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At face value, a full-day integrated learning program offers a "break" from the routine of school -- which means instant buy-in from kids. However, an integrated learning day is much more than a day with a different schedule. Yes, students are surprised to see their math and science teachers leading the same lesson, and such surprise translates to curiosity and engagement. But the learning goes deeper. Teachers model true collaboration, connecting across disciplines and differences in order to create new meaning. That's a powerful lesson. Educators should view an integrated learning day as a critical piece of a rich school year, thinking about how we can extend the day's connections and collaboration into the lessons that we craft throughout the year.

A Day With a Theme

A successful model for a full-day integrated learning program begins with a broad theme, one that offers lots of possibilities to find connections. The theme should also be highly relevant -- kids should understand why the topic was chosen as the day's focus. Recently, our school organized an Integrated Learning Day focused on the value of water. Throughout the day, students traveled to hands-on workshops (not lectures!) that approached water's value from a variety of angles:

Causes and effects of California's drought

What we can do about it

How much water Los Angeles County needs

Just how acidic water can get before it becomes intolerable to the human body

The first and last sessions framed the day, offering students a chance to broaden the scope of their discussions into the realm of faith. Since we're a Jewish day school, these sessions focused on analyzing passages in the Torah that addressed water's value for humans. A non-religious school could bookend Integrated Learning Day with similarly deep textual analysis. Use a poem, passage, or story as a thematic frame for the day's adventures, and return to the text for reflection and discussion in the last workshop session.

At the very end of the day, we met as a community for the grand finale -- a ball cage full of water bottles that had been discarded around the middle school. Students saw the impact of their individual actions by viewing this "wasted" water in aggregate. But they also saw their potential for positive change as a group. The day's messages came into focus:

1. When we collaborate, switch things up, and think outside the box, we can learn about and tackle big-deal issues.

2. Every drop counts.

3. We're all in this together.

Building an Integrated Learning Day

Step 1: Create buy-in. In order to implement an Integrated Learning Day at your school, start by getting other teachers and administrators on board. Sign up to lead a faculty meeting with the goal of getting your colleagues excited about integrated learning. Pitch the benefits -- engagement will skyrocket, and students across grade levels will have a chance to collaborate. You'll foster a sense of community while challenging students to draw meaningful connections between subjects.

Step 2: Plan, collaborate, and plan some more. Once you've got a day on the calendar, plan to devote considerable time to interdisciplinary, interdepartmental meetings. This is a chance to forge connections as a faculty, paving the way for students' lightbulb moments, both on Integrated Learning Day and when they return to "normal" classes afterward. If we want kids to internalize collaboration, we must model those skills for them every step of way, including the behind-the-scenes planning. Involve students in the planning process, too. Kids can post hashtags around the school to create intrigue, or student government can create an introductory video to psych up the student body. The more student leadership, the better.

Step 3: Make it work. On Integrated Learning Day, it's helpful when teachers are available to troubleshoot, direct lost students, and pop into the sessions for support. Make sure that everyone knows her or his role and has a copy of the schedule. It's definitely not a typical day, so extra reminders go a long way.

Step 4: Reflect on your accomplishments. After you've caught your breath, plan a reflection meeting. Consider questions such as:

Did everyone -- faculty, administration, students -- "own" a piece of this day?

How can the stations and workshops increase engagement?

How can you involve as many school stakeholders as possible?

Are you collecting student feedback?

Did your goals for collaborative, interdisciplinary learning align with the students' perception of the day?

Most importantly, discuss how your faculty can extend the learning from Integrated Learning Day beyond a single day, weaving integration into the fabric of your curriculum. If one day of integration is this awesome, imagine what a whole unit -- or a whole year -- of truly integrated curriculum might do for your students, faculty, and community.

Please feel free to add your comments about integrated learning below!

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Change It Up With Integrated Learning Day | Edutopia

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At face value, a full-day integrated learning program offers a "break" from the routine of school -- which means instant buy-in from kids. However, an integrated learning day is much more than a day with a different schedule. Yes, students are surprised to see their math and science teachers leading the same lesson, and such surprise translates to curiosity and engagement.

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Venissa,
I really enjoyed you bringing this article to the attention of our class. The information sketched out in this article is very intriguing. I know after awhile, middle school students become bored with the same mundane schedule. This concept of a integrated learning day would be a tremendous change up for students and possibly encourage some students to engage in learning actives that they are typically less likely to engage in. Thank you for showing us this article! I have printed it out in hopes to possibly incorporate something like this at my current school either this year or possibly next!

