Since 1997, parents' rights of participating in children's education have been recognized in Hong Kong. Parents have been consulted and invited to participate in PTAs, manage the school, organize school activities, and assist in school functions. However, implementation of parent-school partnerships signifies the notion of parent empowerment that…

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory study assessed school reform in Chicago, using case studies, school and central office audits, expert review of reform indicators. Shows partial success in achieving reform goals through site-based management. Local school improvement plans have not been integrated into a set of goals or visions;…

The future of school-based restructuring rests on five conditions: a site-specific vision of school greatness for all students; consequent plans shaped by school partners; a work culture that nurtures and expects development and success; staff empowerment and commitment to energize participants; and a quality control system that guides development…

Summarizes interim findings of a policy research project in Tasmania, Australia, aimed at producing educative accountability options for identifying processes and criteria to improve learning, teaching, and leadership. Identifies preferred accountability criteria and processes in Tasmania's locally managed school district, maps patterns of…

The difficulty in education to determine causality between means and ends brings various issues and variables to the discussion about the antecedents of school effectiveness. Although teachers' level of professional development is clearly among the factors influencing student outcomes, little is known about the extent to which teachers connect…

Based on current empirical data, school-based management is failing to produce radical changes in school practice. SBM, which holds untapped potential for democratizing the workplace and equitably addressing students' needs, can be analyzed in terms of formal and informal dimensions characterizing a site's scope of authority, involvement, and…

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…

Analyzes significant phenomena observed while developing and implementing Hong Kong's school-based management policy. Findings from an evaluation of 12 schools revealed that major SBM program components (teacher and parent participation, systematic planning and reporting of school activities, and flexible resource use) can contribute to school…

The 1988 Chicago reforms require the school system to raise its student achievement levels to national norms in five years, reallocate resources away from the administration and toward schools, and establish local school councils as the basis for school-based management. So far, this reform implementation has not significantly affected student…

To succeed in the new educational marketplace, British schools must change their teaching and administration focus to one of strategic planning, policy formation, and implementation. Unless schools develop a strategic marketing approach that shapes a coherent change program and educates client perceptions of need, they will be driven by a…

A 1992 survey of state education departments revealed the extent and nature of each state's school-based management (SBM) implementation. Fully 44 states reported some SBM presence and confirmed the existing knowledge base of activity in budget, curriculum, personnel, group process, and policy. There is state and national consensus for a gradual…

Explains the Republic of Belarus's new educational system, stressing its universal and democratic values, national-cultural foundation, scientific character, humanistic and ecological orientation, social and practical activities, encouragement of talent and erudition, and compulsory basic (nine-year) education focus. Describes types of educational…

Reviews Hong Kong's School Management Initiative implementation strategies (rational-empirical, power-coercive, and normative-reeducative), compares them with New South Wales, Australia's strategies, and suggests an appropriate strategy for future reforms. In Australia, changes were radical and thorough (using power-coercive strategies), whereas…

Describes factors that constrain and facilitate participation, representation, and discourse in two urban site-based schools. Presents findings via basic themes, exemplifying scenarios reconstructed from field notes, discussion of observations, and a cross-school analysis. Site-based management could democratize schools if hierarchically based…

Reviews four areas of change (resource allocation, organizational framework, governing systems, and market structure) providing a framework for understanding dynamic schools and their leaders. Today's principals must become resource mobilizers capable of forming business and private foundation partnerships, linking with social-service agencies,…