Via: uk.ac.dundee.primea; Fri, 8 Jan 1993 16:32:39 +0000
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.edpolyan
Date:         Fri, 8 Jan 1993 16:35:02 LCL
              <EDPOLYAN@ASUACAD.BITNET>
From:         "J.D.HARTLEY" <ED03@PRIMEA.DUNDEE.AC.UK>
Subject:      School Reform in Arizona

Bob Stout's message on proposed changes in Arizona
seem to strike a chord with local management of schools
in England and Wales (known as LMS), and with similar
proposals now afoot in Scotland. For information,
I enclose extracts of the Scottish document.

                 Devolved School Management: Guidelines for Progress

                 A Paper by The Scottish Office Education Department

                 November 1992

                 1. This paper sets out  a framework for school management
    in Scotland,  following consideration of the  responses to the earlier
    consultation paper "School Management: The  Way Ahead" and in light of
    the Government's further thinking on this issue.

                 2. Some education authorities  have already developed, or
    are  developing, schemes  of devolved  management. Building  from this
    base,  the Government  has now  decided that  the way  forward is  for
    education  authorities  to  bring  forward  administrative  schemes of
    devolved management for their schools,  against a set timetable, based
    on clearly-specified  principles. These schemes  are to be  schemes of
    devolved   management   to   headteachers,   with   a  requirement  on
    headteachers to consult their School Boards (where these exist) on the
    exercise of  responsibilities so devolved.  School Boards will  retain
    functions already delegated to them under the School Boards (Scotland)
    Act  1988 and  will, as  at  present,  be able  to seek  delegation of
    additional functions in accordance with that Act.

                 3. The paper seeks  consultation on the implementation of
    the  new  arrangements,  including  the  possibility  of  setting up a
    working  group  to  consider  the  technical  aspects  underlying  the
    guidelines   involving  representatives   from  The   Scottish  Office
    Education  Department, COSLA,  the education  authorities, and  bodies
    representing parents and School Boards.

                 Background

                 4. There were around  1,200 responses to the consultation
    paper "School Management:  The Way Ahead" issued in  March 1992. These
    came  from  education  authorities,  School  Boards,  other interested
    organisations and individuals. The Government recognises that the very
    large number of responses is a measure of the interest in, and concern
    about,  the question  of school  management among  all sectors  of the
    community  in Scotland  involved  with  education. The  Government has
    taken  careful account  of all  the  points  made as  a result  of the
    consultation.

                 5.  The  responses  to  the  earlier  consultation  paper
    indicate  that  there  is  general  consensus  on  the  principle that
    decisions about schools should, wherever  possible, be taken at school
    level. However, views differed about how the details of a scheme might
    be framed.  Many consultees argued for  flexibility to allow different
    arrangements  for different  parts of  the country,  and for different
    kinds of schools - for instance, small schools in rural areas. Concern
    was also  expressed about whether School  Boards or headteachers would
    be required to take on significant new responsibilities for which they
    might have neither the requisite time nor skills. Many consultees also
    expressed  concern  about  the  possible  introduction  in Scotland of
    identical arrangements to those operating  in England and Wales (under
    the Local Management of Schools (LMS) initiative) which might not suit
    all Scottish circumstances.

                 6. In  seeking to develop  policy on the  widely-accepted
    principle  of  devolved  management,  while  addressing  the very real
    concerns which have been expressed, the Secretary of State has decided
    to  invite  education  authorities  to  draw  up  schemes  of devolved
    management for their areas,  based on the clearly-specified principles
    set  out in  guidelines. A  draft of  these guidelines  is attached as
    Annex A.  Explanatory notes to  accompany the guidelines  are given in
    Annex B.

                 Principles

                 7.   The  Government   believes  firmly   that  devolving
    financial and  managerial responsibility to school  level will improve
    the quality  of decision-making by giving  schools greater flexibility
    and choice  in deciding on their  priorities and detailed arrangements
    in response  to the needs  of pupils and  the aspirations of  parents.
    Improving  the  quality  of  decision-making  is  a  key  part  of the
    Government's overall aim of raising standards of learning and teaching
    in  schools, so  that they  can deliver  the best  possible service to
    their pupils.

                8.  The Government  welcomes the  steps which  authorities
    have  already  taken  to  decentralise  decision-making  as a means of
    meeting  these  needs.  It  acknowledges  the  work of Strathclyde and
    Dumfries   and   Galloway   Regional   Councils,   in  particular,  in
    implementing  schemes for  devolved management  in their  schools. The
    arrangements  set out  in this  paper  are  intended to  build on  the
    progress which has already been made.

                9.  Devolving decision-making  to school  level throughout
    Scotland will allow schools to  respond more quickly to changing needs
    and priorities.  It will also  bring with it  increased accountability
    for  the resources  they use.  Schools will  therefore have  a greater
    incentive to manage  more efficiently and with due  regard to economy,
    resulting  in more  effective use  of resources  and better  value for
    money. Everyone who is involved in  the delivery of school education -
    education  authorities, teachers,  parents and  School Boards  - has a
    contribution to make to this process.

                The Guidelines

                10. The fundamental objective underlying the guidelines is
    that the principles of devolved management  should be applied in a way
    which  is appropriate  to the  circumstances of  individual areas  and
    individual schools.  The guidelines therefore allow  for variations of
    schemes to cover  different types of school and  different parts of an
    education authority's  area. They also  permit phased introduction.  A
    possible timetable  for a phased  introduction could be  that devolved
    management is introduced in at least  25% of schools in each region or
    islands area by  1 April 1994; and introduced in  at least 60% of such
    schools by 1 April 1995. But all  schemes should be firmly in place in
    all primary, secondary and special schools by 1 April 1996.