Great job, Stephanie Seale

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One of the most important skills that must be developed from childhood is communication skills. To find a common language with other students, teachers, and colleagues in the future, it is necessary to enhance the ability to maintain a discussion by practicing special exercises. You are unlikely to become Cicero, but you will succeed in brightening eloquence and sociability!

Train yourself not to answer in monosyllables

Even for the simplest questions, try to answer with a few sentences rather than just "yes" or "no." And try to say something new each time. For example, to the question "How are you?" answer: "As always, I work double tides." First, an original answer to a seemingly simple question will arouse curiosity in the interlocutor. Secondly, you will learn to give quick spontaneous answers.

Be polite and talk to different people

Be sure to say "Hello" to someone you talk to. Being polite will cause a positive first impression of you. Communication with people of different ages and genders will teach you to find an approach to any interlocutor and maintain interesting conversations on various topics.

Maintain eye contact and smile

Competent speech is far from the only secret to a high level of communication skills. People are more disposed to confident and friendly interlocutors. Therefore, try to smile and look into the eyes of your interlocutor (but do not insist if the person feels uncomfortable).

Know how to speak - know how to listen

It sounds simple but not everyone knows how to listen to another person. It is necessary to treat each other with respect and not interrupt.

Pause while speaking

Chattering relentlessly is not the best strategy. Pauses in speech demonstrate your confidence. You should not be nervous or fussy in such situations. Calmly think over the answer and voice it.

Watch your body language

Gesticulation also plays an important role during a conversation. Pay attention to the behavior of your hands during the dialogue. Your unconscious gestures may indicate your insecurity. Try to relax and fully control all body movements.

Read literature

An effective way to increase your vocabulary is to read books (especially fiction). Pay special attention to phraseological units, turns of speech, and beautiful expressions. Then try to apply this knowledge during a dialogue with the interlocutor.

Try to communicate as much as possible

What does it take to develop any skill? Practice! The more you communicate with other people, the sooner you will become a master of eloquence. Remember the behavior patterns of the people you are talking to. What they talk about most often, what they want to hear from you, etc.

Following these rules, you will become the person with whom it is pleasant to communicate, and people will be drawn to you. Communication skills are not learned overnight. This is a real art that takes time and practice. But the result is definitely worth it.

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Ways to Improve Student Communication Skills

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One of the most important skills that must be developed from childhood is communication skills. To find a common language with other students, teachers, and colleagues in the future, it is necessary to enhance the ability to maintain a discussion by practicing special exercises.

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Several years ago a client of mine, Rob, fell in love with Jim Collins's book Good to Great. Within a month he had given copies to everyone on his team. Soon after, language from the book made its way into Rob's everyday speech.

One idea he especially loved was Level-5 leadership. "If we want to be great," Rob would say, "we need more Level-5 leadership."

I quickly grew tired of hearing him say it. His references to it were too vague and preachy. I could tell that his team was growing tired of it too.

Eventually, I asked Rob what Level-5 leadership meant to him. And more importantly, what it looked like in his organization. Not in a sound bite, but in his own words.
We need a vision of this company for the next 10 years. We've spent too much time resting on our successes from the past 10. Either we come together as a team to figure it out or we're going to drift into oblivion. We have to be focused on building something bigger than our own bank accounts. We've lost sight of a broader purpose. Our success has to start with our people. We have to inspire them to want to build something great alongside us. We have to be crystal clear about what the vision looks like in action. Then we have to walk the talk ourselves.
Rob's answer wasn't really what Collins meant by Level-5 leadership. Yet it was powerful in its own right. I could understand where Rob stood and what he believed. The power, of course, didn't come from just his words; it came from his strong connection to them. That connection was missing when he tried to use Level-5 leadership as shorthand for his own thinking.

To be clear, Good to Great is filled with excellent research and insights. And leadership theory has its place. Theories pull disparate ideas and data into working models, distinguishing concepts and providing a systemic perspective.

But the trouble with leadership theories is they're easy to hide behind (often inaccurately). They become proxies for actual leadership. When something important is on the line, people don't follow five-tiered triangles, four-box matrices, or three concentric circles. They follow real people.

