School-based management is being legislated on the basis of expectations and assumptions about the behaviour of schools in districts using school-based management. However, the literature has indicated inconsistent results are associated with the implementation of school-based management (Malen, Kranz & Ogawa, 1990). These inconsistent outcomes occur when school results are compared to external standards and the results achieved at other schools. Also, researchers tend to compare district aggregates and assume that the schools will allocate resources to improve their results relative to an external standard. In this study the goals that the schools thought were important and the schools' ability to meet them, were the focus of the analysis. The criteria used to determine if the schools had been successful were the indicators identified by the schools in their budget documents. This focus on the individual school sets the study apart from the bulk of research on school-based management and is supported by Beare, Caldwell and Millikan (1989) and Neil (1991).
A study of school-based management, that included Edmonton Public Schools, reported the system allowed flexibility in the allocation of resources and this was accompanied by improvement in parent and student satisfaction (Brown, 1990). Delaney (1995) confirmed this outcome, whose study also indicated a perceived improvement in learning. Whether these conditions are sufficient to allow school-based management to be effective in meeting the schools' perceived needs and whether the perception of improvement can be substantiated is examined in this research. Also, the aggregate performance of the schools allowed an assessment of the effectiveness of using an administrative control model of school-based management in a large district. When governments are forcing school districts to adopt school-based management, this information is particularly timely and relevant.