This study examined issues faced during implementation of school-based management (SBM) in New Jersey's special needs or Abbott districts, using a literature review, surveys of K-12 schools, and focus groups with central office administrators. The study examined forms of SBM, team operations, local autonomy versus state power, skills required to…

Implementing shared decision making in school-based management requires fundamental changes in traditional behavior. Initiation of restructuring systemic authority and decision-making arrangements requires changing deeply held beliefs and developing new roles and relationships. A recent survey of educational practitioners identified eight major…

Findings of a survey conducted in 1989 to identify the difficulties facing educational practitioners when initiating shared decision making in school-based management are presented in this educational policy bulletin. The first of a two-issue report examined five of the eight major barriers to changing traditional behavior: fear of taking risks,…

The "first wave" of educational reform has applied "top-down" mandates to raise standards and ensure accountability. These reform strategies often fail because they ignore the necessity of changing people's behavior and the everyday realities confronting schools. According to 16 superintendents participating in the National…

"Facilitative leadership" may be defined as the ability of principals to lead without controlling, while making it easier for all members of the school community to achieve agreed-upon goals. The bulk of the Bulletin consists of a discussion of 10 propositions related to facilitative leadership drawn from 3 sources: (1) studies in…