I advise clients to capture theories of leadership in their own words. Merge book smarts with street smarts. Avoid using jargon and vague concepts. Make it visceral and real. Keep it brief; write it on a single sheet of paper.

A year ago, a client asked to see my one-sheet theory of leadership. I hadn't done the exercise in a decade. That night I revisited my theory and rewrote it. In fifteen minutes and six brief lines I captured my current thinking about great leadership, exactly as it came to me. Here's what came out:

I believe:
There's too much noise in business today. There are too many things vying for our attention. Senior leaders must be diligent about cutting out the noise to get their organizations focused on what really matters. Playing it safe is dangerous. You never maintain the status quo by playing it safe. You get worse. You lose your edge. You lose your confidence. You don't feel alive. You can't win. Mediocrity is cancerous. Once you begin to accept mediocrity, it sends signals that it's acceptable. Before long everyone and everything around you is mediocre. Unless you're relentlessly open and honest in your communication-constantly-things fall apart. I believe that close to 100% of all business problems can be traced back to poor communication at some point. People want to do great things. They want to build great things. They want to be involved with other great people. Great leaders create the conditions for other people's greatness to come out. You need to hold people's feet to the fire. Do it with compassion. Do it with love. Do it with respect. But don't let people off the hook. This is where mediocrity starts.
I was surprised at how good it felt to write these statements. It felt better than I remember from my previous versions. When I shared the statements with clients, there was strong resonance. Two people actually posted them at their desk. I wondered why; after all, the content wasn't topically new.

A colleague shared her take. "The statements are powerful because they're not polished. They're just what you believe. You're not trying to encapsulate hundreds of data points into a grand, catchy theory. You're not trying to be politically correct and perfect."

I think she's right. People are tired of the leadership buzzwords and models that feel too tidy, analytical, and removed. A client recently told me his executives are suffering from "framework fatigue." I understand; I think we all are. The language of leadership has become so cookie-cutter and cliché that we filter it out.

Of course, the act of great leadership is never cliché. It's an art. It should be informed by smart research, yet it should be shaped by on-the-ground experience. Both are critical. By all means read the theories, attend seminars, and talk to luminaries. They provide a solid foundation. But then ask yourself, what do I believe makes a great leader? Trust your gut and experience. Don't worry about making it perfect. Worry about making it a reflection of what you truly have found to work. Your theory might not have all the spit and polish of formal leadership theories, but it just might be what takes you and your organization from good to great.

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Several years ago a client of mine, Rob, fell in love with Jim Collins's book Good to Great. Within a month he had given copies to everyone on his team. Soon after, language from the book made its way into Rob's everyday speech. One idea he especially loved was Level-5 leadership.

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Emma, this is a great article.  We talk about staff and administrators being able to communicate; however, sometimes we forget about the most important stakeholders being able to communicate.  This is something I will bookmark and use to increase communication skills now and in the future for the students.  Great Job. Doug Duncan

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Posted by Guest Blogger on November 27, 2013
By Tracey Maurer
What kind of leader are you? Do you follow the classic definition of a leader: someone who aims to influence and motivate employees to meet organizational goals and effectiveness?

If you're doing your job, then this definition might sound familiar. But let's get more specific. Do you have a particular leadership style that you usually use?

Most leaders generally adhere to one or two preferred styles of leadership with which they feel comfortable. But the challenge is that great leaders have multiple leadership styles in their toolkit, and they are adept at diagnosing situations and using the right leadership styles at the right times, according to David Jones, associate professor of management at the University of Vermont.

Jones identifies five styles drawn from theory and research on leadership that he thinks are important for all leaders to have in their toolkit:

Directive: You're no dictator, but you're very clear in establishing performance objectives for your team. You're adept at providing structure and skilled at clarifying employees' perceptions of their roles. When needed - and this isn't always a bad thing because some situations might require it - you tend toward micro-managing.

Supportive: If you're approachable and empathetic, then you're probably a supportive leader. You show concern for employees, and you treat them with dignity and respect. Your employees, in turn, feel valued and cared for. In times of change, they trust you to help them manage uncertainty.

Participative: If you're someone who works hard for buy-in by soliciting employee input, then you're most definitely a participative leader. You encourage employee involvement in decision-making and, more importantly, ensure they know that their views will be - and have been - considered. Depending on the situation, you consult directly with employees; other times, you delegate your authority to employees who engage in the decision-making.

