School effectiveness is a challenge to stakeholders in education. Although several studies have examined this issue, adequate attention has not been paid to School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) strategies (advocacy, resource mobilization, resource control, communication and instruction monitoring) and community participation as predictors of school effectiveness. The objectives of the study were to determine: (i) the effectiveness of the SBMC strategies; (ii) the level of community participation; (iii) the level of basic school effectiveness; (iv) the challenges affecting SBMC; (v) the factors inhibiting community participation; (vi) the relationship between SBMC strategies and basic school effectiveness; (vii) the relationship between community participation and basic school effectiveness; and (iii) the relationship among SBMC strategies, community participation and basic school effectiveness.The study used a descriptive research design of correlation type with a population of 21,230 basic schools and their SBMCs. A sample of 370 basic schools was selected from four states using random, stratified and systematic sampling procedures. Validated School-Based Management Committee Strategies Questionnaire (SBMCSQ), Community Participation Questionnaire (CPQ), Impact of School-Based Management Committee Questionnaire (ISBMCQ), and Students’ Conduct Observation Inventory (SCOI) with reliability indices of 0.81, 0.79, 0.84, and 0.74 respectively, were used to collect data. Percentage, mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the demographic data and answer the research questions, while correlation and multiple regression analysis were used to test the research hypotheses. The findings of the study were: (i) the use of SBMC strategies was highly effective (mean score = 92.64); (ii) the level of community participation was high (mean score = 4.33); (iii) the level of basic school effectiveness was moderate (mean score of 42.86); (iv) the challenges affecting SBMC included the refusal of the members to attend meetings, lack of proper communication and lack of members’ commitment; (v) the factors inhibiting community participation as perceived by the respondents included lack of interest, ignorance, community attitude to education, and dependence on government;(vi) there was a significant relationship between SBMC strategies and basic school effectiveness (r=0.036, p < 0.05); (vii) there was no significant relationship between community participation and basic school effectiveness (r=0.897, p < 0.05); and(viii) there was no significant relationship among SBMC strategies, community participation and basic effectiveness. The values R and R2 were 0.45a and 0.02 respectively, which were not significant at 0.05. This indicated that only 0.2% variance of basic school effectiveness was demonstrated by the independent variables.The study concluded that, in spite of the numerous challenges affecting SBCMS, SBMC could be used to improve community participation and promote basic school effectiveness by improving its strategies. Based on the findings, it was recommended that more programmes about SBMCs should continue to be sponsored on media to make SBMC advocacy strategies more effective. It was also recommended that the State Ministries of Education in conjunction with State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) and Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAs) should continue to campaign for community participation in basic schools
