arental involvement with children with learning or behavioral problems, and coordination between programs for special children and other children.
Data for the year preceding implementation (1991 92) and for the first year of site-based management (1992 93) were also reviewed by House (1994). Major issues considered by the Site-Based Management Review Committee involved the school calendar, funding, collective bargaining, and site authority.
Gips and Wilkes (1993) conducted a case study of one school district in Lancaster, Ohio, in the early stages of implementing site-based decision making examined the attitudes of teachers and administrators toward change. The first stage of the study statistically analyzed voting by administrators and teachers on site-based decision making, while the second phase involved interviewing teachers about their attitudes and experiences with the new organizational structure.
Findings revealed that elementary school teachers were slightly more supportive of site-based decision making than secondary school teachers. A few teachers said that larger school size hindered implementation efforts. However, in general, teachers supported site-based decision making but had concerns over its implementation.
Based on their analysis, Gips and Wilkes (1993) concluded that while many schools have replaced top-down, highly centralized educational structures with site-based models, and while teachers report that they prefer the site-based approach, when efforts are initially implemented, they nonetheless face a good deal of resistance not only by administrators but by the teachers themselves. According to the authors, there are some steps that can be taken to make the transition easier for all concerned. Specifically, they recommend: setting clear expectations, establishing definite goals, promoting social interaction, and exerting control over the work environment.
The effect of site-based...