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North Carolina Network For School-Based Management

In 1996 the North Carolina General Assembly mandated through the School-Based Management and Accountability Act that school-based management be used as the method of decision-making in public schools and that its primary purpose was to improve student performance. The North Carolina Network for School-Based Management was established to develop systemic strategies for schools and school districts to implement school-based management (SBM). The Network has grown from seven original members to twenty four districts. In addition to the member school districts, other partners include the National Education Association (NEA), North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE), East Carolina University, the NC Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Center, the Triangle Leadership Academy and the New Schools Project. The Network is governed by a 24-member coordinating council composed of parents, school board members, teachers, principals, and superintendents from the participating school districts and representatives from the partners.

Through its work, the Network has determined that effective SBM requires that four essential elements be in place:

(1) Clear board and administrative policies and parameters for shared decision-making;

(2) Training in leadership development and Facilitative Leadership;

(3) School Improvement Plans that are focused on the achievement of all students; and

(4) Training for School Improvement Teams in developing and monitoring achievement-focused plans.

For school-based management to increase student achievement, new roles, behaviors, and knowledge must be gained by those involved at the school and district level. The Network has concluded that, once a clearly defined and functioning structure for shared decision-making is in place, when stakeholders have knowledge of best practices and the skills to work in a collaborative environment, school districts are then better able to achieve their student improvement goals and the broad public ownership of those goals envisioned in the ABCs Plus and No Child Left Behind.

The Network received its initial Goals 2000 grant in 1997-98 to develop a model for SBM, grounded in the belief that the purpose of SBM is to produce increased student achievement. Through continued documentation of its effectiveness, the Network received state funding in 2000 to continue its work. The target audience for the Network has been and continues to be principals and School Improvement Teams representing parents, teachers, non-certified staff, school board members and other community members. This audience was selected because of they generally lack group decision-making skills, are frustrated with governance decisions and lack information, especially in the area of student accountability standards and ways to analyze student performance data to improve instruction. The vision that has guided the Network’s school reform initiative continues to be: “All school improvement teams will have the knowledge and skills they need in order to make decisions that improve teaching and learning in their schools.”