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Aims to develop an organizational model for understanding and managing effective curriculum change in school. Assumes that curriculum change and teacher competence development occur in a three‐level context of school organization: the individual level, the group/ programme level, and the whole school level. There exists mutual development and reinforcement between curriculum and teacher competence and also a hierarchy of influence across three levels. Congruence between curriculum change and teacher development and across levels is important for effectiveness of teaching and learning. Congruence represents conceptual consistency and operational consistency, reflecting the strength of school culture. Provides a comprehensive conceptual framework to plan and manage curriculum change and teacher competence development.

A survey was mailed to the deans of AACSB accredited schools and 50 per cent of the non‐accredited AACSB affiliates, to determine their perceptions of how the changes in accreditation criteria might affect their curricula and what methods might be used to make these changes. The sample was classified according to the Porter‐McKibbin categories and significant differences were found among these categories for perceived ease of accreditation; changes in programme quality; resource allocation changes; use of mission statements in decision making; curriculum component emphasis, and curriculum evaluation methods. While the overall amount of change expected in the next five years seems modest, the nature of the changes expected could have significant effects on the curricula of US business schools.

The process of globalization is carrying educational policies across borders to an extent and at a pace never seen before. This has in turn led to a global focus – for the first time – on the training of school leaders. A key issue in the design and delivery of training and development for school leaders concerns the knowledge base for school leadership. This article presents the results of a research and development project that has sought to understand the cultural basis for educational change in Thai schools. The research found that leading change in Thai schools bears similarities and differences from educational change in the West. This article focuses on the cultural adaptation of a computer‐based simulation for use with Thai school leaders. It describes the methodology employed in the cultural adaptation of the simulation, highlighting successful change strategies grounded in Thai culture.

Proposes a new model of teacher receptivity to system‐wide educational change, where the change is planned and implemented in a centrally controlled educational system involving teachers in their classrooms. Suggests a measure of teacher receptivity (based on the model) to help administrators plan a change and manage the implementation. Teacher receptivity is proposed to consist of four first‐order aspects, operationally defined by a number of second‐order aspects. These are: characteristics of the change (comparison with the previous system and practicality in my classroom), managing the change at school (alleviation of concerns, learning about the change and participation in decisions at my school), value for the teacher (personal cost appraisal, collaboration with other teachers and opportunities for teacher improvement) and teacher perceived value for students. Teacher receptivity is measured with three aspects for each of the 50 stem‐items and there is an ordered set of response categories relating to these aspects.

Explores the relationship between schools and school systems on the one hand, and, on the other, the world or environment in which they are located. The typical presentation in the literature stresses the requirement for organizations to adapt to external pressures, and the key role of managers in that process. However, theoretical and empirical work casts doubt on both these assumptions. Raises questions as to what is meant by the environment of an organization, about how organizations come to pay attention to some external pressures rather than others, about the kinds of responses organizations make, and about the role administrators play in the process. Concludes with suggestions for further research in the area.

School administrators must be forward looking and recognize shifting paradigms in contemporary society. The rapid rate of change in the new millennium influences administrators in the small rural school district as well as the large urban school district. An effective school administrator understands the significance of needed change and consequences of what it means to be a change‐driven school administrator. A starting point for an effective school administrator is to know when it is time to leave one paradigm and embrace a new paradigm shift.

Principals are considered central in initiating and mobilizing changes in schools; however, their political behaviors in the course of school changes are underexplored. The present research investigated the influence tactics used by school principals to induce teachers to join a process of second-order (deep and wide) change in the school teaching and culture. In specific, the authors were interested to know which influence tactics, principals and staff members considered to be efficient during such a second-order change process.

The study was based on a case study method focusing on four Israeli Jewish state public religious schools participating in the “Routes” program aimed at strengthening religious values in schools. Data collection included semi-structured interviews with principals, teachers with program coordinators responsibilities and teachers in four schools.

The results indicate that school principals who are considered successful in leading changes display two key influence prototypes: a hybrid type that combines soft and hard influence tactics and a unitype that relies on soft influence tactics.

The research study contributed to the limited knowledge in educational administration on micropolitics and political behaviors in the course of school changes.

Sets out to understand how schools participating in a project to create empowered schools defined empowerment, how they structured the change process and how the school culture changed as a result of the effort to empower participants. Results of the change effort indicate that the participating schools could be grouped into three categories regarding their success in substantially changing the school culture in support of the empowerment concept, creating structures that build participant empowerment and in principal actions that facilitate the development of empowered participants. The three types of school were the opportunity school, the shifter school and the no‐go school. From these types of school, presents five themes for understanding school change.

Elementary schools have been confronted with large-scale educational reforms as strategies to improve the educational quality. While building school-wide capacity for improvement is considered critical for changing teachers’ classroom practices, there is still little empirical evidence for link between enhanced school capacity for improvement and instructional change. In this study, the authors examined the impact of school improvement capacity on changes in teachers’ classroom practices over a period of time. Leadership practices, school organizational conditions, teacher motivation and teacher learning were used to measure school-wide capacity for improvement. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Mixed-model analysis of longitudinal data over a four years (2005-2008) period of time from 862 teachers of 32 Dutch elementary schools were used to test the impact of school improvement capacity on changing teachers’ instructional practices.

The results showed that organizational-level conditions and teacher-level conditions play an important, but different role in changing teachers’ classroom practices. Whereas teacher factors mainly affect changes in teachers’ classroom practices, organizational factors are of significant importance to enhance teacher motivation and teacher learning.

More longitudinal research is needed to gain better insight into the opportunities and limits of building school-wide capacity to stimulate instructional change.

By encouraging teachers to question their own beliefs, facilitating opportunities for teachers to work together to solve problems, and through the promotion of shared decision making, school leaders can reinforce the personal and social identification of teachers with the organization. As a consequence, teachers will feel increasingly committed and are more willing to change their classroom practices. Additionally, school leaders can use the findings from this study and the related instrument as a tool for school self-evaluation.

This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the nature of changes in conditions for school improvement and its influence on changes in teachers’ instructional practices over a period of time.

The purpose of this article is to report an exploratory study which was designed to illuminate how school cultures and teachers' value orientations are affected by the educational change of parental involvement.

The qualitative research that informs this paper is conceptualized within the interpretive paradigm. Two schools were selected purposefully for the study. In‐depth interviews with 12 teachers and their principal were conducted in each school where observation took place for half a year. Eventually themes and dimensions of teachers' value demarcations emerged in times of change.

The study demonstrates that three balkanized factions of teachers were wrestling at school. The first balkanized teacher group welcomed the innovation of parental involvement. The second faction of teachers who disbelieved such innovation was found diffident and conservative, and demonstrated resistance to change. The third type of teachers was of a majority who might or might not take part in implementing change. However, once incentives were imposed from the management, they would probably be assimilated.

The study aims at illuminating teachers' responses to change. It does not attempt to make generalization.

The study reveals that managing teacher balkanization in times of change, school leaders' personal beliefs and their early intervention, are of paramount importance.