Achievement-Oriented: If you always think you and your team can do better, and you push everyone to reach higher, then you clearly are achievement-oriented. You like to set "stretch" goals, and you encourage continuous improvement. You also empower employees and give them autonomy, assuming they'll do their personal and team best. You constantly show confidence in the ability of individual employees and teams.

Transformational: Most leaders aspire to be transformational. If you are, you lead through vision. You have your eye on the future, and you model and communicate your forward-thinking commitment. You are an inspiration to employees, and they follow you because they believe in the common goals that you've shared and articulated.

Even if you identify with just one or two styles, you can learn from - and apply - other styles, Jones says. For every situation - whether it's communicating with an employee about poor job performance, inspiring a highly experienced team to achieve or guiding your organization through times of change and uncertainty - there are particular leadership styles and corresponding tools you can use to accomplish your objectives.
Tracey Maurer is a Senior Program Developer and Director of New Business Development for the UVM Center for Leadership and Innovation.

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5 Leadership Styles for Effective Management -

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By Tracey Maurer What kind of leader are you? Do you follow the classic definition of a leader: someone who aims to influence and motivate employees to meet organizational goals and effectiveness? If you're doing your job, then this definition ...

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Teacher teams can take a big step toward effective communication by naming what they want to hear and see in group conversations and what they don't want to hear and see.

Photo credit: Phil Roeder via flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Most educators intellectually know the importance of working in teams, departments, or professional learning communities. Most of us want healthy collaboration with colleagues and yearn for the support, understanding, and guidance from others who walk in our shoes.

Yet many team meetings are riddled with ineffective communication dynamics. Perhaps one team member dominates the conversation, or someone else disengages and never participates, or someone derails discussions.

Although there aren't quick-fix solutions to these dynamics, there are many things that we can do -- as team leaders or members of teams -- to turn our team towards healthy communication. In this blog post, I'll offer a few suggestions from my forthcoming book, The Art of Coaching Teams, to support you in this work.

Reflect on Current Dynamics

1. What do I notice about the conversations we have now in our team? What dynamics do I see present?

2. How do I feel about the conversations we have now?

3. What do I want our team's conversations to look and sound like?

4. What purposes do our conversations need to have?

5. How do I want to feel during conversations?

6. What defines a good conversation for me?

If you are a team leader, you may be able to make decisions that can shift your team's dynamics. If you're a team member, then the more you know about healthy communication, the better you can advocate for a shift. The first step is to reflect on your team's communication patterns. Here are six questions to guide that reflection:

Identify the Outcome

Active listening through paraphrasing and by asking follow-up, clarifying, and probing questions

Active listening through nonverbal communication (making eye contact with each other, nodding)

Questions and wonderings grounded in genuine inquiry

Summarizing of each others' ideas

Invitations to quieter members

Making sure that everyone's voice is heard

Probing questions that go below surface comments

Productive conflict around ideas

Offering of ideas, suggestions, solutions, and next steps

Empathy for each other and others outside of the team (including students, parents, and administrators)

Teams can take a big step toward effective communication by naming what they want to hear and see in group conversations and what they don't want to hear and see. When one team I worked with was in a particularly stormy phase, members created a list of what they wanted to see and hear in group conversations. These included the following:

Going off topic and into long digressions

Dominating the conversation by taking up too much airtime or trying to dictate the conversation

Being sarcastic

Disengaging and not participating

Dismissing the ideas of others with "yeah, buts"

Gossiping about others

Blaming others

Being distracted by other things (technology) or people

They also listed what they didn't want to see and hear, which included:

Off to a Good Start

At the opening of each meeting they reviewed their responses, and each member selected a few of the positive attributes that she would focus on demonstrating. Sometimes the team asked a process observer to track what she noticed in terms of their communication and which of these elements they demonstrated.

After several months of close focus on their communication by using this tool, this team's discussions improved dramatically.

Awareness about how your team is currently communicating and how you'd like it to communicate is a critical first step in changing dynamics. Without this reflection and without identifying the direction you're trying to go in, you won't be able to chart a strategic path.

In upcoming blog posts, I'll be sharing more tips on shifting communication dynamics in teams.

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Effective Team Communication: A First Step to Getting Along | Edutopia

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Teacher teams can take a big step toward effective communication by naming what they want to hear and see in group conversations and what they don't want to hear and see. Photo credit: Phil Roeder via flickr (CC BY 2.0) Most educators intellectually know the importance of working in teams, departments, or professional learning communities.

