MODULE 9
The School Head in School-Based Management (SBM)
KEY TAKEAWAYS
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this Chapter, you should be able
to:
1. explain the meaning, advantages,
disadvantages and demands of SBM;
2. state practices aligned to SBM; and
3. explain the roles, functions and
competencies of school heads in
SBM.
Activity - Let's Read These
Mabuhay Elementary School had very
low Mean Percentage Score (MPS) in the last
Grade 6 exit examination. Pupil tardiness and
absences are rampant. Truancy is another
problem as some pupils cut classes because
they spend their time playing video games in
the computer shops nearby. Absences are also
very rampant. Children claim they are told to
absent by their parents to do rice planting and
harvesting.
Feeling helpless, Ms. Ligaya called on
teachers, parents and leaders of the
community for a meeting. In the meeting, she
presented the problems of the school and
asked for help to improve school
performance. There were many suggestions
given. So these were written down in a simple
matrix like the one below:
 SBM means school-based management. It is the
empowerment of schools to direct their own affairs
for high performance.
 It involves the school he head leading his/her
teachers, students, parents and other members of
the community to address problems and concerns
with the ultimate goal of improving school
performance. It is based on the principle of
subsidiarity which states that it is those who are
most involved at the lowest level of the
organization who can best solve their problems.
 The advantages of SBM include:
 Allows competent individuals in the schools to
make decisions that will improve learning;
 Gives the entire school community a voice in
key decisions;
 Practices focuses accountability for decisions;
 Demands greater creativity in the design of
programs;
 Redirects resources to support the goals
developed in each school;
 Leads to realistic budgeting as parents and
teachers become more aware of the school's
financial status, spending limitations, and the
cost of its programs;
 Improves morale of teachers and nurtures new
leadership at all levels.
 Disadvantage of SBM
 Participatory decision-making needs time and
may slow down process
 Demands of SBM
 Active and intelligent participation of
stakeholders
 Democratic and transformative leadership of
school head
 S t d f hi h th iti t
Problem Cause Objective Activity Persons Resources Timefram Expected
Involved Needed e Outcome
1. Tardiness Late To reduce Talk to PTA PTA Zero
rising tardiness parents in officers; meeting on tardiness
due to tv; to zero Homeroom Teachers March 15
distance ; ; School
of home Head;
to school; Parents to
Compute limit tv
r shop viewing: March 30

PTA to
meet with
computer
shop

owners not
to allow
students in
shop from
6:30 AM
and during
school
hours
2. Games in To reduce Present PTA Unexcuse
Absenteeis computer unexcuse problem officers; d absences
m shops; d and seek Teachers to reduced
pupils' absences solutions in ; School to zero
lack of to zero PTA Head
interest Meeting:
to go to PTA talk to
school; computer
work in shops'
the farm owners:
March 30
Teachers to
come up
with
Interesting
lessons to
motivate
students to Video
come to clips
school
Games

Reference
s

ANALYSIS

Share your answers with your small group.

1. What problems did Mabuhay Elementary School have?

2. What did Ms. Ligaya, the school head, do to address the problem?
3. Could it have been better if she addressed the problem by herself? What could have possibly
happened if she did it alone?
 4. What was the advantage of involving others in addressing the problems?
5. Wasn't a directive from the Office of the Superintendent or Regional Director the fastest solution
to the problems? Why or why not?

ABSTRACTION

The Meaning of School-Based Management (SBM)

Ms. Ligaya, the school head, is smart. She knew she couldn't solve the problems all alone so she
involved the teachers, the parents, the student leaders and leaders of the community. She knew that by
involving them these members of the school community will feel a sense of importance and a sense of
ownership. Because they were the ones directly involved with the problems, they themselves are in the
best position to solve the problem. The actions that Ms. Ligaya took are all in accordance with School-
Based Management.

What is school-based management? School based-management is a decentralized management

initiative by developing power or authority to school heads, teachers, parents and students. (SBM) is a
strategy to improve education by transferring significant decision- making authority from the DepEd
Central Office, regional offices, division offices to individual schools. SBM provides principals, teachers,
students, and parents greater control over the education process by giving them responsibility for
decisions about the budget, personnel, and the curriculum. Through the involvement of teachers, parents,
and other community members in these key decisions, SBM can create more effective learning
environments for children.

