Advocates of participatory leadership, site-based management, and decentralization often assume that changing decision-making group composition will automatically improve the quality of decisions being made. Stakeholder satisfaction does not guarantee quality results. This article offers a framework for moving the decision-making discussion from…

A typology of school climate that reflects aspects of a school's restructuring agenda was developed by exploring the participation of 637 teachers in 32 schools in decision making using Q-technique factor analysis. Three decision climates emerge: (1) curriculum focused; (2) school management focused; and (3) classroom management focused. (SLD)

Analysis of interview, observation and other data showed that school-district norms (lack of vision, lack of trust, defensiveness, constant turnover, and poor communication), were obstructive of school-revitalization goals, particularly the crucial goal of redesigning instruction for at-risk students, which requires a change-and-empowerment…

Outlines three 1990s reforms in Hong Kong affecting curriculum and management: the School Management Initiative, the target-oriented curriculum, and an education commission report on quality education. Reviews reforms' effects and discusses the need to reorient the current school-based management system and recognize Hong Kong's societal culture.…

Drawing on video, interview, survey, and observational data, analyzes four major actions by teacher leadership teams to explore the team's role-defining efforts. Using event mapping, open systems, and role theory, highlights complex interactions as teachers and principals implemented reforms challenging hierarchical patterns. Systems thinking is…

A case study of Queensland, Australia, elementary principals found their jobs significantly affected by school-based management. Principals are expected to lead their communities through the change process and facilitate cultural change while responding to greater accountability demands from the system. Managerialism has eclipsed educational…

The 1988 Education Reform Act and subsequent legislation sought to impose on English and Welsh educational services a form of site-based planning called "school development planning." This paper identifies key problems with this approach and instead proposes strategies for managing change and school improvement based on North American…

Analyzes whether school-based management (a corporate business emphasis) in Chicago public high schools improved performance between 1989 and 1994. Malmquist productivity index results show very little improvement in productivity (measured in test scores, truancy, and graduation rates). Second-stage regression results are slightly more positive.…

Describes one superintendent's behaviors and activities while trying to implement a change agenda (site-based management) in his district. Although the superintendent's leadership style seemed based on theory, it created consternation and fear in many and acceptance in some. Administrators ultimately rejected the superintendent's…

Although schools are increasingly adopting site-based management (SBM), little uniformity exists among districts. SBM is suffering from growing pains and "shop-floor realities." Principals and teachers are managing schools through trial-and-error. Many principals are paranoid about their changing roles, and teachers are struggling with budgeting…

Site-based management tries to transform schools into communities where the appropriate people participate constructively in major decisions affecting them. Effective site councils have a well-designed community structure, enabling leadership, student and adult learning focus, and a schoolwide perspective. Districts should provide long-term…

In 1994, the Institute for Responsive Education launched the Responsive Schools Project (involving 14 schools in Las Cruces, New Mexico; Flambeau, Wisconsin; Harts, West Virginia; and Chicago) to ask parents, teachers, administrators, and high-school students about educational reform goals. Respondents' divergent viewpoints underscore the…

Summarizes a survey of 239 New Zealand elementary school educators. New Zealand's experience shows that national policymaking, which largely excludes school staff, still substantially influences everyday school operations. When site-based management occurs in a vacuum, devoid of interest, support, initiatives, and well-grounded information, school…

Describes a study investigating the relationship between Hong Kong principals' vision and leadership behavior in 48 secondary schools, half of which participated in a school-based management pilot scheme. Statistically analyzed results suggest that five leadership behavior dimensions were significantly related to principals' vision for both types…

When Thornton (Colorado) High School organized for site-based management, the structuring committee understood the importance of providing a professional-development fund for staff members. The school decided to restructure with one central umbrella committee for site-based governance and several subcommittees reporting to the main committee. (MLH)