Issue Synthesis: The decentralization of decisionmaking to the school site, commonly referred to as "site-based" or "school-based" management, continues to be one of the past decade's more popular reform movements. A primary intent of site-based management (SBM) is to empower those closest to the learner — school principals, teachers, parents, and the community — with the authority, knowledge, and skills to restructure and improve school operations, curriculum and instruction, personnel, and budget. The degree to which school sites actually have authority to make decisions and carry them out in all those domains varies by program.
Click any of the links below for research conducted by WestEd and other research organizations. We also maintain an archive page on this topic.
Assessment of School-Based Management, by P. Wohlstetter and S. Mohrman (1996)
This U.S. Department of Education-funded report presents four basic reasons why school-based management fails and six strategies that lead to success. Overall, the report finds that school-based management requires a redesign of the whole school organization that goes far beyond a change in school governance.
There are many web sites that provide information and research on this topic. Below are links to some of the most important sites.
Education Organizations and Agencies
Center on Educational Governance (CEG)
Located at the University of Southern California's School of Education, CEG conducts research on educational governance and management. CEG's site contains summaries of its publications on site-based management, including Organizing for Successful School-Based Management, which is aimed at practitioners.
Consortium on Chicago School Research
Consortium on Chicago School Research is a public research and information organization initiated in 1990 as an independent federation of Chicago-area organizations assessing the progress of Chicago's school reforms. Several reports have been produced, including one on the functioning of local school councils, Charting Reforms: LSCs - Local Leadership at Work.
Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE)
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, CPRE produces Financial Briefs and Policy Briefs on educational issues. Check out School-Based Management: Strategies for Success and School-Based Management: Promise and Process.
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL)
This regional educational laboratory maintains a page on Governance/Organization Management, which provides research and supporting materials on this issue, including Decentralization: Why, How, and Toward What Ends?
Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER)
As part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Education, this education research center maintains a page known as Brief to Principals, which contains several articles on site-based management. Also visit WCER Highlight's Implementing Site-based Management.
Periodicals
Education Week
Visit EdWeek's page on school-based management, which presents an overview of the issue and links to previous articles.
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