School Inspection Reports Research Articles

Relationship between Efficient Resource Management and School Effectiveness: Evidence from OFSTED Secondary School Inspections

ABSTRACT In the UK there has been strong governmental pressure on schools to adopt a technicist‐rational approach to management. This paper reports an investigation of the relationship between the efficiency of resource management and school effectiveness using data from 117 secondary school inspection reports undertaken by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED). School effectiveness is assessed in terms of qualitative and quantitative measures of the quality of learning and teaching reported by inspectors. Quantitative indicators of the extent to which schools are assessed as ‘efficient’ in managing resources were derived. Statistical analysis suggests a positive association between school effectiveness and rational management practice.

Value for Money as a School Improvement Strategy: Evidence from the New Inspection System in England*

ABSTRACT The new inspection system in England required for the first time that schools, which now have delegated budgets, be assessed for efficiency and value for money. This development is a decisive thrust in inducing schools to adopt a technicist‐rational approach to school improvement. The paper considers the problems of operationalising the key concepts of efficiency and value for money and the extent to which schools have adopted the rational approach to resource management. Conclusions are derived from a contents analysis of 66 secondary school inspection reports. Very few schools had successfully adopted all elements of the rational resource management model. Most had satisfactory financial management and descriptive school development plans but were weak on costing plans, monitoring and evaluation. *Correspondence: Rosalind Levacic, Centre for Educational Policy and Management, School of Education, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, United Kingdom. Tel.: (01908) 653661 or 653703. Fax: (01908) 654111. E‐mail: R.R.LEVACIC@OPEN.AC.UK.

In Need of a Guarantee

SUMMARY: Recent research, together with school inspection reports by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), reveal that many children are given little opportunity to take part in arts activities. The deficiencies found in arts provision in schools are mainly the unintentional effects of local management of schools and the way schools are interpreting the National Curriculum. Linked with these is the low priority that is often given to ensuring children have ready and wide‐ranging access to the arts. A new report by the Royal Society of Arts, with support by the Arts Council of England and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, documents the key research findings, explains why the arts are at risk, and recommends ways forward (based on the research) and aimed at all groups with a responsibility for arts education in schools.