Recently prime minister and ministerial council has proposed school management reform from viewpoint of the devolution of authority to schools and parents participation in school. These proposals are quite new challenge and parallel to general administrative reforms. So far serious problems such as refusal to attend school, children's suicide and bullying have occurred. To solve these problems, schools need principal leadership, collaboration and discretion. Nonetheless schools have been regulated by systems. So the target of school management reform is the centralized educational administration system since 1956. This is one reason that the devolution to schools has been proposed. One more important factor of the devolution is a change of national education goal. When the government had a highly economic growth policy, the centralized educational administration was effective to keep common value and knowledge. Now, however, Japanese society is mature, international and surrounded by various ways of thinking and much information. In this context, it is difficult to keep common value and knowledge by education. We need to respect various value, creativity and individuality rather than common value and knowledge. Then schools should be decentralized to have curriculum and practice in consideration of various value, creativity and individuality. It is important to make not only the devolution but also parents participation. There has been a tendency that schools do not have enough consultaion with parents. Information of schools has been closed. Parents participation is good way to increase parents' reliance on schools. Deregulation of school choice can be supported to increase parents' reliance on schools. Lastly I'd like to give three suggestions. First, the devolution of authority in curriculum, staffing and budgeting is essential. Second, the authority of staff meeting should be increased. Third, parents participation is necessary. By doing so, we can create the self-management and innovation in schools.

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In these few years, we could find out many plans on the reform of educational systems in Japan. The challenge toward more flexible system of school attendance area in primary and middle schools is one of them. For a century or so, we have had strict school attendance area system in Japan and we have based compulsory education on it. But the National Council on Educational Reform proposed the challenge toward more flexible system of school attendance area in compulsory education in the report in 1987 as a tool for the flexible and diversified educational system in Japan. Since then, some boards of education have been trying to make the system more flexible, but in effect such a movement could not be spread widely. Under these circumstances, the National Council on Administrative Reform proposed the challenge toward such a system again in 1996. This paper follows the details of twists and turns of the discussion on this problem first. But after the issuance of the circulars of the Ministry of Education in Japan encouraging the boards of education to adopt the policies for it, the number of the boards of education in this stance is increasing gradually. This paper depicts the patterns of flexible system of school attendance area and the people's attitude for the adoption of school choice. Based these considerations, the problems of educational administration under such a system is examined in the end.

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At present, a dispute is carried out from various positions centering around the introduction of 6 years secondary schools. The purpose of this paper is to examine the following two themes. First of all, a qualitative analysis is tried to describe the content and form of some discourses. The initial intension for 'tentative attempt' is turned into more realistic strategy, which is regarded to be indsipensable for survival of school organizations. It is so difficult to find persuasive grounds for the institutionalization of 6 years secondary school. The well-balanced attitudes cannot be maintained in the dispute and disappears through the dynamics of 'educational market'. In the latter half of this paper, the empirical data are analysed to explore the reality of practices in 6 years secondary schools. For instance, advanced learning for entrance examination is likely to be adopted in the schools, and a large number of the private schools hold to the system of 6 days schooling. The hierarchical structure among schools influences upon the functioning of 6 year secondary schools. A study of educational administration is required to refine more ecological approaches in order to brush up more 'radical' social philosophy. In a sense, we stand at a turning point like other social sciences.

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Japanese educational organisation and administration are in the middle of a wide-ranging series of reformes, based on a set of reports from the National Council of Educational Reform, the Conference of Administrative Reform and the Committee of Pushing on with Decentralisation. Main trend of the these reforms is to decentralize and to remove more accountability in education to local governments (prefectural and municipal boards of education) and schools autonomies and responsibilities. Until now, the involvement of Japanese parents and students in their schools is strictly limited. Almost schools are only managed by principals and school staffs, controled by central and local educational authorities. In many cases, "Parents and Teachers Association" and "Students Councils" in primary and secondary schools are a mere formality, and they don't participate in school government. Parents and students are deprived of the right to do so, though they are very important partners of school staffs. But, now is the time to establish "School Councils" that the representatives of parents and students participate, and to democratize school government and management. Japanese schools will be managed in partnership with principal, teachers, students, parents and residents in the school district. At that time, respecting the Convention on the the Rights of the Child, the way in which the school students participate becomes essential element. Now, our societies and education systems are experiencing many serious problems, such as school violence, bullying among children, refusal to go to school and learning. The causes of these problems are not only in the school and educational organisation, but also the decline in moral values, the weakening of guidelines and changes in the role of family ties in the socialization of children or the rapid change of social environment and life. Although, introduction and implementation of parents and students participation system in the school government will overcome or solve the difficulties in our schools to a certain extent.

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The present paper attempts to point out some problems associated with educational administration, with which individual schools and the local boards of education are faced in implementing school-open-to-the-community policies, and discusses ways of solving these problems, based on the findings obtained from several nationwide surveys made of elementary, junior and senior high schools and their boards of education at prefectural as well as municipal levels. This paper discusses making good use of able persons in the community as school teachers and giving school-extension classes open to the public as two of the most important activities concerned with the school-open-to-the-community policies. The following four proposals have been made to improve these two activities: (1) Improving teachers' attitude and behavior toward the activities, (2) bringing criteria in normal order in selecting lecturers open to the public from among school teachers, (3) activating supports and advice from the boards of education toward principals and teachers carrying out the activities, and (4) redefining the notion of expertise as teaching professionals and the duty of school teachers in the true sense in new conditions where teachers are engaged in the activities besides their regular teaching load.

