Modeling sitebased decision making

Purpose The primary purpose is to present empirical measures of variables relating to practices engaged in by sitebased teams, and then to use these variables to test a model predicting significant outcomes of sitebased decision making. The practice variables of sitebased management SBM teams are essential in promoting research within a distributed leadership framework. Designmethodologyapproach A path model is computed to test the relationships between factors relating to the support received by sitebased teams site team communication and decisionmaking practice, and perceived outcomes of SBM. Measures are based on survey data collected from 367 team members in 50 schools from fifteen school districts in a northeastern state in the US. Findings Results show that different factors relating to the support provided to sitebased teams and practices employed by these teams emerge as statistically significant predictors of various outcomes. Results suggest that the resources provided to support site teams, e.g. the devolution of decisionmaking power, results in enhanced stakeholder influence, but whether this influence results in better decisions or improvement in teaching and learning depends on the communication and decisionmaking practices site teams employ within a distributed leadership framework. Originalityvalue This study sought to identify site team decision making and communication processes that reflect how site teams conduct their work, defining how members of site teams perceive the rules of the game. In doing so, it offers a new and different perspective on how such processes impact outcomes associated with shared decisionmaking processes, and thus a better understanding of the complex dynamics of schoolsite decision making and the distribution of leadership in schools.