This paper presents findings of a study that explored effective school-based budgeting practices within effective school-based management (SBM) contexts. The sample was comprised of 18 schools across 9 school districts (7 in the United States, 1 Canadian, and 1 Australian)--that had used SBM to improve school performance. During onsite visits, data were gathered through document analysis and interviews, usually with district administrators, selected school board members, the union president, and school-level administrators and staff. Findings suggest evidence of a broadened definition of school-based budgeting; however, a tremendous gap continued to exist between ideal and actual practices. Districts had decentralized some power, but schools had little discretion after district, and sometimes state, constraints were taken into consideration. Information sharing was often restricted by the political culture of the district and a lack of technology; staff development was relatively fragmented according to availability and demand; and there was very little experimentation with reward structures in schools. There was evidence to suggest, however, that there was a scaling-up process occurring as districts were working to use school-based budgeting to help create high-performance schools. One table is included. Contains 28 references. (LMI)