In 1997, former Edmonton (Alberta) school superintendent Michael Strembitsky instituted school-based management in seven schools. Although the district retained policymaking responsibility, schools could decide matters such as class organization, number of teachers, and budgeting for learning resources and equipment. Giving schools control over…

An Alberta high school principal describes the process of transforming a small vocational training school into an innovative school of science and technology. While preparing school plans, this principal learned the importance of open discussion. Community participants identified seven topics for further study that were later incorporated into a…

Over time, Bellevue, Washington, Public Schools will be able to renovate each of its 27 schools every 20 years. Site-based input for modernization worked in the district's most recent project. At Eastgate Elementary School a team was composed of the entire staff of 20 teachers, plus the principal and support personnel. A center room was created by…

The School Energy Rebate Team Program at schools in Rockville (Maryland) addresses the human factor in energy management. Half of the costs avoided go back to the schools' activities funds. The program encourages schools to focus on electricity conservation, because electricity accounts for about 70% of the typical school's utility cost. (MLF)

Since 1974, the Australian Capital Territory has been using a school-based management system. Surveys of 29 schools and interviews with 38 board members identified the characteristics of more effective schools that are more accountable to their communities. (SK)

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…

Uses Argentina as an example to explore issues of participatory reform and democracy, discussing the national and international background of Argentina's educational reform and describing the Argentinean educational system and sociocultural realities that create the local context of reform. Uses findings from studies of school site councils in…

This paper considers the professional responsibility of schools in England to provide effective induction practices in the context of a central government mandated policy. It looks at individual schools as "habitats" for induction and the role of school leaders and LEAs as facilitators or inhibitors. Notions of professional…

Educational research has contributed a great deal to current understanding of effective school-based management (i.e. Wholstetter and Mohrman 1996, Leithwood and Menzies 1998). Through this research, practitioners have been given guidance on what constitutes effective teams. However, educational research has yet to provide comparable guidance in…

The difficulty in education to determine causality between means and ends brings various issues and variables to the discussion about the antecedents of school effectiveness. Although teachers' level of professional development is clearly among the factors influencing student outcomes, little is known about the extent to which teachers connect…

School-based management (SBM) offers a mechanism to promote school improvement through decentralization. Decentralization can occur only gradually and cannot simply be implemented. The power to make decisions influencing organizational policies must shift to school-based councils comprised of administrators, teachers, parents, community members,…

Changes in the principal's role--from a manager to a facilitator--are integral to most recent restructuring efforts such as the accelerated schools process. Traditional ideas about the role of the principal appear inadequate to the challenge of restructuring now facing the schools. Some researchers in the field have described the principal's new…

England and Wales introduced a site-based management system in 1988, which delegated the responsibility for strategic planning from school boards to individual schools. This paper describes the kinds of planning approaches used by schools in this new context. Data were obtained from a survey of 106 teachers enrolled in a graduate-level education…

Site-based management (SBM) gives teachers, principals, and communities a method for directly affecting and improving their schools. This newsletter describes some of the advantages of SBM, which can result in greater accountability for student learning and an increased opportunity for parents, teachers, students, and business. The greatest…

This guidebook was designed to be used as a resource by teachers and school administrators interested in implementing school-based reforms. It provides examples of promising reform strategies and lessons learned from a national study of school-based reform. The congressionally mandated study of Effective Schools Programs was conducted by an…