Implementing Local Management of Schools: a theoretical and empirical analysis

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Abstract
This paper examines the process of change that occurs in schools as they implement Local Management of Schools (LMS). It begins with a theoretical analysis of what happens in organizations that have financial responsibility thrust upon them, and uses general understanding of schools to make predictions about possible outcomes. Detailed observations from four schools over a two‐and‐a‐half year period are presented. The schools were studied and analysed by using a methodology and preconceptualization called ‘middle‐range thinking’ that has been used successfully in other contexts. The results indicate that all the work and stress of implementing LMS is contained and absorbed by a very small group of senior teachers and administrative support staff, and that the core educational values of the school are unaffected. There is a danger that this decoupling of finance and education could lead to a split between educators and managers. The absorbing groups in the study are relatively happy with the concept of LMS, but they are concerned about the links between educational performance as measured by examination results performance and similar simple statistics and funding of the school. This linkage is indirect at the moment, but if LMS is to become a full implementation of the Government's ‘Financial Management Initiative’, then the linkages would become more explicit.