IMPROVING SCHOOLS THROUGH SCHOOL-BASED MANAGEMENT - AN EXAMINATION OFTHE PROCESS OF CHANGE

Data from twenty-two case studies of schools in four North American sc hool districts an examined to assess the process and outcomes of refor m through school-based management (SBM). The analysis is guided by a t heoretical model that describes the process through which SBM can lead to school improvement. This model suggests that the formal change in governance reflected in a shift to SBM must first generate improvement s in the decision making processes utilized at the school. Better deci sion making will enable schools to implement needed strategic and oper ational changes, and these together will help build an effective schoo l culture. An improved culture, along with the strategic and operation al reforms implemented at the school, will lead to changes in the beha vior of staff members, which is necessary for there to be improvement in various outcomes that serve as indicators of school duality. The an alysis of the case studies indicates that schools in our sample most f requently exhibited positive changes in two areas, namely, decision ma king processes and school culture. Strategic and operational changes w ere less likely to undergo positive change, as were individual behavio r and school quality. However, the overall pattern of findings provide s reasonable support for the general validity of the model. Furthermor e, the data from this sample of schools suggest that SBM has considera ble potential to elicit positive changes in schools. To help insure th at such potential is realized, the findings indicate that school leade rs must insure that all constituents have an opportunity to participat e in school level decisions, that a vision regarding desired outcomes should be utilized to guide the implementation of strategic and operat ional changes, and that the process of change should be monitored in o rder to better identify problem areas and allow corrective action to b e taken.