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People who create online learning get involved in many types of content development tasks. In addition to researching and developing content for courses, you may find yourself creating training manuals for webinars or the classroom, writing web copy, making reference materials, and developing Electronic Performance Support Systems, Help documentation, presentations and so on.

During all of these tasks, you will be organizing content at a high level to give it a meaningful structure. A meaningful structure is logical, helping people to comprehend and retain the content as well as helping them quickly find the content they need.

Assuming that you've sufficiently wrapped your mind around the content, use the list below to find the most effective strategy for organizing it. Sticking to one high-level strategy will help streamline the design process and it helps learners and users understand the larger framework of a course, website or document. The content on this page is organized alphabetically.

1. Alphabetical

A conventional but important organizing principle for content is alphabetical order. Because most people learn how to use alphabetical order in childhood, it's nearly intuitive. Alphabetical order allows for quick and easy access to information. Example: Help documentation, glossaries, lists like this.

2. Categorical

Some content has a flat structure. There is no hierarchy, no sequence and all of the topics are more or less at the same level of difficulty with no prerequisites. In this case, you can organize the content by category in a nonlinear structure. For example, content can be organized by tasks (e.g., teaching all of the editing functions in Word) or by products (e.g., information about cell phones with high-end cameras). Example: A course for teachers presenting the rules of various children's games might be organized by games for preschoolers, games for early elementary years and games for older children.

3. Cause and Effect

Organizing content by cause and effect may not be the first approach you think of, but it can be effective when used for the the right purpose. When the content presents problems and solutions, then a cause and effect structure is appropriate. Example: A course on troubleshooting a network for IT professionals could be arranged by problems and solutions.

4. Inherent Structure

Often content has its own structure that is cognitively natural to the subject. If the content presents events in a time line, then a chronological order is self-evident. If the content revolves around various geographical areas, then organization by location is natural. Example: A course teaching agriculture extension agents about soil could be organized by soil layers, starting with the topsoil.

5. Order of Importance

In a flat structure without hierarchy, the most effective approach for organizing content might be by the order of its importance. Because learners usually pay the most attention to the beginning and end of a topic, you have quite a few options for arranging the content. You can either: 1) place the most important content at the start AND the end or 2) proceed from the least important to the most important content or 3) go from most important to least. This last approach is my favorite. An analysis of your content will help you figure out which approach to choose. Example: In an online presentation for new employees, Human Resources might first want to introduce critical security issues and how to safeguard company information prior to discussing less important issues, such as the office holiday party.

6. Simple to Complex

Instructional content can be organized from the simple to complex even when the simpler content is not subordinate or prerequisite to the complex content. This strategy provides a slow initiation into a subject, building the learner's confidence and knowledge base. Example: A course on personal finance might teach how a savings account works prior to teaching how to balance a checkbook. Although the savings account content is not prerequisite for balancing a checkbook, it's an easier concept to grasp.

7. Sequential

When you're presenting a process or procedure, it's often most effective to structure the content as a series of steps. The structure of sequential content provides hooks for learners to remember the steps of the procedure. Example: A course that teaches how to draw blood from a patient would require a sequential structure.

8. Spiral

A spiral approach might be difficult to implement in a single course, but it is certainly appropriate for a curriculum. A Spiral structure revisits each topic in a systematic way at a more detailed and complex level each time. Example: A typical mathematics curriculum uses the spiral approach.

9. Subordinate to Higher Level (Hierarchical)

When the content requires that a learner master subordinate skills or knowledge to advance to a higher level skill, a hierarchical structure is effective. This is one of the most well-used structures for courses because much of what people learn is based on prerequisite knowledge and skills. Example: As a prerequisite to learning how to handle difficult customers at a call center, learners would first need to know the basics of effective customer communication.

10. Whole to Parts

An excellent approach to organizing content is to introduce the big picture or system view first and then to delve into the parts of the system. Providing the big picture helps adult learners make sense of information. It also provides a framework for fitting information together in memory. The whole to parts organization is similar to a general to specific structure. Example: In a course or in documentation about computer repair, first present the higher-level systems of the computer and then present the components of each system.
If I've omitted any approaches that you use, please add them to the Comments below.
Related Article:
Chunking Information

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10 Ways To Organize Instructional Content

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People who create online learning get involved in many types of content development tasks. In addition to researching and developing content for courses, you may find yourself creating training manuals for webinars or the classroom, writing web copy, making reference materials, and developing Electronic Performance Support Systems, Help documentation, presentations and so on.

