School site decision making : a case study of the Edmonton experience

School-Site Decision-Making (SSDM) has been widely discussed in Canada and the United States. The decision to implement SSDM represents a major departure from the traditional authority structure. It requires the concurrence of many key parties such as teachers, principals and school officials. Proponents believe that SSDM can help to improve the quality of schooling by giving more flexibility in curriculum content and deployment of instructional resources. It is for these reasons that the authorities in Singapore have been exploring various innovations which can help to improve the school system. One of the most talked-about SSDM projects is the one launched by the Edmonton Public School Board in 1976. It is widely regarded as the "lighthouse" system of SSDM. This report describes the studies carried out on two schools in the Edmonton system. One was a K-9 community school, the other a senior high comprehensive school. The case studies examined what happens when a major innovation such as SSDM is introduced - what the problems are, how they are solved, and to what extent the goals are achieved.Education, Faculty ofEducational Studies (EDST), Department ofGraduat