Societal Change : Implications for School Management / James P. Comer.

The present discussion develops the thesis that social and economic changes since the 1940s have produced educational problems requiring a new approach to school management. First, a brief overview is provided of social and economic changes prior to and after the 1940s, showing how such changes have affected the daily experience of individuals and the responsibilities of the schools. This is followed by a description of efforts by educators to aid underachieving children, including compensatory education and school improvement programs. Next, an ecological perspective on the school is offered, focusing on work done in conjunction with the Yale Child Study Center at two public elementary schools located in New Haven, Connecticut (99% black, with more than 50% receiving Aid for Families with Dependent Children assistance). After a brief review of basic concepts of system management, interventions in the two inner-city schools are described in terms of structural, procedural, and time-related program elements. In the interventions, priority was given to the development of a governance and management body consisting of administrators, teachers, parents, aides, and support staff. This body functioned at the highest decision-making level in the schools. The document concludes with a discussion of the relationship between management and school improvement, emphasizing the importance of good management practices and school staff members' knowledge of them. (RH)

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