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…

An overview of school-based management (SBM) and the issues involved are provided in this document. Information is offered on the following topics: the advantages and liabilities of SBM; its effect on the roles of the school board, superintendent, and district office; decision-making processes; elements of SBM implementation; examples of three…

Recounts a principal's experiences at a British Columbia elementary school with control over its own budget. Decentralized administration did not prevent mistakes. At first, administrators and teachers made more errors in judgment than an experienced school business officer would have made. This district's success may be attributed to 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…

Site-based management (SBM) gives teachers, principals, and communities a method for directly affecting and improving their schools. This newsletter describes some of the advantages of SBM, which can result in greater accountability for student learning and an increased opportunity for parents, teachers, students, and business. The greatest…

In 1987, Western Australia implemented a school-based management program called "Better Schools," which attempted to create "self-determining schools." Central to the restructuring effort was the establishment of school-based decision-making groups (SBDMGs), which permitted school staff and community representatives to exercise…

Incorporating school-site management into the nation's educational systems will demand wholesale changes involving the very structure and organization of schools. Aimed at practitioners desiring to implement school-based management (SBM), this book is organized into chapters designed to enhance the sequential phases of application. Chapter 1…

To implement shared decision-making, a Colorado school district needed three years to venture through the cage door, scare the cat away, and experience an increase in involvement from district constituents. Blocking can occur because of outdated policies reflecting centralized control, perceptions of the principal as prime manipulator, master…

Ways in which strategies drawn from the local change process literature can enhance the broader implementation of a new approach to site-based management (SBM) are described in this paper. The first section presents a new conceptual framework for SBM that is based on decentralizing power, knowledge, information, and rewards within systemic…

A district coordinator of gifted education in a site-based managed school system relates the learning experiences which helped define her role as an administrator and an advocate of gifted education. Her role has involved collaborating, serving as a resource, sharing program ownership, and encouraging program differentiation across the district.…

In 1996 the Chancellor introduced Performance Driven Budgeting (PDB) to the New York City schools. PDB is a form of decentralized budgetary decision making intended to provide local educators with increased control and flexibility over the use of resources. The plan established a framework of goals and principles, outlined a phased-in…

This report reviews the second-year implementation of the New York City public school system's Performance Driven Budget (PDB) initiative. The Galaxy budgeting system that is part of the PDB initiative generates a school's budget from its table of organization, and then derives district and Central budgets by aggregating all school budgets. After…

The adoption of a school-based management/shared decision-making administrative process (SBM/SDM) was recommended for the Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) school district in June 1990. Findings of a study that determined the attitudes of three non-Chapter 1 elementary school communities in Philadelphia toward the adoption of SBM/SDM are presented in…

In 1995-96, the Edmonton (Alberta) Public Schools' enterprising superintendent allocated most of the district's central-services funds (about $20 million) to schools. Schools may purchase services and products from the district or outside vendors and commit any amount on building-level program expenditures. Central cost-recovery strategies are…