In this article, the role that formal leaders play in helping distributed leadership take root and flourish in schools is explored. The focus of the study is an urban middle school, one of six cases in a larger three-year investigation of distributed leadership in two mid-Atlantic states. Using interview and document-based data, the authors…

In this article, we revive work redesign theory, specifically Hackman and Oldham's Job Characteristics Model (JCM), to examine distributed leadership initiatives. Based on our early observations of six schools engaged in distributed leadership reform and a broad review of literature, including empirical tests of work redesign theory, we retrofit…

A year-long, intensive case study of a Los Angeles school involved in school-based management (SBM) showed that four commitments drove successful reform: a learning imperative, strong sense of community, staff and parent leadership, and a capacity-building imperative. SBM facilitated individuals' actions without influencing decision-making…

School-based management (SBM) is a strategy to decentralize decision-making authority to the individual school site. This document describes the principles of SBM, of which devolution of authority is the fundamental concept. Local control and shared decision-making are manifested in five educational operations: goals, budget, personnel, curriculum…

School reform has taken many shapes over the years. Among the most pervasive of school-reform theories is school-based management (SBM), which is examined in detail in this book. The introductory chapter locates the current round of SBM in the longer cycle of educational reform, describes the extent of SBM activity over the past decade in the…

Few efforts have been made to inject teachers' voices into discussions on school restructuring. Qualitative, in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 teachers to ascertain what the "average" teacher thinks about restructuring. The majority of interviewees held positive perceptions about restructuring, but opinions differed on the feasibility of…

Research seeking to evaluate the effectiveness of SBM has been complicated by the complex policies and practices that have been implemented with great variation. Given this difficulty, this book presents findings of a study that sought to understand the ways in which school-based management (SBM) actually operates in a school recognized for its…

A summary of the school restructuring movement and an outline of strategies for implementation are presented. The underlying principles of restructuring are included in four broad strategies, which include school-based management, teacher empowerment, voice/choice, and teaching for understanding. New responsibilities for state policymakers include…