This book presents guidelines for implementing school-based management practices. Chapter 1 describes the growing interest in and rationale for school-based management (SBM). The second chapter discusses essential characteristics of good schools, and the third chapter describes 13 elements necessary for effective SBM. Pros and cons of SBM are…

What are the linkages between school-based governance and instructional change? This paper describes how two ATLAS schools developed the linkage between school-based governance and instructional change. (ATLAS means "communities for Authentic Teaching, Learning and Assessment for all Students"). ATLAS was funded by the New American…

The 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) provided, among other measures, a new governance body for schools called "School Councils." These school-based, decision-making councils are composed of parents and teachers and headed by principals. This paper presents findings of a study that explored the effects of KERA's provision for…

Some evidence from the school-restructuring literature indicates that traditional school leadership behaviors and school-based management (SBM) are incongruent. Collaborative relationships between teachers and school leaders are problematic when teachers' duties and performance appraisals are hierarchically decided by school leaders. This paper…

This guidebook is designed to help educational leaders in the transformation necessary to restructure and empower schools. Chapter 1 outlines major structural problems of the current educational system. Chapter 2 explains specific management techniques for restructuring a school system, from the level of the school building to the level of the…

This publication examines the situations in which school-based management has worked and, conversely, those in which it failed to meet expectations. It attempts to identify exactly what school-based management (SBM) is and what it is not. Information was obtained from interviews with researchers and practitioners, a review of literature, and a…

This paper applies Cuban's (1992) concept of "managing dilemmas" to the current market-based reforms in English and Welsh education at both the macro (policy) and, particularly, at the micro (individual and school) levels. The Parental and School Choice Interaction (PASCI) Study is currently investigating the interaction between parental…

An indepth analysis of critical issues in school restructuring is provided in this first of a series of reports. The first article, by Karen Prager describes selected aspects of school restructuring in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, elementary school and illustrates how school-based management can articulate school vision and support teacher cooperation.…

The Conservative Government's education reforms of the past 6 years in England and Wales, beginning with the Education Reform Act of 1988, embody a strategy designed to pursue the following 5 themes: quality, diversity, increased parental choice, and greater school autonomy and accountability. The government's rationale for reform makes no…

Findings from a study that explored teachers' and principals' views on restructuring are presented in this paper. Methodology involved interviews conducted with 14 elementary, middle, and high school teachers and with 15 public school principals in New York, Illinois, and Tennessee. Three issues that will affect the future directions of…

National restructuring organizations are described in this paper, with a focus on those that work across districts to support multiple aspects of school restructuring, rather than within-district or state organizations. Data were derived from interviews with individuals in each program and from program descriptions and secondary sources. Section 1…

Schools must move away from individualism and toward more participation and shared decision making to meet the needs of society. Eight schools in Maine School Administrative District #4 adopted site-based management in an attempt to do this. Several important goals must be set in restructuring schools. First, students must enter the marketplace…

President Bush's America 2000 strategy, like the Education Reform Act of 1988 adopted by Prime Minister Thatcher's government in the United Kingdom, seeks to make education accountable to the marketplace. Both programs promote school choice, site-based management, and national control of curriculum and assessment. British studies have shown that…

Questions that must be addressed to ensure successful implementation of financial delegation to the schools are presented in this paper. The features necessary to successfully introduce increased financial delegation to the schools are described. Key questions are presented to help readers evaluate their own plans. The questions involve the…

The Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) was passed in 1990 as a result of a Kentucky Supreme Court order to establish an efficient and equitable system of public education. This report is a guide to the implementation of school-based decision making, which is the most immediate of the reform initiatives being implemented. A review of the role of…