Explains why school-based management fails or succeeds, based on research in 44 schools. SBM fails when principals advance their own agendas, decision-making power is too concentrated, and business proceeds as usual. Success requires teacher-led decision-making teams, continuous improvement, information sharing, staff rewards, facilitative…

Although school-based management takes many forms, its essence is school level autonomy plus participatory decision-making. This article discusses implications for budget, staffing, curriculum, and beyond. The key is substituting participation for authority. A sidebar presents research highlights. Includes 26 references. (MLH)

Based on current empirical data, school-based management is failing to produce radical changes in school practice. SBM, which holds untapped potential for democratizing the workplace and equitably addressing students' needs, can be analyzed in terms of formal and informal dimensions characterizing a site's scope of authority, involvement, and…

This article seeks to examine "Ways of Knowing Through the Realms of Meaning" (2007) by Dr. William Allan Kritsonis as a framework that transformational educational leaders can use to guide members of the Site Based Decision Making Team through development of the Campus Improvement Plan. The Campus Improvement Plan serves as a blueprint for…

Reviews existing literature on school-based management (SBM) policy and research, highlighting methods to increase SBM's effectiveness. Offers new research directions, based on current knowledge and knowledge deficiencies. Future policy and research should look beyond delegation of budget, personnel, and curriculum decisions to schools and view…

Reviews 77 empirical and case studies of school-based management (SBM) implementations reported between 1985 and 1995 to determine typical obstacles and promising ameliorative strategies. There is no firm evidence of SBM's effects on students. Administrative-control SBM would probably produce the least amount of school change. Community-control…

Examines site-based management's effects on schools, using a Canadian framework and drawing on research from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. As branches carrying the "corporate line," schools still lack local decision-making flexibility. Principals' workload is more demanding, and student learning outcomes have not…

Site-based management (SBM) is an increasingly popular approach to school restructuring. SBM aims to transfer authority from state agencies and school districts to committees based at schools. To garner a consensus supporting reform, these committees are to be representative of educational and community members. SBM plans are characterized by: (1)…

In The Netherlands, school management is no longer deemed senior management's exclusive preserve. This paper reports Dutch research into departmental teams carrying out middle-management functions in secondary schools. Departments offer relevant contexts for teachers' collective engagement and collaboration but can create barriers to professional…

This paper explores some definitions of school-based budgeting and other forms of decentralization, attempts to determine the extent of their adoption, develops some indications of decentralization results, and provides suggestions for further research directions. The paper addresses (1) how often decentralization involving a change in resource…

This document seeks to define the kinds of administrators who will be needed to ensure first-rate elementary and middle schools in the next century. Underlying the report is the belief that present principal preparation programs are inadequate and require overhauling. Chapters 1 and 2 focus on demographic changes, effective schools, and the nature…

Examines neoliberal educational policies in England and New Zealand related to school autonomy, school choice, private sector involvement, privatization, and accountability mechanisms. Argues that the rhetoric of neoliberal schooling policies is far removed from their reality, as governments confront the classic tension between fiscal imperatives…

This comparative analysis deals with the administration and evaluation structures for primary and secondary schools in the member states of the European Community. It addresses four major issues: (1) how to hand over large amounts of autonomy to schools without upsetting the unity of the national education system; (2) what role parents and others…

Examines 20 systematic SBM studies for insights about authority delegation, fiscal inputs, objectives, and student outcomes. SBM's effects on achievement were mixed. Nine studies gave no results; three asserted positive results but gave no achievement data; one asserted negative results but gave no achievement data; two with achievement data…

This research summary says school-based management increases political activity in schools, but is time-consuming; many teachers evade SBM; less actively participating parents risk co-option by educators; and schools will not commit necessary resources. Academic achievement is not necessarily improved, and organizational implementation obstacles…