Search

The ways that high school staff value, use, and share information about student background, performance, and behavior are an essential component of school improvement, especially in decisions involving the placement, instruction, and progress of disadvantaged students. Using survey data from seven high schools, the study summarized in this report examined three key aspects of information. Specifically, the study assessed the degree to which school staff deem information on students to be important, receive information about students, and share information about students with other staff. Findings show that school-to-school differences in the importance attached to information is small, but that differences among individuals in different positions in each school are more striking. Most information on student academic performance and behavior residing in these high schools is not exchanged among staff, and social service providers are more likely to receive several types of information than other school staff. Time to communicate with colleagues is positively related to both receiving and sharing information. Because of time limitations in schools, substantial progress in improving the production and exchange of information on students and their needs may be impeded. Included are 2 figures, 3 tables, and 16 references. (Author/MLH)

During the 1970s, self-determination was institutionalized as official U.S. Indian policy through federal legislation and administrative guidelines. The seeds of this policy date to the Indian New Deal in the 1920s when John Collier's Indian reform movement sought to lessen the autocratic power of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) by institution "indirect administration" through native political structures under the supervision of colonial administrators. The Indian Reorganization Act provided the basis for tribal government, but resulted in standardization of tribal governments and centralization of BIA power. After World War II, the federal government tried to force Indian assimilation by terminating aspects of the special federal-Indian relationship and relocating many reservation residents to urban areas. Heightened Indian consciousness, new intertribal organizational structures, and increased availability of legal representation to tribes during the termination period provided the basis for an Indian movement for self-determination during the 1960s and 1970s. Despite landmark legislation and explicit federal recognition of the intergovernmental nature of the federal-Indian relationship, self-determination policy remains limited by a lack of tribal control over programs and appropriations. Particularly problematic is the organizational structure of the BIA and other agencies responsible for implementing Indian policy. It seems likely that current and proposed public policy will fall short of achieving full self-determination for American Indians. (SV)

Discusses how communal norms, which emerge gradually across childhood, are a product of social exchanges characteristic of relationships with family members and friends. Distinguishes between communal and exchange relationships. Reviews theoretical and empirical work on adults' use of communal norms and speculates on their developmental antecedents. (Author/KB)

The key features of effective career discussions at work were explored in a large-scale investigation that included semi-structured interviews with employers from 5 organizations in England, 118 employees who had participated in discussions about their own careers, and 30 employees identified by their employers as excellent givers of career support. The following were among the key findings: (1) sources of career support include managers and informal mentoring relationships; (2) about half of positive discussions occur informally; (3) the most important requirements of givers of career support include an interest in the individual and a commitment to helping, honesty, impartiality, challenging the receiver and offering advice where appropriate, and using interpersonal skills to facilitate the discussion; (4) good career discussions lead to action and provide a motivational shot in the arm; (5) career support is more central to employees than organizations choose to recognize; (6) career support is mainly the job of the line, but this should be the line management as a community rather than just the direct boss; and (7) organizations must encourage individuals to have a range of informal, confidential discussions with people they trust and have opportunities to talk about their careers as a normal part of organizational life. (Contains 17 tables and 14 references.) (MN)

A subjective assessment of women's organizations and development in Sri Lanka and Thailand produced specific information about the organizations and suggested ways to improve their development capacities. Personal interviews with nearly 100 organization, government, and agency leaders revealed many similarities between the two countries. In both countries, formal women's organizations such as the Young Women's Christian Association arose from traditional sociocultural orgins and are led by upper middle class urban volunteers. Often united under umbrella institutions, the organizations offer programs to the rural, and sometimes to the urban poor in sewing, health, child care, and handicrafts. Informal organizations such as the Sarvodaya Mother's Clubs and the Good Sheperd Farm Center are usually rural, operating under government auspices, and are often highly successful in family life and agricultural education. Thai organizations are closely tied to the sociopolitical structure, and some, like the Girl Guides, enjoy great success. Their leaders are often good fundraisers and internationally active. On the other hand, Sri Lankan organizations are usually older and poorer. Their leaders generally operate within the country. Leaders in both countries need outside aid to develop training and management resources and to develop projects focusing on agricultural and industrial skills. (SB)

Principals can influence instruction by working through the linkages that govern teacher behavior. What these linkages are, how they affect instruction, and the impact of the principal on them are the focus of this paper. Two kinds of linkages are distinguished: bureaucratic and cultural. An explantation of both, with particular attention to cultural linkages, is made. The contribution of the high school principal is complicated by the fact that high schools are more loosely linked than elementary schools. Yet, past research attended extensively to bureaucratic linkages without analyzing cultural linkages. It is argued that the high school principal has access to weak linkages of both kinds. The task for the principal is to employ the full range of linkages consistently through a multitude of major and minor actions, in order to generate a common purpose and effect in the school. (Author/TE)

