Following the international trend in education towards democracy and decentralization, the Hong Kong government introduced a school-based management (SBM) system about two decades ago. It is widely recognized in the literature that decentralization, empowering school level management and marginalizing the influence of the intermediate level of…

Analyzes significant phenomena observed while developing and implementing Hong Kong's school-based management policy. Findings from an evaluation of 12 schools revealed that major SBM program components (teacher and parent participation, systematic planning and reporting of school activities, and flexible resource use) can contribute to school…

Reviews Hong Kong's School Management Initiative implementation strategies (rational-empirical, power-coercive, and normative-reeducative), compares them with New South Wales, Australia's strategies, and suggests an appropriate strategy for future reforms. In Australia, changes were radical and thorough (using power-coercive strategies), whereas…