10.2190/8D90-A0D4-2LCP-U5MQ 8D90A0D42LCPU5MQ 0 TEACHER UNIONISM AND TEACHER EMPOWERMENT: THE EVIDENCE FROM ILLINOIS RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 8D90A0D42LCPU5MQ.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=8D90A0D42LCPU5MQ 4 RANDY J. DUNN This study investigated the problem of how teacher unionism relates to teacher empowerment within rural Illinois school district. Specifically, the study attempted to examine which variables describing teacher unions influence the attainment of a core set of conditions for teacher empowerment. Multivariate regression analysis was used to identify the most significant unionism characteristics influencing the likelihood that a rural school district would exhibit a high degree of teacher empowerment. The following were among the findings: 1) union affiliation conferred no advantage for achieving teacher empowerment outcomes, 2) a district's location in northern Illinois was related to teachers' increased feelings of empowerment more so than other demographic or professional variables, and 3) teacher empowerment would appear to be as much a product of perceptions of key actors as actual empowerment provisions bargained into contracts.