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…

Introduces the Willard Model School in Norfolk, Virginia. Describes the process of creating a new staff and the teaching philosophy of the staff members. Provides information on the school's Parent Resource Center and Male Mentor Program. Introduces the concept of a basic school. (MOK)

Summarizes a study exploring decision-making quality among 45 participants, who were administered the Decision Making Inventory either as groups or individuals. There were few differences between individual and collaborative group decision-making formats. Individual skills were more effective regarding curriculum and discipline. There were no…

Describes the Hong Kong Education Department's School Management Initiatives (SMI) scheme, a decentralizing reform scheme based on lessons from the business and industrial sectors. Shows that the SMI has been successful at the school level but not at the system level. Summarizes suggestions for improving the reform scheme. (DSK)

Shortages of teachers with specialized skills, coupled with increased difficulty accommodating students with problem behaviors in general education classrooms, create pressures for performance and accountability in schools. Describes improvements in classroom ecology after implementation of a school-wide discipline model. These outcomes were…

Chronicles perceived dilemmas of 20 Australian principals whose work lives were preoccupied with school restructuring. Findings suggest two main types of dilemmas: general, personal/professional "states of mind" and specific, practical organizational dilemmas. Research is needed on devising management solutions and improving leadership…

Details steps for implementing a site-based scheduling model for middle schools. Six steps are: forming the scheduling committee, conducting a needs assessment, setting and prioritizing goals, examining other working schedules, developing the master schedule, and adjusting the master schedule. (KB)

School-based management (SBM) in Thailand began in 1997 in the course of a reform aimed at overcoming a profound crisis in the education system. The present contribution reports on the introduction and institutionalisation of decentralisation and SBM with community participation in Thailand. The data reported here are based on an empirical survey…

This literature review describes ways of thinking about sharing school leadership and to examine the possible link between shared leadership and student achievement. This review examines four different approaches to school leadership that involve more than a single individual. These four were selected because they were most widely represented in…

The Hong Kong Government first introduced school-based management (SBM) to the education profession in 1991. The principal is a pivotal factor in fostering an environment for change. SBM and teacher empowerment calls for new modes of leadership: teachers lend their expertise, and principals become facilitators rather than directors. The purpose of…

The education profession in Hong Kong has been experiencing waves of educational reforms since the early 1990s. A system of school-based management has been imported from Western countries without undergoing thorough discussion about the roles that teachers might play in facilitating it. The purpose of this article is to suggest a strategic mix…

"The New Zealand Curriculum: Draft for Consultation" (Ministry of Education, 2006) aims to first "set the direction for learning for all students while at school and will ensure that when they leave, they are equipped for lifelong learning and for living in a world where continual change is the norm" (p. 7), and second, to…

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the extent to which school ethnic affiliation (Jewish vs. Arab) and site-based management affected the absence of teachers and school administrators. Research Design: Background individual and organization-level data on the population of elementary and middle-school teachers (52, 056 teachers at 2,…

This digest summarizes some of the recent research regarding school-based management (SBM). In particular, it addresses two questions: (1) Is SBM working, and (2) What can schools changing to an SBM system do to ensure success? Information is presented on what type of SBM system works best, research on SBM success, the kinds of problems…

This paper presents findings of an interim evaluation of a site-based management (SBM) project involving three elementary schools in Toledo City Schools (Ohio). A survey of all teachers in the three schools elicited 52 responses, a 98 percent response rate. Teachers reported that relative progress had been made in the areas of collaboration,…