robinson

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

It has been several years since reports like A Nation at Risk and A Nation Prepared: Teacher for the 21st Century (1986) have been issued. Many reforms were initiated as a result of these reports for students receiving services in regular, compensatory, and special education programs.

All of these reports included recommendations for school districts to become more decentralized and consider giving teacher and parents more input into the decision-making process on school-related issues.

In an effort to comply with these recommendations, school districts began to study the possible implementation and consequences of site-based management and shared decision-making. The results …

The Necessity Of Addressing Attitudinal Issues When Training For School-Based Shared Decision-Making, David Schweitzer

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Many relevant issues arise when orchestrating the training for school-based shared decision-making. Granted, on occasions there is no training. In some instances, the training begins with in-services which teach staff members to conduct meetings or help them refine their goals and visions. Other approaches rely on critical thinking or public relations. Perhaps this training involves background in statistics, assessment, finance, educational law, or public policy. Apparently, school personnel often devote more time, thought, and energy to training than to the actual decision-making. Thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours are dedicated to determining and defining the roles, responsibilities, and skills …

A Principal's Pivotal Role In School Shared Decision-Making, Connie S. Tesar

Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series

Schools across the country are implementing school-based shared decision-making in a concerted effort to improve classroom instruction and student achievement. This movement is based on the premise that those closest to the problem should be part of the solution, and that those who made the decision will then feel a sense of responsibility in carrying out the plan. This process can only be successful within a school with the principal as a driving force, guiding her staff through the school improvement planning process.