Mildern, D. C.

This study attempts to identify any patterns of decision making behaviour evident from the formal meetings of the Council of the Interim Australian Capital Territory Schools Authority up to the end of its second year of operation. In an analysis of the minutes, the topics mentioned in them were grouped into fifteen broad categories, six of which - professional staffing, policy making/procedures, central staff and services, boundary maintenance, school buildings and curriculum Matters - were found to have been given the greatest attention by the Council. The study reveals that decision making was associated with only slightly more than half of the issues discussed and that three quarters of those decisions could be termed effective, in that they might lead to a change in the education system's operations or in relationships with another body or in that they appeared to finalize the discussion on an issue. It also demonstrates changes over time in both the types of issues discussed and the ways in which the Council operated as a decision unit. Some attention is given to variables which might account for the observed patterns. The decision making strategies used are explored as are the methods of policy determination. An attempt is made to identify stages in the Council's history which might correspond to those postulated in organizational growth models. Finally, there are some suggestions for further research, particularly in relation to pressure group theory, to change in organizational structure and to growth models

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The first two years : decision making and the Council of the Interim Australian Capital Territory Schools Authority

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The first two years : decision making and the Council of the Interim Australian Capital Territory Schools Authority

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