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Since the release in 1983 of the National Commission on Excellence in Education report A Nation at Risk, there has been widespread call for education reform. The reform efforts of the 1980s and 1990s focused on organizational, curricular, and instructional changes necessary to improve the quality of education. Almost without exception, national reform reports advocated decentralization and enhanced teacher involvement in decision-making as a means of fostering necessary changes within school.

School-based decision-making is a concept based on the fundamental principle that individuals who are affected by the decision, possess expertise regarding the decision, and are responsible for implementing the decision, should be involved in making the decision. This concept often is attached to the broader school-system reform efforts of decentralization and school-based management (SBM), where decision-making authority is shifted from the district to the local school level. Some educators use the terms shared decision-making and school-based management interchangeably; others see shared decision-making as a component of SBM or decentralization. In general, the goal of school-based decision-making is to "empower school staff by providing authority, flexibility, and resources to solve the educational problems particular to their schools" (David, p. 52).

Key Elements

School-based decision-making rests on two well-established propositions:

1. The school is the primary decision-making unit; and its corollary; decisions should be made at the lowest possible level.

2. Change requires ownership that comes from the opportunity to participate in defining change and the flexibility to adapt it to individual circumstances; the corollary is that change does not result from externally imposed procedures. (David, p. 46)

These propositions recognize that those closest to the technical core in education systems, because of their access to information concerning students' diverse characteristics, needs, learning styles, and performance levels, are better positioned to make decisions about educational programs than those farther removed from the teaching and learning process. Thus, decisions concerning curricula, instructional technologies, and other school initiatives will be most effective and enduring when carried out by those who feel a sense of ownership and responsibility for those decisions.

For school-based decision-making to work, four key resources need to be present to develop the capacity to create high performance organizations:

1. Knowledge and skills in new instructional strategies; interpersonal, problem-solving, and decision skills for working together as a team; business knowledge for managing the organization, including budgeting and fiscal planning; and assessment strategies for analyzing, interpreting, and acting on school performance data.

2. Information about the performance of the organization, including student performance data, budgets, and demographic-trend data.

3. Power and authority to make decisions, especially in the areas of curriculum and instruction, staffing and personnel, and resource allocation and budgeting.

4. Rewards for high performance, including intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, such as salary adjustments, professional development opportunities, performance-based pay, group or team-based rewards, and public recognition for their accomplishments.

Scope of Decision-Making

In general, three areas of decision-making can be school based: budget, personnel, and curriculum. Regarding school finances, under school-based decision-making models, schools receive either a lumpsum budget or some portion of the district budget from which they may make decisions regarding personnel, equipment, materials, supplies, and professional development. Although budget authority implies a new level of autonomy, because personnel expenditures account for approximately 85 percent of the district budget and other fixed costs cover an additional 5 to 10 percent, few discretionary dollars actually remain for school-level allocation. Therefore, staffing expenditures and decisions regarding staffing structures and assignments are key to schools making decisions that might substantively affect the school's operation and effectiveness.

In terms of personnel decisions, schools are afforded flexibility and the power to determine how best to staff their schools. Personnel decisions typically fall in two areas: determining staffing needs based on the school's mission and educational plan and selecting people to fill the positions. Schools are afforded the latitude to decide whether their personnel funds are best spent on teachers, instructional aides, specialists, or clerical support. Once determinations are made regarding staffing needs, schools are actively engaged in the selection of new school personnel.

In the third decision area, decisions regarding the curriculum and instructional strategies are determined at the school level within a framework of district or state goals, while attending to the school's unique mission and needs. School-level personnel draw on their professional expertise and localized knowledge in making decisions that affect the school's educational program and instructional system. School personnel monitor the effectiveness of their programs and their students' academic performance. Decisions pertaining to budgeting, staffing, and the instructional program are often restricted and controlled, however, by district policies regarding matters such as class size, tenure, hiring, firing, assignment, curriculum initiatives, textbooks, and assessment procedures.

