When Shared Decision Making Works: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Shared decision making (SDM) has been touted as a promising avenue to school improvement. This study traced the implementation of an SDM project in a large, public, secondary school during the course of 3 years. Questions guiding the interpretation of data focused on factors that supported and constrained SDM and on its effect on the school’s culture. The factors that enhanced the SDM process were the confidence stakeholders had in themselves and in other members of the school community, availability of necessary resources, creation of democratic rules and procedures, early and concrete accomplishments, and the support of the principal. Factors that constrained the process were the need for additional resources, resistance to democratic reform, a lack of experience with group decision making, and the teachers’ perception of lack of district support. Interpretation of results centered on the extent to which SDM resulted in changes in teacher beliefs and attitudes, the breaking down of barriers of authority and of isolation, the emergence of new school leaders, and the redefinition of leadership within the school community. Findings were interpreted using W. Foster’s critical model (1986b) of school leadership and J. Habermas’s conception (1979) of the ideal speech situation.