This article reviews the literature and explores the institutional and systemic factors that help and/or hinder change and innovation across school systems, with a focus on evidence from England. A number of authors have argued that schools and school systems need to become more innovative and adaptive if they are to meet the needs of 21st-century…

Examines the hypothesis that as central district offices try to assert their power over school buildings, students' performance will decline. Uses the National Educational Longitudinal Study as a database to test this expectation. Results suggest that intrusive central offices are associated with somewhat lower student performance. (Contains 27…

School-based management (SBM), sometimes called site-based management, is fast becoming the hottest restructuring item in the arsenal of reformers, teachers' unions, governors, and legislators who want to change the traditional ways in which schools and school districts do business. This document comprises three main sections with contributions…

Research on school-based management approaches to educational reform, including effective schools research, is presented. Included are an introductory section on school-based improvement and its link to effective schools, by Anne T. Henderson; descriptive summaries of 53 references; a list of organizations to contact for further information; and a…

Reviews three books on the educational excellence movement: "Excellence in Education," by D.P. Doyle and T.W. Hartle; "The Politics of Excellence and Choice in Education," by W.L. Boyd and C.T. Kerchner; and "Managing Educational Excellence," by T.B. Timar and D.L. Kirp. These books are not about movement's implementation and impact, but focus on…

School-based management refers to a form of educational administration in which the school becomes the primary unit for decision-making. The book is structured into five parts. In part 1, international developments in school-based decision-making and management are documented and analyzed. Described are developments in Australia, Canada, France,…

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…

Reviews ERIC literature on the development of participatory governance structures in community colleges that secure the participation of students, faculty, staff, and other campus constituencies and the growth of state authority at the expense of local autonomy. (DMM)

In 1987, the State of Maine encouraged schools to make fundamental organizational changes necessary to ensure that all children are successful in school. This booklet reports on the progress of 10 Maine schools that are wrestling with fundamental questions about the purpose, content, and organization of schooling. Each school is profiled with a…

Shared governance empowers teachers to increase their autonomy and contributes to their role in determining school policy and influencing student outcomes. This paper, exploratory in nature, describes the policy impact of shared governance in nine autonomous schools where the participants at each site have provided some insight into policy issues.…

Reviews the relationship between the management of schools and the sociology of education in England. Recent developments include the establishment of national centers for school management studies and the availability of financing for attending courses. (MD)

This policy brief focuses on design issues surrounding decentralization policies, drawing from the following three reports: "Working Models of Choice in Public Education," by Richard F. Elmore; "Diversity Amidst Standardization: State Differential Treatment of Districts," by Susan H. Fuhrman; and "School District Restructuring in Santa Fe, New…

School boards and other collectives have responsibilities for which they are accountable. If a collective group or school board is charged with irresponsibility, it may try to exonerate itself by offering an excuse. Acts by school boards and individual educational authorities must be considered carefully before responsibility can be determined.…

Hoping to inspire greater cooperation among local school boards, administrators, teachers, and state officials, this paper reviews class size research and analyzes effective instructional methods and student learning related to class size issues. The New York State Board of Regents should not standardize class size, since standardization undercuts…

This paper reports on a study that examined the concept of trust-a critical element in the social glue that bonds the organizational team together and enables effective collective action in schools. It delineates an organizational context for consideration of the concept of trust in interactions in restructured schools. The study suggests that the…