Decision-Making Structures

To operationalize school-based decision-making, structures at the school level need to be implemented to facilitate the involvement of key stakeholders in the decision-making process. Schools embracing shared decision-making typically develop councils consisting of representative stakeholders in the school, such as teachers, parents, support personnel, and administrators. The school's governance structure is supported by guidelines that specify representation, terms of membership, council size, meeting format, and delineated lines of authority. Frequently, site councils further disperse involvement through the use of subcommittees. Subcommittees allow greater numbers of teachers to participate in the formal decision-making process and reduce the overall burden of extended involvement of others.

In addition to decision-making governance councils, schools that embrace shared decisionmaking understand that reaching collective agreement and consensus around difficult decisions require extended discussions, off-site meetings, and collective planning. Thus, schools that engage in shared decision-making at an authentic level set aside time for teachers to meet and places for them to congregate and talk. In addition, school schedules are often redesigned to facilitate teacher interaction by structuring common planning periods.

Effectiveness of School-Based Decision-Making

Although school-based decision-making is often the centerpiece of school reform, there remains little empirical evidence that relates it to improved school performance. Most of the evidence of effectiveness of decision involvement at the school level focuses on teachers and administrators. Studies exploring organizational variables have generally found positive relationships between decision involvement and organizational outcomes, such as organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and organizational change. In addition, studies have found that participation enhances communication among teachers and administrators, contributes to the quality of teachers' work lives, and assists in professionalizing teaching and democratizing schools. Other research on school-based decision-making has generally been descriptive, and yet a substantive body of research has not yet explored causative relationships between school empowerment and school improvement or student achievement. Nonetheless, the combined effects related to participative structures that are democratic and collaborative and focus mainly on issues of curriculum and instruction are likely to bring about change at the classroom level.

Issues and Controversies

The successful implementation of school-based decision-making is affected by a number of organizational factors and institutional constraints, including (1) clarity of purpose and access to information; (2) power and authority relationships; (3) administrative support and the changing role of central office personnel; and (4) policies at the district, state, and federal levels. These issues taken singularly or collectively affect the long-term effectiveness of decentralizing decision-making at the school level.

Clarity of purpose and access to information.

Schools that are active in decision-making have a vision statement that focuses their decision-making process on the technical core of schooling-teaching and learning. Determining the school's vision is a schoolwide effort affording the faculty the opportunity to understand the power of their commitment to decisions they make. Those involved in decision-making understand the necessity of using school-based and student-centered data to inform their decisions. In districts where data are limited or not disaggregated at the school level, the decision-making process is limited and curtailed to issues that hold less promise of impact on the school's educational program.

Power and authority relationships. Frequently, when decision-making authority is delegated, the degree of authority given to the site is often limited and ambiguous. In schools where there is confusion over decision-making authority, issues addressed at the school level tend to focus on secondary-level issues, such as school climate, scheduling, safety, and parent involvement, rather than on primary concerns, such as instructional programs and strategies, student achievement, and school performance. In order to focus on the primary issues affecting school success, decision-making authority in the areas of curriculum, staffing, and budgeting must be real and authentic.

Administrative support and the role of central office personnel. District-level support of school-based decision-making is critical to its success. Superintendents play instrumental roles in moving central offices from a directive function toward a service orientation and resource support network. This shift in roles from a bureaucratic orientation to a service organization is often difficult and misunderstood by those occupying various roles in the district office and in the schools.

Policies at the district, state, and federal levels. In a similar manner, decision-making latitude is often restricted at the school level by various state and federal policies or mandates. Under school-based decision-making, schools are encouraged to make decisions regarding the curriculum and supporting instructional strategies. These decisions should be made within a framework of district goals or the core curriculum required by the district or state. Yet schools are often limited by state mandates affecting their educational programs and are similarly restricted by compliance requirements related to federally funded programs within their school or district. Thus, these competing and often contradictory policies constrain school-based decision-making.

Conclusion

School-based decision-making provides a framework for drawing on the expertise of individuals who are interested in and knowledgeable about matters that affect the successful performance of students. This process depends heavily on the district's leadership to define the parameters of decision-making, to define overarching goals, and to provide the information and professional development necessary to make effective, long-lasting decisions.

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School-Based Decisionmaking - Key Elements, Scope of Decision-Making, Decision-Making Structures

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Since the release in 1983 of the National Commission on Excellence in Education report A Nation at Risk, there has been widespread call for education reform. The reform efforts of the 1980s and 1990s focused on organizational, curricular, and instructional changes necessary to improve the quality of education.