Background/purpose: School-based management (SBM) has gained international attention for the promotion of student learning and educational development. Senegal is one of the initiatives of French speaking African countries that adopted the move towards promoting SBM at the school level, but lacks substantial evidence of its effectiveness in…

This article analyses changes that have occurred in the elementary education system in Mexico since 1992 when an administrative de-concentration process took place. This process was accompanied by legal modifications that created opportunities for social participation in public elementary schools affairs. As a result, some school communities in…

Examines two elementary school site decision-making bodies (one mandated, the other voluntary) from a critical-theory perspective, using a multiple case-study format. Finds little relative difference between mandated and voluntary sites. Concludes that involving parents in school-site decision-making is an ineffective school-improvement strategy.…

Analyzed data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten to determine the extent to which school-based management was reported as having been implemented differently by public and private elementary school principals. Findings based on 866 principals show that public school principals have implemented school-based management to a…

This study uses Henry Mintzberg's structural observation method to examine British primary school head teachers' work patterns and determine the nature of their role. Head teachers' days were characterized by brevity, variety, and fragmentation similar to those discussed in findings of other empirical managerial studies. Leadership roles stressed…

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)

The most fundamental distinction between public education and the private sector is the way organizational performance is measured. Business success is measured in terms of profit. By contrast, measuring individual public schools' performance is more complex, and budgetary discretion is limited. Critics demanding corporate-style school improvement…

In districts committed to site-based management, principals expect to have a great degree of authority in staff selection. A principal maintains that, if district administrators must make the occasional staff selection decision, then the principals should at least be consulted before the final decision is made. (MLF)

School-based inservice programs are the best way to achieve staff development and keep up with changing educational needs. Effective staff development programs should be comprehensive enough to meet the needs of all school staff. Good programs also help foster collegiality among staff, increase participation and communication, involve parents, and…

Long range planning allows an indepth analysis, to be updated yearly, of a school to determine the directions in which it needs to start moving based on the assumptions about the present and future success of the school. There is no quick fix or outside consultant that can remedy or plan for any individual school; only those intimately involved…

In the United Kingdom, school development planning has been warmly embraced by practitioners and policymakers. This paper describes results of a 32-month research project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, which studied the effects of development planning in nine primary schools. Implications are discussed, methodological issues…

Summarizes a study using latent-trait theory to construct a variable that conceptualizes practitioner perspectives about the deputy principalship in self-managing (Australian) primary schools. A sample of 403 deputy principals, 179 principals, and 138 teachers was analyzed according to both actual and ideal situations, using a Rasch measurement…

Summarizes findings of a study identifying problematic aspects of the deputy principalship (job dissatisfaction and lack of a significant professional identity) in self-managed Western Australia primary schools. Deputy principals can reshape their positions by increasing their role awareness, assuming greater policymaking responsibility,…

Used the Delphi technique to explore the opinions of 24 experts from 14 states about the changing roles of elementary school principals under site-based management (SBM). Experts agreed on the dramatic impact of SBM on the roles of the principal in management and leadership. (SLD)

Aims to apply structural, human resource, political, and cultural perspectives to review and analyze the case of Hong Kong in implementing school-based management. Hopes this analysis can provide a useful illustration of applying multi-perspectives to support development of school-based management and draw useful implications for school reforms in…