英国中小学资金管理原则与策略探究

英国中小学资金管理经历了由外部控制到自主抉择的发展过程.最优价值原则作为英国地方政府提供服务的基本原则,同样适用于中小学的资金管理.在遵循该原则的前提下,英国中小学管理者采取了一系列的资金管理策略.部分校外机构为学校资金管理提供了广泛的支持,同时也行使了对它们的监督.     

A comparison of the governing of primary and secondary schools in England

In England, governing bodies continue to be responsible for the conduct of publicly funded schools. This article compares the governing of publicly funded primary schools (for 5–11 year olds) and secondary schools (for 11–18 year olds). The research analysed policy documents and the governing of 16 primary and 14 secondary schools. The main governance mode for both primary schools and secondary schools is hierarchical and similar in nature, and the governing bodies of primary and secondary schools use broadly similar governing instruments. However, they differ in significant ways. In primary schools, governing is smaller in scale and less complex. Primary school governing is closer to the school and children, and the images held by governors of the system to be governed are better developed in primary schools. Functional knowledge was more useful in primary school governing, and the use of informal meetings as instruments of governance was more widespread in primary school governing. The findings and their implications need to be taken into account in the analysis of and policy making for school governing.     

The Provision of Mandarin Chinese in the UK Secondary Schools: what's in the way?

More and more British secondary schools start to offer Mandarin Chinese and some have already implemented it into the school timetable. However, the provision of Mandarin Chinese still faces many problems, which are discussed in this article from five perspectives based on the data collected.     

Dances in migratory,community and school contexts: identity marks and folklorised presences

ABSTRACT

In this research, I analyse the practice of caporales dances in community and school contexts. I put forward some debates around the position of dances in the processes of education and identity definition. I delve into the identification of the caporales with Bolivian migration, poverty and contexts of discrimination. The references are centred on the teaching and performance of these dances in workshops and festivities held by organisations of Bolivian migrants in a town near the city of Buenos Aires. I continue with the analysis of the practices of this dance in school situations and its coexistence with current trends of nationalism in Argentine schools.     

Transfer from middle to secondary school: a New Zealand study

Issues related to pupils’ transfer into secondary schools have been well-documented (Brown and Armstrong, in: M.B. Youngman (Ed.), Mid-schooling transfer: Problems and proposals, NFER-Nelson, Windsor, UK, 1986; Hargreaves, Two cultures of schooling: The case of middle schools, Falmer Press, Basingstoke, UK, 1986; Power and Cotterell, ERDC Report No. 27. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1981). A common feature of the research is the disparity between the environments of primary and secondary schools (Ward, NZ Principal, 27, (1997); Forbes and Ward, NZ Herald, 47, 11 December (1996)). The research suggests that the greater the difference between the two schools’ cultures, the greater the need for support for those transferring. In part, this need has traditionally been fulfilled in New Zealand by Intermediate Schools, two-year transition schools for Years 7 and 8. More recently, some of these schools have become four-year middle schools. By delaying transition to secondary school for two years (i.e., to Year 11), the middle schools offer an alternative route to secondary school. The research study described in this chapter tracked the movement of a class of pupils who chose to stay on at a middle school for Years 9 and 10, rather than transferring to secondary schools at the end of Year 8. Their perceptions of transition and those of a sample of school parents are detailed.     

Developing mainstream resource provision for pupils with autism spectrum disorder: parent and pupil perceptions

The diverse needs of pupils with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have led to a continuum of educational provision being promoted in many countries, and which is often developed at a local level. The majority of children and young people with ASD in the UK attend mainstream schools, and resourced mainstream schools are increasingly part of this continuum of provision. These schools offer additional environmental modifications and adult support over and above that normally provided by mainstream schools. How parents and pupils perceive such provisions has not previously been investigated. The current study was designed to explore the perceptions of parents and pupils in five primary and three secondary resource provision schools in one Local Authority during the pupils’ first year at the provisions. A series of interviews took place with 16 parents and 9 pupils during this initial year. Data were analysed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecosystemic theory was used to conceptualise and organise the complex interactions between home, local education systems, school systems and sub-systems, and their impact on pupil outcomes over time. Findings and implications are discussed in relation to theory and practice.     

