This article reviews existing literature on school-based management policy and research and highlights several themes related to both why school-based management does not work and how it can be designed to be more effective. The intended purpose is to offer new directions for school-based management policy and research, based on what is already known and where knowledge deficiencies lie. The results from the review suggest that future policy and research ought to expand its purview of school-based management to include more than just delegating budget, personnel, and curriculum decisions to schools and to join school-based management as a governance reform with content (curriculum and instruction) reforms so as to enhance the possibilities for improving educational practice.
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