Globally, the increasing breakdown of economic systems is resulting in decreased government responsibility for health, welfare, and education and is placing growing demands on communities. Government policies in Australia are moving toward self-managing schools that require strong community support and involvement. On the other hand, some policy…

The 1996 session of the North Carolina General Assembly enacted legislation, The School-Based Management and Accountability Program (the ABCs plan), an educational reform initiative designed to improve student performance. The accountability model for the public schools in kindergarten through eighth grade is designed to provide focus on the basic…

This book argues that school-based management appears to be primarily concerned with dismantling centralized education systems (which have traditionally supported the work of teachers, students, and parents) and replacing them with a free-market ideology of competition and choice. School-based management separates elite policy makers and interest…

This paper investigates the challenges that Uganda and England have faced in beginning to reestablish community participation in the governance of education. It investigates starting points for the possible development of school-governance systems in both countries. Outlined first are the formats for community involvement that have been adopted in…

The skills and knowledge required for productive employment and citizenship are constantly expanding. To secure America's economic future, more students than ever before must be educated at much higher levels. States have responded to the challenge with energy, leadership, and resources. This report describes those efforts and analyzes their…

A formative evaluation was conducted of two elementary schools that have been engaged in the School/Community-Based Management (SCBM) process in Hawaii. The evaluation process was aligned with the SCBM philosophy, which promotes shared decision making, shared responsibility, and collaboration. Stakeholders contributed to the evaluation, which…

This book was designed to help citizens evaluate and improve their local schools. It contends that the solution to the potential end of America's progress is through positive school reform--the public management of schools. It presents a system of participative and results-oriented management that is implemented by boards, administrators, and…

In Hong Kong there has been a move toward greater self-management in schools. The government has supported the School Management Initiatives scheme and has stated that the management system calls for teacher appraisal as one of its internal quality assurance mechanisms. This study examined the relationship between dimensions of school climate and…

Formal teacher appraisal was introduced to schools participating in Hong Kong's School Management Initiative (SMI) without prior evaluation of its effectiveness. This study examines the current practice of appraisal and provides guidelines for schools wishing to introduce teacher appraisal. Teachers from SMI schools (n=337) completed…

Rural schools present unique challenges for school administrators, challenges that require knowledge of various skills in a range of disciplines. This book touches nearly every aspect of rural school leadership. It aims to help educational leaders in small or rural schools better understand their role, and to help all educators learn elements of…

Second-year outcomes of the Oregon School Improvement and Professional Development Project, which included 54 new and 32 continuing program sites, are presented in this report. Interviews with 187 staff members from 24 sites generated information on program impacts on goal development, assessment activities, school-based management, and…

This document describes school-based management (SBM) and examines one urban elementary school's experiences in developing a SBM plan. School issues that gave rise to interest in SBM and problems encountered by those involved in the planning process are analyzed. Two administrators, three teachers, and two parents, who were involved in the early…

A study was done on the effect of site-based management (SBM) and change on the role of principals in a large urban school district in the mid-western United States. The study used a distillation of the perceptions reported by building principals faced with the implementation of SBM, a concept of transactional and transformational leadership, and…

Both business and education leaders have come to view their alliance as the way to educate America's youth to meet society's needs. Because successful businesses are flexible and adaptable, business leaders can work with school boards in changes promoted by the current school reform movement. Board members need to work with business to identify…

A survey was done to evaluate the impact of local school councils on Chicago (Illinois) Public School reform efforts and to share those findings with the local schools. Nearly 700 council members responded to the survey. Major findings indicate the following: (1) councils have organized themselves, evaluated their principals, and participated in…