Developing mainstream resource provision for pupils with autism spectrum disorder: staff perceptions and satisfaction

The majority of children and young people with autism spectrum disorder are educated in mainstream schools. The diverse needs of this group of pupils has led to a continuum of provision being promoted in the UK and other countries, and developed at a local level. This continuum includes mainstream schools with resource provision which can offer enhanced physical and staffing resources beyond those normally provided in mainstream schools. How teaching staff perceive such provisions and their development over time have not previously been investigated. The current study was designed to explore the perceptions of staff working in five primary and three secondary school resource provisions in one local authority throughout the first year of the provisions and at three-year follow-up.Sixty-six interviews with senior teachers, mainstream teachers and resource provision staff took place during the initial year, with 21 three-year follow-up interviews. Data were analysed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Data provide tentative support for Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecosystemic theory as a framework for representing the complex interactions within the resource provision schools, between systems and their development over time. Findings and implications are discussed in relation to theory and practice.     

中职教师多媒体课件设计与制作能力现状研究——以广西中职教师为例

以2009年广西中职教师多媒体课件评选活动为契机,进行现状分析,发现中职教师在思想观念、课题选择、制作工具选用、教学设计等方面存在问题。从而提出摒弃传统思想观念、加大对中职教师课件设计技能培训、举办课件制作比赛、改变中职教师考核方式等策略和途径。     

陕西省中小学现代学校制度建设存在问题调查分析

陕西省中小学现代学校制度建设在取得成果的同时,还存在政府与公办学校关系没完全理顺、校长一言堂、内部管理同质化、民主监督机制失灵和社区与家长没有真正参与学校管理等问题。对此,提出落实学校依法办学自主权、落实自主管理和民主监督办学内涵、促进社会参与学校教育机制的建立、全力推进中小学"四大核心制度"建设、发挥督导作用促进全省中小学现代学校制度建设等对策建议。     

Implementing Online Counselling in Australian Secondary Schools: What Principals Think

Today’s young people have integrated the online world into their everyday reality and schools have generally accepted the importance of technology in the education process. However, there has been limited use in schools of technology to counsel young people, although early indications suggest that school counsellors may be prepared to offer synchronous online counselling if they were supported by school principals. The aim of this study was to investigate Australian secondary school principals’ views about using an online format for counselling in schools. There were 33 principals who participated and they indicated technological competency and acknowledged the benefits of using technology in the counselling process. The principals were generally supportive of the provision of online school counselling, although their major concern was the need for more counsellors and the impact on the workload of current counselling staff. A few principals, however, were unconvinced about offering online counselling and had a fundamental preference for face-to-face communication experiences for students. Strategies for facilitating the acceptance of online counselling by principals and guiding implementation in schools are proposed.     

Public and private school efficiency and equity in Latin America: New evidence based on PISA for development

Using the recent PISA for Development (2017) learning survey, we offer new evidence on whether there is a private–public schools efficiency gap in Latin America and the role of distinct barriers and inequality on efficiency. We obtain school efficiency scores using Data Envelopment Analysis from 705 schools in four countries – Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay. We find that the private schools efficiency is 0.88 whereas it is lower for public schools (at 0.82). Thus, there is a positive efficiency gap for private schools, with the lower efficiency in public schools may be explained by the additional obstacles they face (such as higher prevalence of student work). However, there is a greater scope in public schools of boosting efficiency by decreasing inequality and the provision of remedial classes. Whole sample results seem to be driven by two countries: Ecuador and Paraguay.     

