School Based Decision Making

Abstract

The 1989 Task Force on Education Reform adopted 12 systemic principles used in drafting the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). One of the principles formed the basis for School Based Decision Making (SBDM). It stated: "School accountability and school-based authority are two intertwined parts of the same proposition" (Foster, 1999; Task Force on Education Reform, 1989, p. 2). In other words, once the Task Force selected schools as the unit for the commonwealth's new accountability and assessment system, the General Assembly agreed that schools should have statutory authority to plan and make policy addressing achievement of accountability goals. The legislation mandating SBDM in conjunction with KERA's other systemic features was enacted in 1990 and codified as KRS § 160.345.