ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the research on departmental effectiveness and introduces some new research on the subject of ineffective departments. It explains some generic features of both effective and less effective departments, while the complexity and uniqueness of each school context is acknowledged. By representing the school as a series of interlocking cogs, Michael Fullan emphasises that effectiveness at classroom and departmental levels influences the effectiveness of the whole organisation. The research into effective departments has revealed that there are features or characteristics which effective departments or faculties consistently display. A commonplace observation in the effective schooling literature suggests that for departments to be really effective they need to be 'nested' inside schools which are themselves managed effectively. Effective departments often have a 'climate for change' or 'a climate for improvement', that is, the department is committed to improvement and is prepared to change existing practices. Effective departments tend to be both collegiate and co-operative in practice.
