School‐based planning:

With the introduction in 1988 of a system of site‐based management in England and Wales, schools are now operating in a radically altered planning context in which responsibility for strategic planning has been delegated from local education authorities (LEAs) to individual schools. Although school development planning has been widely adopted by LEAs in the UK as a rational approach to site‐based planning, indicative research suggests that strategic planning in a sample of schools operating in the newly decentralized environment has been slower to develop in practice than originally anticipated. Evidence of a lack of a coherent planning process in schools casts doubt on their ability to operate successfully in the strategic vacuum likely to be created if the gradual demise of LEAs continues. Suggests that if schools are to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by site‐based management to plan and sustain their own long‐term improvement and development, a thorough review may be needed by central...