Drawing digital pictures: An investigation of primary pupils’ representations of ICT and schools

The relatively restricted nature of children's use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) inside the school setting has long been noted by researchers. With this in mind, this article offers a grounded analysis of drawings collected from 355 primary pupils (years three to six) from five English primary schools depicting desired future forms of school ICT provision. The article contends that the nature and content of these future orientated pictures reflect many of the tensions underlying children's current engagements with ICTs in school. Specifically the article discusses how the drawings offer valuable insights into the issues underlying pupils’ understandings of ICT and schools, not least: the restrictions of the school as organisation; the oppositional relationship between the ‘work’ of learning in school and the ‘play’ of using digital media at home; the unequal power relations that exist between pupils, schools and teachers. The article concludes that rather than accede to demands for free and unfettered use of game consoles and portable devices in the classroom, schools should instead concentrate on fostering informed dialogues with young people about the potential educational benefits of school ICT use.     

Leadership for School Improvement: The Role of the Head of Department in UK Secondary Schools

The study examines the role of the Head of Department in UK secondary schools in terms of its potential for school improvement. Thirty-two heads of department in secondary schools in Birmingham and Manchester were shadowed and interviewed in order to identify: (1) their leadership and management styles; (2) the sense of empowerment felt by each; (3) initiatives for improving teaching, learning and achievement in their departments; and (4) obstacles to improving teaching, learning and achievement. Four deputy head teachers in the sample schools were also interviewed with the purpose of eliciting their views on the role of the head of department in facilitating school improvement. The findings support the prediction that distributed leadership (or shared power) among senior and middle managers in UK schools still remains rhetoric rather than practice and that there is a growing need for current middle management development and training provision to change radically if middle managers are to be supported as curriculum leaders and managers     

Who gets to play? Investigating equity in musical instrument instruction in Scottish primary schools

There is a widely held view that learning to play a musical instrument is a valuable experience for all children in terms of their personal growth and development. Although there is no statutory obligation for instrumental music provision in Scottish primary schools, there are well-established Instrumental Music Services in Local Education Authorities that have been developed to provide this facility for pupils. This article presents the findings of a study that was aimed at investigating the extent to which the opportunity to undertake instrumental instruction in Scottish primary schools is equitable. The study employed a mixed-methods approach. Data were gathered from 21 Scottish primary schools, a total pupil population of 5122 pupils of whom 323 pupils were receiving instrumental instruction. The analysis involved an investigation of the academic profile of this group, the representation of children with additional support needs (ASN) and the nature of their ASN. A qualitative analysis of policy and guideline documents and interviews with Heads of Instrumental Services, headteachers and instrumental instructors served to explain and illuminate the quantitative data. The findings showed that particular groups of children with ASN were significantly under-represented and offer explanations of the processes by which this occurs.     

Curriculum Continuity and Transfer from Primary to Secondary School: the case of history

The transfer of children from primary school to secondary school has long been seen as a problematic area. The National Curriculum was depicted as offering a solution to some of the transfer problems by providing for curriculum continuity across the primary-secondary divide. This paper reports the results of a study of curriculum continuity in one subject, history, now that a National Curriculum has been in place for several years. It reports that teachers continue to see problems with the transfer and that secondary school teachers still incline to a ‘fresh start’ approach to year 7 pupils. There is also some evidence of a lack of curriculum consistency within the secondary schools involved in the research, there are differences between primary and secondary schools in the range of teaching and learning methods employed, there is some decline in pupils’ ratings of their experience of secondary education across year 7 and there are signs of some gender differences in these ratings. The conclusion is that there is a case for saying that the new arrangements have not alleviated the problems associated with the transfer.     

