The School Design Project: Applying Models of Management to K-12 School Districts

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project proposes a study of the organization and management of the three largest urban public school systems in America (New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles), a comparison of each with its counterpart parochial school system, and a study of three innovative, decentralized public school systems (Seattle, Houston, and Edmonton). The analysis will test the "M-Form Hypothesis," which predicts that among large organizations, the decentralized form with accountability will outperform the centralized form. The study will undertake an evaluation of the managerial, budgetary, legal and economic features of each system through a multidisciplinary research team.