This article discusses the results of the study for decision-making styles of school principals, which was held in 2014 in eight regions of the Russian Federation (one region in each federal district). The study follows the methodology of A. Rowe. The aim of the study was to assess reform potential of russian school pricipals, which, according to the authors, in the present conditions is based on the ability to build cooperation with teachers in decision-making as well as in preservation of the ability to solve problems in a situation of uncertainty inherent to times of change.
Based on the data on the styles of decision-making, a comparison of the two reforms in the recent history of Russian education is made: the financial reform proposing certain financial freedom for schools willing to go into the form of an autonomous institution, and the content reform, that offers schools to claim lyceum and gymnasium status with more features to organize the educational process. The comparison reveals that the content reform has attracted a greater number of principals-reformers than the financial one, thus describing the formality and directive way of the latter.