Factors that influence the perceptions held by school site council members and others about the quality of site-based management (SBM) are examined in this study. Specifically, the relationships among a group's assessment of SBM, perceived level of influence on council decision making, perceived level of support from other groups, and perceived level of program effectiveness are analyzed. Qualitative and quantitative data from questionnaires administered to site councils of various constituencies in 16 site-managed schools in 4 school districts yielded 118 completed surveys. Response rates by district were 79, 49, 90, and 63 percent. Interviews and observation of council meetings supplemented the surveys. The findings indicated that people did not feel empowered, yet they assigned SBM a moderately high performance score. There was no correlation between feelings of influence on council decision making and the overall assessment of SBM. SBM scores were also highly related to the perceived degree of the principal's support of the program. An inconsistent finding indicated that most groups, especially parents and elementary school teachers, perceived SBM as successful in achieving its goals, but did not feel empowered and were unconcerned about their amount of influence. A possible explanation is that constituents defined success in terms of factors other than major changes in curriculum and the classroom. Appendices include a list of definitions, the survey instrument, return rates, and statistics. (18 references) (LMI)