Performance in primary schools
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Performance in primary schools MJ Mancebon1 and C Mar Molinero2* 1
University of Zaragoza, Spain and 2University of Southampton, UK
Data for this paper was collected from the OFSTED database on Hampshire primary schools. The schools in Southampton and Porstmouth were used in order to assess the factors that in¯uence their productive ef®ciency. The data set included 19 variables on 176 schools and was analysed by means of Data Envelopment Analysis. Contextual variables, not included in the ef®ciency analysis, were used to explain the sources of inef®ciency. It was found that religious orientation, parental in¯uence and level of exclusions all impacted on the ability of a school to deliver the best possible results in standard assessment tests. This study is set within local and national priorities in education. Keywords: education; data envelopment analysis; OFSTED; primary schools; ef®ciency; standard assessment tests
Introduction The management of education in the UK is devolved to Local Authorities. These have to operate within a strict regulatory framework taking into account legislation and national priorities. Education management is a perfect area for Operational Research to be involved, given the complex interactions that take place. In education management there are many interested parties, each one of them with its own objectives, access to data, and technical expertise1 and con¯icts of interest may exist between these parties. The parties that are more powerful and have access to data may be tempted not to make relevant information available to other parties. A recent innovation has been the availability of information in the Internet, which can be accessed by anyone who is asking questions about education or its management. This study is set within the framework of a particular local authority in an attempt to ®nd out if the choices made by politicians and of®cers could be supported by available evidence. Of®cers of the local education authority (LEA), the administrative body that is responsible for the day to day management of education in the UK, have to put proposals to the Education Committee, a political body, and need to argue for the proposals in order to see that these are approved. Proposals may involve reorganising education provision, such as amalgamating schools. Legislation, funding procedures and demographic trends have to be taken into account to understand the logic of such proposals. Take demographic trends ®rst, in common with other developed countries, the UK experienced a large drop in *Correspondence: Dr C Mar Molinero, Department of Management, University of Southampton, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
the number of births during the late 1960s and the 1970s. This was seen as an opportunity to save money, LEAs were encouraged to close schools. The rate support grant, the money that central government makes available to support the activities of local government, was made t
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