SBM and the Principle of Subsidiarity

SBM is in keeping with the principle of subsidiarity which states that it is the people at the lowest
level who will know best their problems and so are in the best position to address the same. This tenet
holds that "nothing should be done by a larger and more complex organization which can be done as well
by a smaller and simpler organization. In other words, any activity which can be performed by a more
decentralized entity should be done by that more decentralized entity." https://action.org/pub/religion-
liberty/ volume-6-number-4/principle-subsidiarity) Those in the higher echelon are far removed from the
scene and are therefore not as involved and as informed as those from those below.

Advantages of SBM

The following are strengths of SBM:

 Allow competent individuals in the schools to make decisions that will improve learning;
 Give the entire school community a voice in key decisions;
 Focus accountability for decisions;
 Lead to greater creativity in the design of programs;
 Redirect resources to support the goals developed in each school;
 Lead to realistic budgeting as parents and teachers become more aware of the school's financial
status, spending limitations, and the cost of its programs; and,
 Improve morale of teachers and nurture new leadership at all levels.

Through SBM, decision making authority is devolved to school heads, teachers, parents and
students. This is school empowerment. This reduces bureaucratic controls on schools and encourage
school heads, teachers and parents to use greater initiative. in meeting the needs of students and
community. This results in a sense of community school ownership which makes the school realize its
vision and mission.
 Involving stakeholders - parents, teachers, students and other members of the community is also
helpful in the mobilization of local resources to complement public resources. Concrete proof of this is
the number of classrooms built as a result of the strong partnership between schools and communities and
successful school- community programs like those described in the Chapter on The School and the
Community.

Through SBM, problems and needs at the school level get solved faster and specific personalities
and cultures are taken into consideration. These personalities and cultures are usually ignored in multi-
layered in hierarchical organization like DepEd. In a hierarchical organization, straight jacket rules,
procedures and allocation norms are given and apply to all. It takes time to solve problems if schools have
to wait for answers from above. As a result, teachers, parents and students are frustrated due to delays.

In SBM, schools take the responsibility to plan and implement their School Improvement Plans
(SIP). (The table that you scrutinized in the Activity phase of the lesson is a of a part of a School
Improvement Plan). It is the schools themselves, not DepEd higher offices that know best their problems
and the solutions to these problems. It is the schools that determine the number and kind of teachers they
need, the kind of learning materials and resources they need.

Since schools are given more power to direct themselves, they are made accountable for results.
SBM makes schools accountable to the stakeholders.

Legal Basis of SBM

The Philippine Constitution provides that Congress shall enact a local government code that will
institutionalize a system of decentralization (Article 10, Sec. 3) whereby local government units shall be
extended more power, authority....The Local Government Code in 1991 is a fulfillment of this
Constitutional provision.

This means that long before the Department of Education (DepEd) legally introduced
decentralization in schools through School-Based Management (SBM) in 2001 through the enactment of
RA 9155, local government units were already empowered for local governance. RA 9155, Basic
Governance Act transfers the power and authority as well as the resources to the school level. School
empowerment is based on the assumption that the school heads including teachers, key leaders in the
community, parents know best the root and solution to the problem.

Conditions for the Success of SBM

 Teachers, school heads must be given the opportunity to make choices. They must actively
participate in school improvement planning.
 The involvement of parents and teachers must be strongly encouraged and highly welcomed.
 Stakeholders must participate in the development of a School Improvement Plan. They must have
a say on resource allocation to meet specific needs.
 Higher authorities must actively encourage thoughtful experimentation and innovation in an
atmosphere where mistakes are viewed as learning experiences. They must be willing to share
their authority with the academic and the larger community.
 Teachers must develop reflection, problem solving.

In addition, based on international experience, the following must be present for SBM to succeed in
schools:

 have basic resources;

 have developed an effective school support system;
 are provided with regular information on their performance;
 are given advice on how they may improve; and
 emphasize the motivational element in the management work of the principal
 The success of SBM very much depends on the school head. Below are his/her functions:

Table 5. Functions of a School Head

Roles Functions Knowledge/Skills/Attitudes

Visionary principal, motivator,
advocate and planner
Builder of networks and
support system
Curriculum developer
Fiscal Resource Manager
(Source: Department of Education, a Primer on School Leadership
Required
Lead in setting the vision, Change and future orientaton
mission and goals of the school
Organize/expand school, Networking, organizing, social
community and local mobilization, advocacy
government networks and
groups that will actively
participate in school
improvement
Lead in developing the School Development of teamwork,
Improvement Plan with the building consensus and skills in
participation of the staff and negotiation and conflict resolution
community
Lead in developing and Participatory planning and
maintaining the school administrative management
Management Information
System
Generation and use of data and
information as basis for planning
and management
Create a physical and Development of collective
psychological climate conducive accountability for school and
to teaching and learning student performance
Localize and implement school Designing of the curriculum to
curriculum address both national goals, local
needs and aspirations
Encourage development and use Creation of an open learning system
of innovative instructional based on several resource materials
methods focused on improving rather than on single textbooks
learning outcomes, increasing
access to basic education,
improving the holding power of Participatory and peer based
schools and addressing specific instructional supervision
local problems
Administer and manage all Fund management
personnel, physical and fiscal
resources of the school
Encourage accepts donations, Serving as model for transparency
gifts, bequests and grants for and accountability especially in
educational purposes and report financial management
all such donations to the
appropriate offices

