Empowering Schools for Success: School-Based Management Practices of Public Schools in Camarines Norte

This study assessed the School-Based Management (SBM) practices of public elementary and secondary schools in the Division of Camarines Norte with the aim of identifying best practices and proposing a handbook intervention. Specifically, it sought to answer the following: (1) What is the Extent of understanding of the principles and practices of SBM in terms of vision and purpose, features, structures and roles, and support systems? (2) What is the extent of SBM implementation along leadership and governance, curriculum and learning, accountability and continuous improvement, and management of resources? (3) Is there a significant relationship between understanding and implementation of SBM? (4) What best practices are evident in SBM implementation? (5) What challenges are encountered by teachers and school heads? and (6) What intervention may be proposed to strengthen SBM practices? A quantitative-descriptive correlational design complemented by thematic analysis was employed, involving six school heads and forty-four teachers purposively selected from SBM implementer schools. Findings revealed that respondents demonstrated excellent understanding of SBM in terms of vision and purpose (OWM = 4.27) and structures and roles (OWM = 4.22), while features (OWM = 4.15) and support systems (OWM = 4.16) were at a good Extent. SBM implementation was rated Exemplary across all dimensions, with curriculum and learning highest (OWM = 4.15). A significant positive relationship (p < 0.01) was found between understanding and implementation. Best practices included collaborative leadership, contextualized curriculum, participatory accountability, and transparent resource management, while challenges included limited stakeholder participation, inadequate human resources, insufficient funding, and difficulty in securing external resources. Based on these, a School-Based Management Handbook was proposed to consolidate policies, processes, and tools for more consistent implementation