In May 1987, the Washington State Legislature passed Chapter 525 Laws of 1987 (Substitute Senate Bill 5479) that authorized the Schools for the 21st Century Program. This report presents information about the progress and results of that program. The State Board of Education selected 33 schools to be awarded 10 additional staff days; supplemental…

The publication in 1990 of the School Management Task Force Report "Developing School Management--The Way Forward" was a milestone for challenging Local Education Authorities (LEA) and providers in higher education. The report stressed school-based and school-focused institutional and individual development. Changes resulting from the…

This handbook presents three chapters that explore reforms in teacher empowerment, school choice, and administrator-education programs. In chapter 1, "Leading Empowerment," Zarif Bacilious and C. John Tarter discuss the role of administrator education in empowering teachers. They argue that the educational-administration profession…

This paper presents findings of a case study that examined Australian primary teachers' perceptions of school-based curriculum development (SBCD). The study was conducted at Blackpool Primary School, a Catholic school in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Data were derived from participant observation, a teacher questionnaire, interviews with all…

This bulletin describes how schools are building coalitions with parents, businesses, and social agencies as part of their restructuring efforts. Data were derived from a review of literature and interviews conducted with principals, parents, teachers, business people, social workers, and state administrators. Chapter 1 outlines the general…

Elmore (1990) has presented two contrasting models of school restructuring, each with different views about who is empowered--teachers or parents. This book examines what happens when schools and school districts attempt to implement either of these models. Following the introduction, "Examining School Restructuring Efforts," by G.…

In 1990, the Arizona legislature initiated the Arizona School Restructuring Pilot Project. This report identifies local- and state-level barriers encountered in the first 2 years. Outcomes are presented for the 15 pilot schools--11 elementary and 4 high schools--that were selected in a competitive grant process. Data were collected through school…

After describing the nature, promise, and reality of school-based management, this document discusses delegation of authority to the school site and distribution of authority among site participants as critical issues in the implementation of school-based management and reviews the importance and benefits of shared decision making. Eight major…

The impact of school-based management (SBM) on student performance is examined in this digest. The first part describes school-based management and its potential for improving student performance. A review of research concludes that, overall, school-based management has not contributed to consistent or stable improvements in student performance.…

This paper discusses the recent implementation in England of school improvement reforms based on school choice and in particular on a system of school-based management whereby total financial control is vested in individual schools. The first section briefly describes the financial structure of the English educational system, followed by an…

This paper argues that changes in educational administration in Poland must be seen in the context of the enormous social and political changes that have occurred in that country in recent years. Centralized bureaucratic planning of social and economic programs has been discarded. The changes have impacted the system of educational administration…

Some important conclusions and recommendations may be drawn from comparing U.S. Army leadership processes to the state-of-the-art in educational administration: (1) army leadership development works in the ways intended; (2) leadership must be learned, not taught; and (3) everybody involved must truly participate. Site-based management makes no…

Educational improvement can occur if school decisionmaking is shifted from centralized, "top down" administration to individual school control cooperatively directed by the principal, the staff, and parents. Site-based management allows the school a high degree of autonomy by placing the responsibility and authority for decisions at the school…

Site-based decisionmaking programs offer important opportunities for school systems; however, the risks involved are significant and the decision to embrace the concept at the local level is a highly complex one. With site-based decisionmaking programs, teachers are directly involved in making decisions that affect the whole school, not merely…

An educational reform effort to implement a comprehensive school act in British Columbia (Canada) is analyzed with a focus on some sociotechnical and political aspects. An overview of the content, background, and implementation of the reform effort is followed by identification of seven contradictions inherent in the plan. Contradictions are as…