In the past decade, systemic school reform has taken hold in America in the form of "school-based management" (SBM) or shared decision making as a mechanism for improving schooling. Despite the lack of positive findings from research on the ability of this innovation to improve schooling, the reform innovation continues to grow. This article reviews the research on SBM for urban minority students and posits ways in which minority students may use SBM as a tool to improve education for their children and how their involvement may be enhanced with the assistance of properly prepared school principals. Given the ability of schools to sort students into social-economic classes, effective advocacy by parents of minority children at the school level may serve to counter the sorting function of schools based on one 's race or ethnicity.
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