Teachers and administrators need opportunities to share perceptions, consider possibilities, and forge solutions. Faculty book groups are a powerful tool to create organic solutions with wide ownership. They are great for spurring true professional development. In this article, the author shares how the teachers at New City School have met…

Numerous school districts are experimenting with site-based management, gaining increased authority and responsibility while aiming to improve accountability and productivity. Some key elements include alternative resource allocation, expanded decision-making through teamwork, key advisory committee roles for parents and high schoolers, increased…

Restructuring jelled for Winona, Minnesota, schools while staff struggled to meet two major tenets: (1) all students can succeed; and (2) schools control the conditions of success. Instituting site-based management and a vision statement was not enough. Steps were taken to communicate the vision, develop successful pilot projects, and empower…

An elementary school teacher in a K-8 Minneapolis public alternative school describes the benefits of choice for her own children and for those in her multiage classroom. Her school's whole-child approach allows students to structure their learning time and teachers to choose the most nurturing learning strategies to suit each child's needs. (MLH)

Although school-based management takes many forms, its essence is school level autonomy plus participatory decision-making. This article discusses implications for budget, staffing, curriculum, and beyond. The key is substituting participation for authority. A sidebar presents research highlights. Includes 26 references. (MLH)

Four years of hard work and training have gone into creating site-based management structures and processes at Greece (New York) Central School District. Each school has management team. All schools are dedicated to meeting district's mission and vision, but how schools accomplish these goals is up to them. Except for overall payroll, all…

Discusses the need for developing accurate assessment methods and establishing a common standard for all students through a voluntary national examination system. School-based management programs and models of excellence will not affect the vast majority of schools. States and districts must make strategic moves and comprehensive policy changes…

Site-management designs generally fail to establish structures and processes that help school communities work through cultural change. The Comer School Development Program succeeds because it supports a change in school culture and focuses on children's development, not just their speech, language, and intellectual capabilities. Lessons from…

University of Southern California researchers found that schools using school-based management most effectively organized themselves to restructure curriculum and instruction. Stakeholders had genuine authority over budget, personnel, and curriculum and used this authority to introduce changes affecting teaching and learning. Effective SBM schools…

In Temple Independent School District (Texas), the success of strategic planning is evident in increased community and parent involvement, renewed public confidence, and a sense of control over the future. Over 250 community and school people participated in developing the district's plan. Site-based strategic planning extended active involvement…

Districts can encourage school improvement through policy statements that promote local autonomy and ownership. (MLF)

As President of the American Federation of Teachers and a member of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, Shanker advocates fundamental changes in the ways educators do business. Educators should deemphasize teacher lecturing, differentiate teachers' roles and functions, and conceive of students as workers requiring different…

A Bedford, Massachusetts, middle school lived through a series of critical incidents while moving into site-based management. Flaps developed over minute-taking responsibilities in faculty meetings and a student exchange arrangement with an inner-city middle school. A "pyramiding" process to close the communication gap helped maintain…

In one Colorado school district, site-based management creates ownership for those responsible for implementing decisions by involving them directly in the decision-making process. This article summarizes the district's mistakes and accomplishments in defining terms and roles, providing support and training, resolving conflict, and managing…

When embarking on school/community-based management, nine Hawaii elementary schools trained their staff in facilitative leadership and received technical assistance from district offices. Schools can involve more parents by reaching a shared understanding about parental involvement, developing appropriate involvement strategies, providing parents…