Organizational Structure and Shared Decision Making in Elementary Schools

As elementary principals' roles continue to expand, teacherinvolvement in decision making needs to increase. In site-basedmanaged schools, stakeholders (e.g., teachers, parents, community,and students) are encouraged to solve problems and make educationaldecisions collectively. This research explored principals'perceptions of organizational structure in elementary schools andperceptions of their teachers' participation in shared decisionmaking. Three forms of organizational structures (i.e.,centralization, formalization, and complexity) were examined.Principals generally want their teachers to participate in shareddecision making, although they indicated that teachers were notparticipating in this process. Professional development wasrecommended to help principals understand the organizationalstructure of their schools. Further study should include expandingthe study to include middle and high school teachers to determineif organizational structure and teacher involvement in shareddecision making differ by building level.