From rhetoric to reality: A multi-site case study of collaborative decision-making in Minnesota schools

Legislative initiatives for educational reform such as Goals 2000: Educate America Act manipulate public discourse by their particular vision of how schools and communities interact. They provide a context for this multi-site case study of collaborative decisionmaking, educational partnerships and leadership in Minnesota schools. The study addresses the following questions: How do representative committees construct cultures of collaborative decisionmaking in which partners are empowered and enduring partnerships nurtured?, and, how do school leaders facilitate and promote collaborative decisionmaking and the construction of enduring educational partnerships?;The study takes a wider view of collaborative decisionmaking as it is occurring in schools along the continuum between centralized and decentralized governance systems. The study analyses patterns of decisionmaking, reflects on leadership that challenges partners to participate in visionary activity, and underscores the critical role of the school leader in establishing a culture of collaboration.;Data was collected from observations, documents and interviews conducted with parents, teachers and administrators. Kenneth Burke's Cluster and Agon rhetorical critical analysis methodology was used to qualitatively study perceptions and sources of dramatic tension inherent in the language and metaphors that partners associated with collaborative decisionmaking. The rigor of this method is consistent with the idea that through language people define situations, affect behavior, and hope to persuade others. Partners' metaphors reflect wide-ranging models for school governance and leadership and multiple interpretations of collaborative decisionmaking. Contrasted with the legislative rhetoric, these metaphors evoke feelings about how enduring partnerships can become reality.;This report is for those who aspire to positions of school leadership. It is for those named by legislators to be partners in school reform. The study builds on the work of Bimber (1994), Goldman, Dunlap, Conley (1993) and Luxton (1993). It emphasizes the need for critical reflection and open environments in which knowledge and judgments can be tested.;The study found that collaborative decisionmaking is being modeled by the representative committees. The models emerging at each site reflect a complex interplay between decisions, decisionmakers, and the personality and style of leadership of administrators. They demonstrate how rhetoric is becoming reality in Minnesota schools.