What Is Site-based School Management

What is Site-Based School Management? Abbreviated to SBM, Site-Based School Management is actually one of the most innovative approaches being used today for the United States Educational System. The method is believed to produce excellent results in the teaching system of the country with more and more schools actually practicing the idea in order to bring their education level up to par with others.

But what is Site-Based School Management approach exactly? Simply put, it is a scheme wherein the central-office delegates the decision making process to the individual schools. Essentially, they will be putting more responsibility to the school and allowing the specific educational institution to approach and solve its own problems without any prodding from the central office.

Of course, "school" is a relative term here as the institution is still composed of various individuals. The decisions of the school as a whole are still subject to the discussions made by people within the said organization. Hence, there are different concepts in which SBM operates which include the following.

Principal as Site Manager

In this concept, the principal is the site manager and is therefore responsible for all the decision-making process of the school. As the institutions on-site leader, the direction of the organization would make his or her decisions on how they view the school's advancement.

Teachers as Policymakers

Of course, the principal is not the sole authority figure in most schools. The concept of teachers as policymakers is also popular as they are the ones that are routinely exposed to the students and are affected by various policies. In this approach, the teachers act collectively in making decisions not only for the lessons but also administrative concerns. This is also advantageous for the teachers as it increase their professionalism on the job.

The Role of Parents

Another concept is the involvement of parents in the decisions making process. Since parents are essentially the ones being serviced by the school, it only makes sense that they lend a hand in the policy making process. Parents would from a school-body that would allow them to deliberate over school concerns ad policies that would affect their children.

Parity

Parity or equality is currently one of the most famous today because it gives all above-given parties the chance to have their say over the school's policies. The teachers, parents and the school administration would confer with each other in order to reach decisions regarding the running of the school. With all these concerned people involved in the conversation, most decisions reached will be in favor of all the parties concerned.

The Goal of SBM

By localizing school decisions, most people believe that it would result to a much more effective educational system in the US. The input of the people who are familiar with the specific school would help create policies that fit the learning institution perfectly. The people behind the decisions - staff, teachers and parents - would also be aware of the importance of their actions as it reflects directly on the community. Hence, they will become more careful when deliberating over problems and arriving at decisions. A Site-Based School Management also makes it possible for schools to be realistic with their goals since central offices usually set up standards based on averages.

So what is Site-Based School Management and would it be helpful in improving the current education system? With the right implementation, schools found that SBM works wonderfully for their institution. However, there are still some pitfalls to the approach which could make it worse rather than better for the school. For example, schools rarely have the right resources to provide training for council members, thereby sorely affecting the quality of their decisions. Simply put, the effectiveness of SMB varies depending on the school's implementation of the concept.