Decentralization / Project Summaries
Pockets of Excellence: Organizing for Literacy Achievement
September 2000 – August 2001
The purpose of the Pockets of Excellence study was to identify Los Angeles Unified School District schools that showed improvement over a two-year period in reading, and to map out their successful literacy programs and the organizational and management strategies that supported them. The purposeful sample included two district-run schools, two site-based managed schools and two charter schools.
Funding Source: Center on Urban Education, University of Southern California.
Assessment of the Link Between School-Based Management and School Improvement
June 1993 - October 1997
The purpose of this study was to assess the influences of organizational conditions in schools on the school's ability to innovate and improve classroom practice. The study was based on extensive site visits in seven U.S. school districts and Victoria, Australia where research teams visited a total of 16 elementary and high schools. Data sources for this evaluation included elite interviews with school level participants (faculty, parents, students), teacher surveys in four subject matter areas, classroom observations, and administrative records regarding governance/management strategies, curriculum and instructional reforms, and student and faculty performance.
Funding Source: Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Evaluation of School-Based Management (SBM)
September 1991 - September 1995
This project, one of the U.S. Department of Education's twelve studies of education reform, assessed the effectiveness of SBM as a tool for improving school performance. The evaluation consisted of an implementation analysis in 28 SBM schools (roughly half successful and half struggling with SBM). The study focused on the characteristics of the SBM program, including goals and components; the change process and the transition to SBM; links between SBM and school improvement; and the effects of SBM on school performance, including changes in faculty and student behavior, and resource allocation. Data collection included intensive site visits in which close to 200 elite interviews were conducted with district officials and administrators, and school level participants including faculty, parents and students.
Funding Source: US Department of Education
