The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of distributed leadership at the University of ABC's SCPS, as the School worked to transform itself through reorganization. The study examined the perceptions of key leaders and members of the implementation team as they sought to understand the implementation of a more participative approach to…

Because educators continue to face challenges when seeking to educate all children, there is a growing recognition that schools must work with communities to maximize their collective educational potential (Murphy, Beck, Crawford, Hodges, & McGauphy, 2001). Although community schools are still in the emergent stages of development, their emphasis…

In this multi-method case study, the authors explore the success of school reform in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), whose school reform combines a portfolio strategy and a managed instruction approach. Portfolio strategy is a term used to describe an approach that decentralizes resources and decision-making to school sites--increasingly in…

Describes a multiyear formative evaluation of six Florida schools involved in the Shared Decision Making and Restructuring Project, highlighting one school's successful efforts. Ethnographic and interview data were used to examine work histories, verify achievements, and identify stumbling blocks. The successful school had a well-defined core…

Recommendations for implementing school-based management and shared decision making are presented in this educational policy bulletin. Based on a literature review and reported experiences of educational practitioners, four recommendations include: transformation of authority at district and school site levels; development of a systemwide…

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…

Findings of a study that examined the progress of three Indiana schools (Beech Grove Senior High School, Indianapolis; Linton-Stockton Elementary School, southwestern Indiana; and Richmond High School) toward educational innovation goals under the 21st Century Schools Pilot Project are presented in this paper. Each school is described in terms of…

During 3-year period, Arizona junior high school's site-based team developed and implemented 10-step process for becoming middle school. They assessed the school and community, researched school reform, built a team, developed a mission statement, set goals and empowered staff members, established teaching teams, trained staff members and parents,…

The process through which a school adopts a comprehensive school reform (CSR) model has been suggested to be a key element in the lifecycle of school reform, contributing to stakeholder buy in and subsequent implementation. We studied the model adoption process, both on a national scale with survey data and in more depth with qualitative case…

The Chicago experience in school governance restructuring is examined in this newsletter. The introduction distinguishes between school-based management and shared decision-making and provides an overview of Chicago's restructured school governance. Next, findings of a study that examined school governance in 12 diverse Chicago elementary schools…

Findings of a 3-year study of the policy implementation process in three western Australian secondary schools are presented in this paper, which focuses on the macro and micro aspects of implementation. To examine responses to the formation of school-based decision-making groups, methodology involved: (1) document analysis; (2) interviews with…

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…

Changes in shared decision making as a result of the implementation of school-based management in the Dade County public school system are described in this report. Background information on the school system and its restructuring plan, implemented during the 1987-88 school year, is presented, followed by a discussion of changes in participative…

This study examines the effects of principal leadership styles on the development of the working styles of seven local school councils in Memphis (Tennessee) during their first 15 months of operation. The successful implementation of a school-based decision making (SBDM) management model depends upon the ability of the local school council to…

This publication summarizes research that investigated how school-based management (SBM) can be implemented for long-term school improvement. It is argued that a successful SBM plan must be part of a quest for improvement and utilize a "high involvement" model. In addition to having more power, schools need knowledge of the organization,…