The practice of School-Based Management (SBM) and leadership in sustaining school improvement are the focus of this Study. The Objective is to assess and describe the basic actions that schools practice to build effective educational management and investigates the characteristics of a school leader on the effect of school-Based Management (SBM) and leadership on student development. It also suggests that these practices are context specific and differentiated among schools. Following a review of literature, five key-research questions were formulated, addressed through two case-studies carried out in one government preparatory school and one private school in Addis Ababa City Administration, Ethiopia, Arada Sub-City. The study used a cross case-study design, using qualitative methods of data collection. In each school, semi-structured interviews, non-participant observations and document checking were conducted, providing method and data triangulation. Data analysis was conducted in two stages: within-case and cross-case analysis. Analysis revealed that SBM and leadership practice usually starts by involving teachers and transforming the school into a professional-learning-community where learning and improvement as practiced by teachers and students. Consequently, SBM and leadership practice were based on developing strategies that are unique to each school given its context, internal leadership predispositions and culture that ensure sustainable improvement for each particular school. This research result on SBM and leadership provides a visual display of interaction between internal capacity, culture and external context. Consequently, practicing School-Based Management (SBM) provided opportunity for building the capacity for school-improvement programs that enabled internal and external forces of change and development.rnKey Words: School-Based Management, Addis Ababa Secondary Schools, Cross-Case Analysis