Site-Based Management, Knowledge Base of Kentucky Superintendents

Recent educational literature has stressed the benefits of site-based management as a valuable tool in school reorganization. Following a recent ruling of the state Supreme Court and legislative mandate for implementation of site-based management, a survey was designed for the purpose of ascertaining the knowledge base among superintendents of the Commonwealth of Kentucky on the topic “site-based management” The data revealed that while there was considerable interest in site-based management among superintendents, there was also considerable confusion on the topic. Superintendents were largely unaware of a rather large body of research which clearly demonstrated the merits of participatory management in business and industry, and more recently site-based management in United States schools. Furthermore, the data revealed the existence of role ambiguity, resistance of role ambiguity, resistance to immediate implementation of site-based management, doubt over the longevity of site-based management, and nearly universal desire for training in site based-management for the respondents and their staff members. A number of recommendations were cited including the call for the superintendents to familiarize themselves with the abundant literature, standardization of terminology and immediate implementation of intensive training programs in site-based management for superintendents and others