It was hypothesized that organizational participants have one of four preferred power balancing styles--Independent Style, Outside Interests Style, Organization Man Style, or Collegial Style--and further hypothesized that such styles have biographical correlates and that certain styles will tend to be overrepresented in organizations. The Situation-Reaction Checklist was developed for measuring the preferred power balancing style of faculty members in one large school, in a university, and in two community colleges. Subjects were asked to respond to the mailed questionnaire, and a panel of raters at each of the institutions also assigned each subject to one of the four style categories. Statistical analysis of the data, showing close correspondence between subject and panel ratings, showed considerable proof of the existence of power balancing styles among college faculty. Biological correlates of styles were also demonstrated, and the groups were heavily biased toward Styles III and IV. The Style III (Organization Man) person (characterized by building of organizational dependency on the individual through hard work and flattery of superiors) is oloer, stable, pro-administration, and supports major cultural values. The Style IV (collegial) person (favoring unions or informal pressure groups) is young, anti-administration, less accepting of major cultural values, and has had a career path with an early calling. (JT)

The relationship between formal participation and control in community colleges was investigated by means of data collected from 656 faculty members and 139 administrators in five colleges which were identified as formally participative by a group of experts and in five colleges which were identified as formally non-participative. Organizational level analyses suggested that formal participation was related to increased faculty control over course-related activities and to a somewhat less hierarchical distribution of control over managerial decisions. Generally, the relationship between formal participation and the distribution of control was not strong; additionally, formal participation was not associated with an expansion of organizational control (i.e., an increase in the control exercised by members at all levels). Individual level analyses indicated that other factors besides the extensiveness of the participative committee structure were important in explaining members' perceptions of influence, particularly the extent to which committees were viewed as powerful by college members. Additionally, the quality of interpersonal relations was related to members' perceptions of influence. The results suggest that formal participative structures, in the absence of other power bases, may have marginal impact on the distribution of organizational control. (Author/JDS)

This paper presents a study of the organization of 60 junior school classrooms in Great Britain. The study was conducted to examine changes occurring as a result of the move towards comprehensive secondary education in Britain and as a result of the recommendations of the Plowden Committee for more individualized instruction at the primary level. In order to survey possible changes, classroom structure and teacher and student behaviors were observed in 60 junior classrooms. Although these observations indicated a change toward more flexible small group seating patterns, a concomitant change in the structure of the curriculum was not found. A traditional curriculum was still emphasized in most classrooms. In addition, the observations of the teachers indicated a high level of interaction with certain children, rather than with the whole group, small groups, or with each child in the class. Many of the teacher-student interactions involved task supervision. Within-group teaching and pupil-pupil interactions were not emphasized. Although the more traditional schools in the present sample had the highest achievement levels, the paper emphasizes the importance of considering a variety of variables before interpreting this result. The results of the study suggest the need for a greater emphasis on the internal organization of the classrooms at the junior level. (BD)

Social power is defined as the ability to affect group decisions; power actors are those individuals who seek and exercise power and affect group decisions. Power structure research was conducted in Kershaw County, South Carolina in 1971 and 1977. Although methodologies differed, both surveys identified and interviewed power actors for the county, listing 49 power actors in 1971 and 45 in 1977. During the six year period new power actors emerged; the lists shared only 15 common names. Physicians, dentists, clergy, school administrators and industrial executives were on the 1971 list but not the 1977 one. The merchant/realtor/developer category was most numerous in 1977. Influence of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, service clubs, fraternal orders, and religious groups nearly vanished by 1977. Influence from and participation in quasi-governmental commissions, councils, and public service agencies increased. Although this pattern facilitated participation from more individuals and enhanced a trend toward pluralism, two dangers are seen. Funds for some public programs may decline, creating needs for abrupt adjustment in institutional functions. More importantly, many programs depend on federal-state-regional support, and power structure and decision making also are dependent on these federal, state, and multi-county council funds. Thus, more of the decisions for Kershaw County are being expedited outside the county. (DS)

This document contains the full text of ten case studies prepared by the Syracuse Research Corporation for the purpose of examining the organizational processes involved in effective educational innovation at the school district level. Innovations in two urban districts were examined. In the Syracuse City School District these innovations involved the following: responses to the need for educating children with handicapping conditions, the availability of computers for both instructional and and administrative purposes, the adoption of a house plan in an urban junior high school, the creation of magnet schools, the use of paraprofessionals, an attempt to create large educational complexes in campus settings at the elementary and secondary levels, and considerations of racial balance. In the Rochester City School District nine innovative programs were included under the umbrella of Project Unique. Those described in these case studies emphasize the program permitting urban children from Rochester to attend schools in neighboring suburban districts, and vice versa. An examination of the residual effects of Project Unique is also presented. Information about decision-making and coalition-building in educational organizations provided by these studies is analyzed in Volume I of the report. (PGD)

