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It has been more than a decade since community control of schools was the dominant issue in urban education. The concept that developed was as varied as the cities that tried to apply the idea. In Washington, D.C. where two different experiments were tried, one was the Anacostia Community School Project. This study is an attempt to assess the aspect of the Project which dealt with: (1) providing community boards to insure parent involvement; (2) developing exciting new curriculum; (3) utilizing community members, and through schools providing jobs, raising income levels of families, and developing career training in human services. In order to develop the proper perspective for the Anacostia experiment, Chapter I is devoted to a history of communities' efforts to control their schools. Beginning with the turn of the century attention is given to the political climate and how it affected schools. Efforts made by "progressives" to remove schools from unsavory political influence is noted, as is the establishment of a bureaucracy that eventually controlled the public schools. Some attention is devoted to immigration and its effect on schools and to the effect of blacks migrating to urban areas. Discussed, also, is the Supreme Court's decision outlawing segregation and the federal government's attempt to achieve equality through the Antipoverty Programs. Events related in Chapter I were significant in causing blacks, in their quest for improved lifestyles, to turn to community control of schools as a possible solution. Chapter II focuses on two experiments--the Adams-Morgan single school effort in Washington and the three experimental districts in New York City. These efforst served, more or less, as models that would guide cities bent on trying the concept, hoping that they would profit by earlier mistakes. Problems, successes and failures of these experiments are discussed. Chapter III is concerned with Phase I of the Anacostia Project which was monitored by the U.S. Office of Education. After examining the structure and organization of the Project, attention is given to problems, successes and failures. There follows an account of the attempt by the Office of Education to close down the Project, and the resulting response from the total community. A discussion of the reaction to and result of this dilemma follows in Chapter IV. There is also a discussion of Phase II of the Project which was reorganized under and monitored by the National Institute of Education. This phase is currently being studied by consultants engaged by the Institute. Chapter V consists of the most recent research conducted by the writer. Included are surveys and interviews involving the adult participants in the Project, as well as, the perusal of hundreds of materials and documents on file and in the writer's possession. The attempt is made to analyze the data in order to ascertain what progress has been made in eight years toward achieving what is considered an acceptable lifestyle. Chapter VI discusses the impact community control of schools has had on the Anacostia area. Insight is provided into two successful programs initiated by the community which have become models for Washington and for the nation. Pointed out, also, is the recognition by the community of its limitations in performing certain functions. Finally, the ramification concerning the restructuring of the urban school hierarchy involving city-wide school boards is discussed, with a suggestion for change. It is hoped that this study, made after a period of eight years, will provide information and give hope to those who still have confidence that parent involvement in the school decision-making process makes a difference in the performances of parents and their children.

Twenty-three practitioner-informants were interviewed in depth and were asked to complete Rokeach's (1972) Value Survey in an attempt to identify the motivations for white persons to initiate, continue, and discontinue involvement as activists and organizers in low-income, urban, interracial community organizations. In order to create a context for the data, the literature regarding various types of organizers and activists for social change is examined as well as five theories of racial prejudice, the dynamics of majority-worker/minority-client relationships, and possible new models of behavior. The interview and Value Survey data are analyzed, compared, and used as a basis for the construction of a profile of an hypothetical "typical" organizer/activist. The informants' characteristics then are analyzed using Hampden-Turner's (1971) Model of Psycho-Social Development and it is concluded that informants are creative, productive, psychologically mature radicals who create dynamic, intense existences through their dedication to living by and fighting for certain key principles. Their initial motivations for involvement are found to be primarily personal benefit and curiosity. Current motivations, however are discovered to be political, i.e., helping the powerless to gain power, and personal, i.e., their own growth and learning and personal relationships. Motivations for discontinuing involvement are found to be lack of understanding the process and inappropriate ego-investment. Theories of radicalization are discussed and special attention is given to the concept of an environmentally-fostered predisposition to radicalism.

Statement of the research problem. This study seeks to determine the relationship of a black superintendent's (the researcher's) leadership style in the urban school district of Paterson, New Jersey, during the priod to 1976-1982, and the increase in student achievement. The feeling of educators and laymen alike is that our large urban educational centers need dynamic, effective black leadership and "leadership" is the most important component of a superintendent's job. The researcher examined a previous study to determine those variables that described the role and role expectations of black school superintendents and the relative importance the superintendents placed on eleven school-related problems. The researcher identified five of these school-related problems: instructional program relevance, accountability, student use and abuse of drugs, student discipline, and community relations to influence student achievement, in the city of Paterson, New Jersey. Purpose. The basic hypothesis central to this study was that the leadership style of the black superintendent will significantly improve student achievement. The researcher presents the reader an analysis of a black superintendent's leadership style in relation to five school-related problems which he identifies as being of immediate importance to the Paterson School District. The five school-related problems were discussed using the following three perspectives: the person, the structure and the skills. The study was limited to the urban public school district of Paterson, New Jersey, and the specific questions of the study were: (1) What is the relationship between principal and teachers' atitude and student achievement? (2) How are administrative attitudes and behavior affected by the leadership style of the black superintendent? (3) What are the major dimensions of the black superintendent's job as determined by the special operating conditions and constraints of his leadership style? Findings and conclusions. The main hypothesis of the study, that the leadership style of the black superintendent will significantly improve student achievement in the Paterson School System, was substantiated qualitatively. The hypothesis, is tenable within the limitations imposed by the researcher's hypothesis, the design of the study, the nature of the facts elected by it, and due to the evidence available.

The artist-in-residence concept has grown in popularity in the last fifteen years. During the 1970s artists were employed in a variety of arts and general education programs calling for curriculum change and school reform. In programs designed to increase the impact of artists' residencies, they found new relationships to schools through teaching, curriculum development and teacher training. Little has been written about the actual experiences of artists in these kinds of programs. This research addresses the need for a more thorough description and understanding of artists in schools and provides insights for the management of creative people in other types of organizations. A qualitative study was conducted which examined experiences of eight artists--four poets and four visual artists. Artists and twnety-three related teachers and administrators were interviewed. A core outcome of the study is a description of the circumstances encountered by artists and their processes of adjustment to their work environments. Artists' experiences were shaped in significant ways by their professional self-definition, work history and beliefs and values. Characteristics of the settings that impacted outcomes were: the socializing forces of the schools, scope of the programs, extent to which artists were required to perform tasks beyond their art and the degree of interdependence called for among artists and teachers. "Artist/educators" for whom teaching was a kind of a "second career" tended to be more successful in negotiating satisfactory roles than artists who saw themselves more narrowly. Administrative structures to bridge the differences between artists and teachers are crucial in reducing conflict and aiding collaboration.