Crisis in the transition from school to work: The Cross-River-State (Nigeria) lesson

Summary The Cross River State of Nigeria is rich, open, and to some extent its virgin fields of industrialization, its agricultural lands, the petroleum industry and allied business have not only provided employment opportunities for its citizens, but have also helped to boost its economy.At the same time, varied educational institutions have been opened for the education of young people. In 1976, many school age children were enrolled in the primary school because the universal primary education scheme was formally launched throughout the country. Although education in the secondary school level depends on one's ability to pay rather than on one's ability to learn, more parents are today able to pay for their son's and daughters' education than it was the case twenty years ago.While the cost of educating young people in recent times has been increasing substantially, the bad fit of schooling at almost every level has become one of the explosive issues in both the state and the national levels (Abdulatif, 1977). Today there has been an increasing concern about the future implications of: (i) the universal primary education scheme on local communities, state, and national governments, (ii) young adults leaving secondary schools for the world of work with the type of orientation that they have in the secondary schools. This concern is aggravated as school intake is outpacing the growth and the opportunities in the small, capital intensive modern sector of the state's economy to absorb the bulk of the increased in the labour force. This concern is felt more because more students are completing secondary education each year and about 70 percent of those attending some kind of formal secondary institution terminate their education at that level and start looking for some jobs.This report is strictly based on an unpublished doctoral dissertation written by the author at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, 1977, the title, Secondary School Education and Employment in Nigeria-Implications for Career Guidance: A Study in the Cross River State. This study was conducted in the Cross River State of Nigeria which until February 4, 1976 bore the name South Eastern State.Ahmadu Bello University     

Mission matters: The cost of small high schools revisited

With the financial support of several large foundations and the federal government, creating small schools has become a prominent high school reform strategy in many large American cities. While some research supports this strategy, little research assesses the relative costs of these smaller schools. We use data on over 200 New York City high schools, from 1996 through 2003, to estimate school cost functions relating per pupil expenditures to school size, controlling for school output and quality, student characteristics, and school organization.We find that the structure of costs differs across schools depending upon mission—comprehensive or themed. At their current levels of outputs, themed schools minimize per pupil costs at smaller enrollments than comprehensive schools, but these optimally sized themed schools also cost more per pupil than optimally sized comprehensive schools. We also find that both themed and comprehensive high schools at actual sizes are smaller than their optimal sizes.     

Embedding mental health support in schools: learning from the Targeted Mental Health in Schools (TaMHS) national evaluation

The Targeted Mental Health in Schools (TaMHS) programme was a nationwide initiative that funded mental health provision in schools for pupils at risk of or already experiencing mental health problems. The implementation, impact and experience of this programme was evaluated using quantitative and qualitative methodology involving three main studies: (1) a 1-year RCT involving 8658 8–10 year olds and 6583 11–13 year olds, (2) a 3-year longitudinal study involving 3346 8–10 year olds and 2647 11–13 year olds and (3) qualitative interviews with 26 TaMHS workers, 31 school staff, 15 parents and 60 pupils. The RCT demonstrated that TaMHS led to reductions in behaviour problems but not emotional problems for 8–10 year olds. No impact was found for 11–13 year olds. The effects on behaviour problems in primary school were enhanced by the provision of evidence based self-help materials, but not by other area level support. The longitudinal study found information giving and good inter-agency working correlated with more positive outcomes for behavioural problems in secondary schools. The qualitative findings indicated that TaMHS was well received by all groups, though challenges to its implementation were noted. Overall, findings indicate the utility of targeted mental health provision in schools, particularly in primary settings. The implications for implementation are discussed.     

Why governments run schools

This paper discusses problems of uncertainty and imperfect information that bear on organizational choices for schools. A model of choice under uncertainty illustrates the optimality of the equal opportunity provision of schooling in terms of inputs. The model shows why schools offer similar, diverse curricula as a means of allowing students to shed risk about ability and future employment.Elements of transactions cost economics are used to evaluate organizational choice for providing schooling. Problems of opportunism and regulatory costs are discussed in the cases of for-profit, non-profit, and publicly provided schools.     

Economies of scale in schooling

A model of optimal school size is developed which predicts that schools will minimize total costs by operating in a region of increasing returns to school inputs. Two sources of estimates of the economies of scale coefficient emerge from the optimal school size model, and two rich data sets are used to generate estimates of this coefficient. These estimates support the model and are shown to imply sizeable differences in the cost of schooling between urban and rural areas.