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Recently in U. S. A., decentralization of educational governance has been in progress. Lots of school districts adopt School-Based Management (SBM), and leave the powers of personnel, budgeting, and curriculum to individual schools. School has more expanded discretion over them, therefore each school must become more accountable for their own educational outcome. Every power to manage school is almost in principals' hands today. They have to be responsible for diagnosis, evaluation, and improvement of every teacher's instructional activity. But the duty of teacher evaluation is often contradictory to the activities for instructional improvement. The former has "administrative" function, but the latter should be "advisory". Many principals are trying to arrange both of these different functions by making the new position of "Teacher Leader". It is sometimes called "quasi-administrative", which is playing some important roles in managing school. This paper clarifies the tendency towards organizational reform within a school with the progress of expanded discretion of individual schools. Especially the author analyses the position and roles of "Teacher Leaders" in three school cases of Broward County Public Schools, Florida. We can find at least two main roles of "Teacher Leader" from these cases. The first is supporting improvement of instruction : advising each teacher who needs assistance, and planning and implementing collaborative training activities. The second is facilitating building "school community" as a core of their colleagues. The principals intends to leave the duty of improvement of instruction to them who is not "Administrators." In these cases, the "Teacher Leaders" are really working very well. SMB has made school system controlled by educators professionally and not bureaucratically. And then, in school level, it means democratization of school management to place "Teacher Leader." There, however, might be some conflicts among teachers in fear of bureaucratization of inner school organization.

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As self-renewal, self-innovation or self-organization is said to be the important strategy of school improvement, one of the keywords about school management today is "self". Then what is the "self" of an organization? In this paper, I examine N. Luhmann's organization theory to elucidate what the element of organization is, how the elements relate each other and how the distinction between the organization and its environment is made. Luhmann recognizes that an organization consists of decision makings which are based on the expectations (Envartungen) as the structure of the organization. In organizations double contingency problem is solved by the form of membership which is also a kind of decision based on an expectation. Because decisions are made only in relation to the other decisions and the operation of organization is self-producing process, organization is one kind of autopoiesis system. Luhmann's organization theory can be used to reconstruct the theoretical basis of the study of school management. First, the "self" of the school organization is not an entity but is produced and reproduced as the relationships between decision makings. Second, the "self" of the school organization should not be understood as the collaboration or the common objectives among members of the school because the diversity of decisions is essential to the organization as a social system. Third, the distinction between the school organization and its environment should be reconsidered as the closeness of an autopoietic system.

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This Paper aims to reexamine the theory about the role of elementary school principal before World War II. Educational researchers has explained that elementary school principals formerly had huge power originated in regulations established by Ministry of Education. Though this view doesn't have jurisprudential basis, because jurists said against; principals had no right to administrate, only had the right to manage teachers. They also drew this answer from the regulations. Why did they lead two different conclusions? I presume we can find the answer in the historical process building up the regulations. Comparing the regulation of Primary School Ordinance in 1891 to that of revised ordinance in 1900, we can find some change. The former used the term kantoku, but the latter did totoku. Overlooking the decade from 1891 to 1900, the total educational system had been rapidly prepared in spite of the severe financial conditions. Mori Arinori, the first minister of education, designed an unique style of adiministration involving educators, in which he considered was efficiency as well as economy. But when he was assassinated in 1889, it came reaction and then the ordinance was regulated. That's why former ordinance had bureaucratic character. Soon bureaucracy resulted the unefficiency and unjustice. Inoue Kowashi, minister of education in the second Ito cabinet, introduced decentralized element into local administration. He partly expanded local power while settled a check system, the committee consisted of educational specialists. He hoped this system would realize both quick administration and eliminating bureaucratic self-complacency. But again, coming up the reaction after his death. In the ordinance revised in 1900, the power of principal as an educational profession was strenthened. But the idea of the committee had completely removed. We can say the ordinance had revised denying the perticipation of educators to the local educational administration. To conclude totoku-sha might be a remainder taken away the element of administrator (kantoku-shd) from the role of elementary school principal.

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Previous Japanese governments have emphasised the importance of developing a wider choice of schools in the public sector and, to some extent, they have succeeded. Increasing the opportunities for post-compulsory education made everyone happy on the one hand, whilst on the other it also created some serious problems in terms of maladjustment for some youngsters, especially in secondary schools. With these newly created problems in mind, the present government therefore needs to improve the quality of the education service. Furthermore, the concept of "equal opportunity in education" will carry new meaning. The quality of education to which I refer in this paper is related to the idea of "effective schools." This is the first new development which we need to address in terms of education reform. Secondly, we face serious problems in terms of a radical fall in student numbers. Boards of education in some prefectures have been forced to either amalgamate or close down schools as a result. Moreover, as there are too many schools in some areas, most public high schools have to compete with other public schools to attract more students and, ultimately, to survive. Considering this new situation, I believe that an effective solution for survival in this competitive market lies in the creation of "characteristic schools" in the public sector. There are 3 points to consider here: 1) There needs to be continuity in curriculum content between junior and senior high schools, and a consistent standard of efficiency in learning standards. 2) In the light of falling student numbers, the role of local community schools needs to be addressed, particularly in rural areas. 3) There is a need to create "characteristic schools" in the public sector, and to reposition them in a market where competition is high. The aim of this paper is to consider secondary education with reference to two case studies of schools in Miyazaki prefecture and Kochi prefecture. I examined these two case studies based on the eleven points of "effective schools" developed by P Mortimore et al. As a conclusion to this paper, I recommend that the lessons learned from these two cases should be considered seriously across the country, and that both central and local government should support these new schools, not only in curriculum policy, but also in finance and staffing.

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