                11. Schemes should embody  methods of allocation which are
    clearly set out and easy to  understand. It is also important that all
    those  involved  are  able  to  scrutinise  the  education authority's
    allocation  policies and  make  representations  about them.  For that
    reason, the Secretary of State seeks,  as a first step, that education
    authorities should provide directly  to headteachers and School Boards
    in their areas clear statements of the policies, decisions and methods
    of allocation  that currently determine  the school budgets  and which
    are required to  be provided to School Boards  under the School Boards
    (Financial  Information)(Scotland) Regulations  1990. These statements
    should be issued by 5 April 1993 in advance of or along with the issue
    of  the  budgets  themselves.  Such  statements  should  also  be made
    available to  parents, and others  with an interest,  on request. This
    should help  headteachers, school staff, School  Boards and parents to
    understand more about how the current allocation process operates.

                12.  The guidelines  do not  seek to  impose a  particular
    allocation model. Schemes should, however, in all cases make clear the
    distinction  between the  identification  of  heads of  expenditure at
    school level,  starting from the requirements  of the 1990 Regulations
    (which some authorities  as at present will wish  to supplement by the
    identification   of   more   expenditure)   and   the   devolution  of
    decision-making on a high proportion (at  least 80%) of these heads of
    expenditure.  A  further  essential  element  is  that  schemes should
    rapidly  move  towards  the  position  where  they  are  based  on  an
    assessment of  the needs of  the school by  reference predominantly to
    pupil numbers (but also taking  account of other significant factors),
    rather than on historical patterns of expenditure.

                13. The  guidelines seek to  ensure that schemes  allow as
    great a degree of flexibility as  possible in the choice which schools
    may make of goods and  service suppliers. It is particularly important
    that schools should  be able to pursue value  for money, balancing the
    cost of service  against the speed of delivery and  the quality of the
    goods and services provided. This should not preclude the provision by
    the  education  authority  of  bulk  purchasing  facilities where that
    provides the best overall value for  money in an area, for example, by
    allowing schools to benefit from economies of scale where appropriate.
    But if schools can achieve better value for money from other suppliers
    of goods  and services, such as  colleges of education or  the private
    sector, it is important that they are free to do this.

                14. Finally, the guidelines make clear that responsibility
    for  decision-making should  be devolved  to the  headteacher, with  a
    consultative  role for  the School  Board. This  arrangement would  be
    comparable, though  not identical, to  the provisions of  section 9 of
    the  School Boards  (Scotland) Act  1988 in  respect of expenditure on
    books and teaching material. School  Boards can already seek executive
    responsibility through delegation orders made  under section 15 of the
    1988  Act. The  Government hopes  that School  Boards will, over time,
    take on greater responsibilities in this way.

                15. Under the guidelines, therefore, a headteacher will be
    required to consult  his or her School Board (where  it exists) on the
    exercise  of  the  responsibilities  devolved  to  him  or  her by the
    education  authority and  to have  regard to  any views  which may  be
    expressed by the  Board within a set period  (possibly Z weeks) before
    he  or   she  actually  exercises  that   responsibility.  As  already
    indicated,  these   arrangements  will  work  in   parallel  with  the
    arrangements  for  functions  already  delegated  to  Boards under the
    School Boards (Scotland) Act 1988.

                16. The  Secretary of State intends  to review the working
    of the arrangements  and the operation of the  guidelines and may wish
    to consider in due course whether there is a need for the arrangements
    to be supported by primary  legislation, providing for a formal system
    of approval of schemes by the Secretary of State.

                Training

                17. Authorities will wish to  consider, in drawing up each
    scheme, what specific training is likely  to be required, and how this
    might best be included in  their priorities for in-service training of
    teachers.  The  Department's  programme  of  Management  Training  for
    Headteachers is of course relevant  in this context, and the Secretary
    of State will be considering how  that scheme might be adapted to take
    specific  account of  the requirements  of schemes  brought forward by
    authorities.

                18. The  Secretary of State  is also at  present reviewing
    the  training  needs  of  School  Boards.  He  will  include  in  this
    consideration  any  new  training   needs  for  School  Board  members
    identified  in the  context of  schemes brought  forward by  education
    authorities.

                Resource Implications

                19. The  Secretary of State expects  that overall resource
    implications  arising  directly  from  the  introduction  of  devolved
    management  should  be  broadly  neutral.   The  purpose  of  the  new
    arrangements is to improve the quality of school education through the
    more effective  deployment of resources. Additional  costs incurred at
    school  level should  be offset  by savings  at the  level of  central
    school administration within education authorities.

                Local Government Reform

                20.  The   Secretary  of  State   has  issued  a   further
    consultation document on local government  reform. The purpose of that
    document  is to  invite views  on what  would be  the most appropriate
    structure for  a system of single-tier  local authorities in Scotland.
    The outcome  of that consultation may  of course affect the  detail of
    the final guidelines to be issued  by the Secretary of State on school
    management. However,  the fundamental principles  of school management
    on which  this paper invites views  may be expected to  apply whatever
    form of local government organisation is decided upon.




 There follow two annexes which give details of the
proposals. These are not included in this message.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU