MITCHELL, ROY ISHMAN.

Purpose: This study was designed to examine the perceptions of
selected school community members to determine to what extent
they perceived their involvement in the participatory management
process. Conclusions and Recommendations: It is concluded from the results of these analyses
that administrators tend to believe that members of the
school community are involved in the participatory management
process to a greater extent than do teachers, students, advisory
council members and counselors. Further, it was
concluded that perhaps administrators should review the management
practices in their schools if they intend to operate
according to the principles of participatory management and
if they really want to discourage the issuance of further
legislative mandates, collective bargaining demands, public
criticisms and psychological withdrawls. Organizations with
commitments to enlightened leadership have been proven to be
the most effective and efficient. The lack of involvement
in deciding matters that affect them decreases subordinates'
sense of commitments and, therefore, limits the full implementation
of decisions. If schools are to become more effective
and efficient, all members of the school community must
be provided ways to become integral parts of the decision-making
process. Administrators must be willing to share their
authority. The responsibility for correcting these perceptions
rest with administrators, for they are the educational
leaders of the schools.