Local school districts must strengthen their innovative capacity in order to respond effectively to the problems facing them. Success depends on both an organization's technical capacity to match problems with appropriate solutions and its political capacity to move an innovation through the process from adoption to incorporation. Research shows that the organization's ability to build a winning coalition, providing enough support to sustain the innovation against opposition, is crucial. An examination of several attempts at innovation over more than a decade in the school districts of Syracuse and Rochester in New York tested the nature of the coalitions involved, investigating their formation, operations, and effect on subsequent decision-making. This document summarizes and analyzes the results of this extensive study, involving a number of separate, but related, case histories. The analysis leads to conclusions concerning the local educational organization as an innovative mechanism, bureaucratic entrepreneurship and coalition-building within education, the applicability of the research team's decision-making model to education, the comparison of educational innovation in Syracuse and Rochester, and the residual effects of innovation and coalition-building. (Author/PGD)

The Northwest Connection was designed as a "peer interaction" model for communicating and disseminating career education in the five northwestern states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. (A detailed description of Northwest Connection activities, with key problems and decisions highlighted, may be found in "People Helping People" [see note], a guidebook for practitioners wanting to implement peer technical assistance systems.) This report presents findings and recommendations based on research, evaluation, and knowledge development activities set forth in the evaluation plan for the project. Formative evaluation was undertaken in four broad areas: consultant training, awareness efforts, assistance efforts, and project management. Summative evaluation addressed the nature of changes in career education activity brought about by the project. The report is organized into sections as follows: a project summary is provided in the first section; formative evaluation results bearing on consultant training, awareness efforts, assistance efforts, and project management are presented in sections 2 through 5; the sixth section describes summative evaluation findings; and the seventh and final section provides a summary of the conclusions and recommendations. Overall, the project evaluation showed that most of the project goals had been accomplished, and that a peer interaction network had indeed been formed. (KC)

This paper describes and analyzes the internal consistency of the formal and informal legal frameworks governing certain aspects of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 Chapter 1 Program. A major focus is how these frameworks differ from those of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the program which Chapter 1 superseded. The formal framework of Chapter 1 includes statutory provisions, federal regulations, Education Department guidelines, and congressional interpretations that are published and disseminated widely throughout the 14,000 participating school districts. Informal frameworks are Education Department correspondence and written instruments and instructions that the programs generate. The frameworks are discussed in the following three categories: (1) federal management and oversight; (2) state management and oversight; and (3) local implementation. In general the legal provisions were found to be consistent on all levels after technical amendments and other adjustments are considered. There has been some success in the efforts to reduce the length, prescriptiveness, and complexity of the legal framework. Some inconsistency was found in ensuring service equivalence, but the solution for this lies with administrators and the fairness with which personnel is assigned. (VM)

Women's participation in school administration is low and actually declining, despite legislation, affirmative action, and special programs. This article views the research guiding educational policy as useful, but concerned with ancillary issues. After a literature review of sex discrimination, administrator gender differences, role conflicts, and norms favoring men, this article addresses the informal criteria and organizational processes that favor men and hinder women. It describes a retrospective, ethnographic study of 25 women in educational administration careers. Data analysis reveals three career development stages. Women administrators begin as culturally defined, molding identities, behaviors, attitudes, and choices according to society's expectations. (In a school environment, this means women remain teachers, and administrators are male.) If women teachers develop supports and incentives, they may pass through transition (a difficult resocialization process) and eventually become self-defined, competent, and placed in higher administrative positions. Analyzing women's careers according to organizational socialization theory provides useful perspectives for rethinking assumptions and formulating new questions. Besides showing women where the informal barriers lie, this theory shows policymakers and university-based educators what structures need alteration. Appended are 34 reference notes. (HLM)

The monograph addresses evolving organizational structures in special education from the perspectives of theory and practice. The initial paper, "Issues in Organizational Structure" (D. Sage), focuses on how the multiple units and operations of the special education system should be related and how the management authority and responsibility for those operations are established and executed. Four case studies follow: "Overview of Organizational Structures within the Milwaukee Public School System's Exceptional Educational Program 1975-1985" (W. Malloy); "The Organizational Change of Special Services in an Urban Center: A Case Study" (V. Johnson); "Evolving Organizational Structures in Special Education: The Madison Example" (L. Gruenewald, R. Loomis); and "A Retrospective and Prospective View of the Minneapolis Public Schools" (K. Kromer). "Organizational Change Processes" (L. Burrello) discusses informal organizational structures, lists properties of organizational health (e.g., goal focus, cohesiveness, morale), analyzes processes described in the case studies, discusses interorganizational theory, and suggests local district approaches to effecting organizational change. The final two articles "Reflections on Evolving Organizational Structures" (J. Frymier) and "Evolving Organizational Structures: A Summary (E. McCarthy) summarize major themes presented in the case studies and other papers. (JW)