Describes a Kansas public school district's efforts to develop a synergistic curriculum plan combining the most positive elements of a standardized curriculum with those of a school-based curriculum. Encouraging staff commitment demands mutuality of expectations, dependence, trust, respect, communication, and vision. (MLH)

Some principals are threatened by school-based management. School systems adopting school-based management should have a training program for principals and limit initial involvement to those principals who are attracted to increased autonomy and control over their schools' budgets. (MLF)

University of Southern California researchers found that schools using school-based management most effectively organized themselves to restructure curriculum and instruction. Stakeholders had genuine authority over budget, personnel, and curriculum and used this authority to introduce changes affecting teaching and learning. Effective SBM schools…

Decentralization proponents argue that autonomous decision making at the school level will significantly affect teaching and learning, leading to improved outcomes. The problem is to distinguish real autonomous decision making from a degree of managerialism that decentralizes administration, rather than decision making. A five-part analytical…

Site-based decision making has the potential for allowing schools to serve students better through increased ownership and empowerment. School staffing may be the most critical of site-based authority areas, since the principal sets the instructional tone and the teachers provide everyday instruction. Site-based committees can develop a candidate…

The 1988 Chicago Reform Act has empowered minority parents to create change in their children's schools. Britain's Education Reform Act of 1988 had the same intent, but school governing bodies are still dominated by professionals, politicians, and business representatives. (SK)

Summarizes a study using latent-trait theory to construct a variable that conceptualizes practitioner perspectives about the deputy principalship in self-managing (Australian) primary schools. A sample of 403 deputy principals, 179 principals, and 138 teachers was analyzed according to both actual and ideal situations, using a Rasch measurement…

Assessed the extent that four conditions (decentralization of power, knowledge and skills, information, and rewards) and three other factors (an instructional guidance system, leadership, and resources) facilitated implementation of four categories of curriculum and instructional innovations. Data from 17 schools showed strong correlations between…

Total quality management (TQM), a holistic approach to managing complex organizations, replaces top-down management with decentralized "customer-driven" decision making. TQM has been adopted by many schools and school systems nationwide. However, the context of public schooling makes implementation of TQM in education significantly…

There are two disparate school reform movements in the United States: the politically driven America 2000 tied rhetorically to the national interest, international competitiveness, and corporate health; and grassroots movements to decentralize authority, establish ungraded schools, and improve instruction. Top-down, politically driven national…

To survive the difficult transition to site-based management, principals must look and feel sharp, learn the language of effective teaching and learning, be visible, train teachers in decision making and consensus building, promote a school vision, be truthful, make heroes and heroines of others, have high expectations, evaluate performance, and…

To implement school-based management successfully, the decision makers must reach consensus about degrees and levels of school and school district control of allocating human, financial, curricular, instructional, equipment, and school plant resources. This article sketches three different decision-making scenarios related to hiring teachers and…

It is difficult to assemble the necessary conditions for school-based management when staff are struggling with basic civility. A New Jersey superintendent proceeded slowly while recognizing that things could go wrong and providing staff with needed conflict-resolution tools. School and district councils helped diffuse acrimony and motivate staff…

Site-based management can be effective way to empower teachers and communities to improve schools. Success will ensue only by involving entire staff in change process, realigning power structure, and using time effectively. Third goal can be accomplished by rearranging school day to allow morning teacher meetings and 10:00-4:00 student attendance…

In Temple Independent School District (Texas), the success of strategic planning is evident in increased community and parent involvement, renewed public confidence, and a sense of control over the future. Over 250 community and school people participated in developing the district's plan. Site-based strategic planning extended active involvement…