摘要：This article examines the characteristics of school effectiveness and how the school effectiveness policy works in the context of education decentralization. The research approach is qualitative exploratory and was conducted in 2016 in 10 out of 35 districts/cities in Central Java Province. The results showed that there are eight characteristics of effective schools: effective school leadership, efficient learning processes, active community participation, a conducive school environment, increased professionalism of educators, heightened expectations of students, the commitment of teachers, which together lead to good student achievement. Local government policy has not been mentioned explicitly to build an effective school. The government system should contribute to creating effective schools through human resource development, community participation, provision of facilities and infrastructure, professional development of educators, guiding students’ and teachers' achievement, monitoring student progress, education financing to some degree, and the commitment of local governments to give appreciation to education actors.