Factors of School Effectiveness Based on Research

Effective practices need to be institutionalized for them to become part of the school culture. To
build professional capacity and establish mechanism that supports the continuing quality improvement of
schools is an assurance that effective schools even become more effective. School-Based Management
(SBM) is the mechanism introduced by the Department of Education in the Philippines to continuously
work on effective schools. As the term implies, in SBM, schools are given greater autonomy to make
decisions regarding education of children.

There research finding of OECD confirms "that school autonomy has a positive relationship with
student performance when account- ability measures are in place and/or when school principals and
teachers collaborate in school management" (OECD, 2012). China and Singapore have been "devolving
more responsibility to the school level" (Stewart, 2008). In Finland, accountability rests on the trust
placed by families and government in the professional competence of teachers (Stewart, 2008).

In the Philippines, the devolving of more responsibility to the schools was done through the School-
Based Management (SBM). SBM was introduced during the implementation of the Third Elementary
Education Project (TEEP), 1999-2005. In 2005, TEEP conducted a study to determine the effect of
school-based management on student performance in the Philippines using the administrative dataset of
all public schools in 23 school districts over a 3-year period, 2003-2005. The results showed that the
introduction of SBM had a statistically significant, although small, overall positive effect on average
school-level test scores in 23 school districts in the Philippines. (Source:
http://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/abs/10.1596/1813-9450- 5248). Accessed 9-1-16)

With SBM, significant decision-making authority transferred from state and district offices to
individual schools. SBM provided principals, teachers, students, and parents greater control over the
education process by giving them responsibility for decisions about the budget, personnel, and the
curriculum. Through the involvement of teachers, parents, and other community members in these key
decisions, SBM can create more effective learning environments for children. (Source: Office of Research
Education/Consumer Guide). To further strengthen the School- Based Management (SBM) practice and
re-emphasize the centrality of the learners and the involvement of relevant community in basic education
service delivery, the Department of Education (DepEd) embarked on revisiting the SBM framework,
assessment process and tool to improve on already recognized successful SBM practices across the
regions (DO 83, s. 2012). To institutionalize decentralization efforts at the school level and in line with
Republic Act No. 9155 also known as Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001, the Department of
Education (DepEd) provided School-Based Management (SBM) Grants as additional funds to public
elementary and secondary schools,... to augment the school fund on Maintenance and Other Operating
Expenses (DO 45, s. 2015).

Philippine Accreditation System for Basic Education (PASBE)

The institutionalization of SBM was strengthened with the introduction of the Philippine
Accreditation System for Basic Education (PASBE) which was launched through DepED Order No. 64, s.
2012. Accreditation is a process of self-evaluation and peer- review to ensure that quality standards
agreed upon by stakeholders are understood, implemented, maintained, and enhanced for continuous
improvement of learner outcomes (DepEd DO 20, s. 2013 - The Philippine Accreditation System for
Basic Education' (PASBE) Supplemental Guidelines to DepEd Order No. 83, S. 2012). Source:
http://www.teacherph.com/a-comprehensive-guide-to-school-based-management-sbm/Accessed 9-2-2016

The agreed upon standards of quality or effective schools are grounded on the four principles of A
Child-and -Community - Centered Education Systems (ACCESS), namely: (1) principle of collective
leadership (2) principle of community-based learning (3) principle of accountability for performance and
results and (4) principle of convergence to harness resources for education. All of these four principles
also apply to SBM.

The school's level of SBM practice can either be Level 1, Developing; Level II, Maturing and Level
III, Advanced. A school that reaches the highest level of SBM practice qualifies for an accredited status.
 Leadership and Curriculum and Accountability and Continuous Management of
Accreditation Status Improvement
governance learning Resources

Autonomous (Re-
Accredited Status)
Level III
Accredited (Initial
Accreditation) Advanced (Accredited)

Candidate status
Level II

(Maturing)

Level I

(Developing)

Level of Practice

Figure 1. SBM – PASBE Operational Framework

(Source: DepEd Order # 64, s. 2012)

A school in Level I, developing, means that the school is developing structures and mechanisms
with acceptable level and extent of community participation and impact on learning. A school in Level II,
described as Maturing, means that the school is introducing and sustaining continuous improvement
process that integrates wider community participation and significantly improve performance and
learning outcomes. Level III, Advanced (Accredited) means that the school is ensuring the production of
intended outputs/outcomes and meeting all standards of a system fully integrated in the local community
and is self-renewing and self- sustaining.

