General interest in decentralized decision-making in education is increasing in both Canada and the United States. This paper attempts a preliminary study of school-based management, which shifts some budgetary decision-making authority from the central office to individual schools. Although many academic specialties have explored decentralization…

Asserts that achievement and cost measures of school districts' effectiveness are useful but insufficient performance critera. Focusing on British Columbia, Canada, this paper demonstrates a surprising negative relationship between cost and achievement and seeks a third element--school ethos or goodness--as a potential predictor of school…

This survey project of 129 randomly selected school systems in Ontario, Canada, investigates: (1) dominant patterns among secondary principals' practices and their effectiveness in the improvement of school processes and outcomes; (2) differences in practices between elementary and secondary school principals; (3) factors determining secondary…

This report analyzes the effect of public participation and the use of third party neutrals on recommendations for reorganization of a large Ontario school system. To reexamine the system, expand programs, and consolidate schools, the board of education commissioned an advisory council in 1984 to obtain community input before making…