This paper examines whether the delegating of whole-school decision making reaches to, involves, and empowers the middle-management level. It looks for evidence of alternative models of management for decision making and identifies commonalities between the perceptions and the practices of headteachers and middle managers. The research for the paper took place in a random sample of 21 urban-area, secondary schools in England. Two semi-structured interview schedules were developed, one for the middle-management representatives and one for the headteacher. The results indicate that there were three different types of schools: the type C school, which showed no evidence of a shared decision-making model; the type B school, which exhibited some movement toward middle-management access to decision making; and the type A school, which operated fully in a shared decision-making model. The decision-making type was not linked to any particular school size. The evidence shows that middle managers are increasingly seeking a greater say in decisions. It is believed that as middle managers come to share organizational values and goals, and have practice in administrative problem solving, organizational learning is enhanced. This belief is reflected in collegial models of education management. (Contains 56 references.) (RJM)