This paper provides a comparative analysis of school-based management reforms in four Central American countries (EDUCO in El Salvador, PRONADE in Guatemala, PROHECO in Honduras, and 'Centros Autonomos' in Nicaragua). It starts by providing a characterization of the models and then reviews how they have expanded community participation and empowerment and school decision-making autonomy. It then continues by analyzing the impact of community and school empowerment on the teaching-learning process, including measures of teacher effort. The paper assesses the impact of the models on several...