Site-based management (SBM) could change schools by altering the scope of authority, involvement, and influence to lessen dominance relationships in education and inequities regarding struggling students. These dominance relationships exist between administrators and staff and between staff and students. SBM seems to signal a paradigm shift from a functionalist governance structure to a more interpretivist-based one. Even critical theory concerns are addressed in changes in authority, expansion of participant influence, and increased diversity of participants. A multiple-paradigm framework can be used to examine the assumptions and practices of SBM found in empirical and conceptual literature. This analysis suggests that SBM may not lead to radical change in educational decision making. However, if implemented correctly, SBM has the potential to represent the interpretivist or critical paradigm. Empirical data suggest that frequently SBM is a manipulated version of functionalist practices. (Contains 36 references.) (Author/JPT)