In conclusion, PASBE is a means to institutionalize SBM, the granting of more autonomy to schools
for them to chart their destiny to grow in effectiveness continuously.

Factors that Contribute to School Effectiveness

Research findings point to the following factors that spell school effectiveness:

1. Human factors - These include a dynamic school head, highly selected competent and committed
teachers, highly motivated pupils with high expectations, and a supportive community.

2. Non- human factors, processes - These refer to clear and shared vision-mission (focus), high
expectations/ ambitious standards, emphasis on accountability, aligned curriculum, instruction and
assessment with state / DepEd standards, efficiency or optimal utilization of resources and facilities,
collaboration and communication, focused professional development, and global and future orientation.
 These factors are exemplified by high performing schools in the Philippines and abroad and by the
best education performing countries in the world.

In the Philippines, the practice of School-Based Management, gave greater autonomy to schools to
make decisions in collaboration with parents and community towards greater school effectiveness. The
SBM Assessment Tool is an instrument used to assess schools' effectiveness and its use for accreditation
of schools is an assurance that effective practices get institutionalized to build the school's culture of
excellence. A copy of this SBM Assessment Tool is in Appendix A.

The heart of all these elements, both human and non-human is the school head, the school leader.
This means that all these factors that contribute to school effectiveness come forth only with a dynamic
and a transformational school leader.

APPLICATION

1. Form 4 groups. Each group will do a Powerpoint presentation to explain one of the ff: 1)
meaning, 2) advantages, 3) disadvantages and 4) demands of SBM.
2. Divide the class into 2 groups. Each group will simulate a meeting called by the school head to
address the following problems: 1) litter in the school grounds and classroom, 2) bullying among
students, 3) poorly motivated students. Apply the principles of SBM.

After each simulation, point out which act was/was not in accordance with SBM principles?

Let's Check for Understanding

I. Put a check (√) before the statement/s that apply/ies to SBM and an (X) before those that don't.

1. In SBM, only the school head matters.

2. In SBM, the Schools Division Superintendent is the leader.
3. Parents who have no children in the school cannot be consulted in SBM.
4. School empowerment is the essence of SBM.
5. Students cannot be consulted by the school head because they are not yet adults.
6. One advantage of SBM is the development of a sense of school ownership among members of the
academic and larger community.
7. SBM is aligned to the principle of subsidiarity.
8. SBM succeeds even if school head is closed to ideas and suggestions. Anyway, he/she is the head
on whom the solution of the problem depends.
9. One weakness of SBM is delayed action because there must be consultation of stakeholders.
10. SBM has no weakness, only strengths.
11. SBM is in keeping with the decentralization move as encouraged by the Philippine Constitution.
12. SBM is school empowerment.
13. An authoritarian atmosphere encourages empowerment.
14. In SBM, experimentation is welcome.
15. In SBM, schools just wait for approved budget that includes specific items to spend on.

II. Metaphoric Thinking

To which do you compare SBM ? Write a metaphor.

SBM is______________________

As a future teacher what did you find most meaningful in this lesson and why?_____________
Let's Reflect

Do I welcome SBM or do I see it as an additional work?

Taking it to the Net

Which countries apply SBM? Did SBM implementation help improve their schools? Share your findings.

LET Clinchers

Multiple Choice: Select the letter of the correct answer.

1. Is SBM, if implemented the right way, an effective way to strengthen school and community
partnership?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Depends on size of school

D. Depends on school location

2. Which is an advantage of SBM?

A. Fast resolution of problems in school because school head decides

B. Sense of ownership of stakeholders

C. In accordance with decentralization law

D. Total independence of schools

3. Which is the essence of SBM?

LA. Reduced authority of school head

B. Absolute freedom of education stakeholders

C. Principal empowerment

D. School empowerment

4. For SBM to succeed, which must be present?

A. Effective school support system

B. Leader with a strong personality

C. Docile community

D. Low expectation
5. With SBM in mind, which does NOT belong?

A. Decentralized management

B. Devolution of power to schools

C. School empowerment

D. Centralized management