Central Office and Site-Based Management: An Educator's Guide.

The relationship between the central office and building-level staff in a concept of site-based management has not been explored with much depth in the literature. It is, however, a key philosophical area that must be satisfactorily addressed before site management can work in any district with a central bureaucracy.

Author Angela Sewall, in Central Office and Site-Based Management, presents an interesting overview of the task. Her opening chapters present a historical view of education from a leadership/management perspective. Of greater value to superintendents and principals is the book's latter half.

While the author does not offer many answers, she aptly describes the interplay between the bureaucratic measures necessary to run a school system. Who performs these duties and how these activities are managed make a difference in whether or not site management will be successful. But while providing some relevant examples, the book only scratches the surface of this critical process.

Central Office and Site-Based Management is a good starting point for those wishing to bring these two concepts together in a meaningful way.

(Central Office and Site-Based Management: An Educator's Guide, by Angela M. Sewall, Technomic Publishing Co., P.O. Box 3535, Lancaster, Pa. 17604, 1999, 155 pp., $39.95 hardcover)