Educational policy borrowing has become rather common in our globalised world. However, the literature lacks contextual criteria that may be employed by researchers and policy makers to assess the correspondence of a particular policy to the local context of a borrowing system. Based on a secondary analysis of documents and research reports, this…

Following the international trend in education towards democracy and decentralization, the Hong Kong government introduced a school-based management (SBM) system about two decades ago. It is widely recognized in the literature that decentralization, empowering school level management and marginalizing the influence of the intermediate level of…

The federal School Improvement Grants (SIG) program, to which $3 billion were allocated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), supports schools attempting to turn around a history of low performance. School turnaround also is a focus of Race to the Top (RTT), another ARRA-supported initiative, which involved a roughly $4…

Analyzes site-based management structures, using specific case of teacher unions and collective bargaining. From coalitional perspective, interview data suggest that teacher union leaders may be in a quandary, shifting between traditional "bread and butter" issues and professional/collegial concerns. A struggle exists involving the…

Any plan to create a communications/governance structure to empower stakeholders must address several questions: rationale, potential advantages and disadvantages, problems to be considered, format, committee structure and responsibilities, and evaluation techniques. Includes 10 references. (MLH)

District officials often assume that decentralization will produce immediate improvement, uncover abundant building-level expertise, and spawn productive, harmonious decision making. Staff development must be geared to eliminating false expectations, developing a thorough knowledge base, and understanding how to control and evaluate the program.…

Site-based management can be effective way to empower teachers and communities to improve schools. Success will ensue only by involving entire staff in change process, realigning power structure, and using time effectively. Third goal can be accomplished by rearranging school day to allow morning teacher meetings and 10:00-4:00 student attendance…

Describes a study to determine the effects of decentralized governance and finance structures on resource allocation to and within schools. Using a common methodology and set of questions, authors analyzed data on school-based budgeting in Chicago, Fort Worth, New York, and Rochester. School-based budgeting occurs at the margins, encourages…

This paper attempts to interest principals considering site-based management to examine community education as a model for their implementation efforts. The paper first examines the evolution of the community education movement, focusing on major directions and levels of maturity. Next, the unchanging principles of community education…

Presents results of a retrospective investigation into a Vancouver (Canada) school district's adoption of school-based management, using Fullan's triphasic model of change (adoption, implementation, and incorporation) as a framework. During the change process, Fullan's overall factors were apparent, and the environment was unobstructed by…

Reviews 77 empirical and case studies of school-based management (SBM) implementations reported between 1985 and 1995 to determine typical obstacles and promising ameliorative strategies. There is no firm evidence of SBM's effects on students. Administrative-control SBM would probably produce the least amount of school change. Community-control…

Britain's new inspection system requires that schools be assessed for efficiency and value for money. Drawing on a content analysis of 66 secondary school inspection reports, this paper considers implementation problems and whether schools have adopted the rational approach to resource management. Few schools had successfully adopted all elements…

Informally reviews the site-based management/budgeting literature, focusing on SBM implementation strategies, resource allocation decisions, and the role of site councils, principals, and school business administrators in effecting changes. The school business administrator remains a key person in determining, implementing, and coordinating the…

Examines educational decentralization efforts in developed and developing countries. Explores which conditions produce best results and roles and relationships of the school/community and region/center. Summarizes typical reasons for school-based management's failure, highlighting schools' need to build capacity, maintain decentralization, and…

Individuals interested in derailing school-based management lurk in most school communities. Some stakeholders are against true decentralization and can play their cards to subvert the process. Illegitimate intransigence can arise at the exploration or commitment stages. A sidebar shows how to defend against sabotage by making critical choices…