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Article
Publication date: 4 July 2016

David Andres Munoz and Juan Pablo Queupil

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the efficiency of secondary education schools in Chile. Since the early 1980s, several educational reforms have been passed with the main…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the efficiency of secondary education schools in Chile. Since the early 1980s, several educational reforms have been passed with the main objective of improving the quality, equity and efficiency of the Chilean education system. This has initiated a debate about the efficient use of public educational resources. In response, this study provides insights into identifying the most efficient types of schools based on a set of different inputs and outputs.

Design/methodology/approach

This quantitative research study used data envelopment analysis (DEA), which estimates a single index of efficiency to identify schools performing at superior levels compared to other schools with similar characteristics. Two sets of models are created for evaluating efficiency. The first set of analyses provides a longitudinal efficiency comparison based on student performance on two national standardized tests as outputs, and the second model incorporates socioeconomic characteristics of students attending different schools as inputs in the efficiency estimation.

Findings

Based on the longitudinal models, it was found that private schools are more efficient and more consistent in maintaining their efficiency over time than other types of schools. In addition, when accounting for socioeconomic factors, publicly subsidized schools were more efficient than public schools.

Practical implications

The Chilean parliament is currently discussing new educational reforms that focus on more efficient use of educational resources to improve educational quality and equity. The results provided in this study generate useful evidence for policymakers and other stakeholders regarding school efficiency and the appropriate allocation of public resources to support diverse students served by different types of secondary educational institutions.

Social implications

Education is a key factor affecting social mobility and socioeconomic improvement of societies. Schools are called upon to improve their performance to promote these social goals. Accordingly, more novel forms of research on efficiency are necessary to assess how well schools are transforming their inputs into performance outputs.

Originality/value

This study provides a longitudinal analysis of educational efficiency using DEA with a national data set of Chilean schools to evaluate how consistent the schools are in maintaining their levels of efficiency over time. In addition, one DEA model accounts for a social “vulnerability” index at the student level to better understand how efficiently secondary schools use their resources. The insights gained provide data-driven answers to support more informed educational decision-making and policy processes in Chile.

Details

Quality Assurance in Education, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0968-4883

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 January 2012

Vidyashankar Gourishankar and Prakash Sai Lokachari

In pursuit of achieving Education‐For‐All goals of universal primary education and improving quality of education, the Indian Government has been providing substantial resources…

1352

Abstract

Purpose

In pursuit of achieving Education‐For‐All goals of universal primary education and improving quality of education, the Indian Government has been providing substantial resources to Indian states. The responsibility of providing access and quality remains the states' responsibility. Assessment of educational development will therefore become a focal point of the Center for Education Policy & Guidelines Formulation. While educational development indices help in ranking states, they do not help in capturing best practices and assessing the efficient utilization of resources. Assessment of the Educational Development Efficiency can augment educational development indices in vogue. The purpose of this paper is to develop an Educational Development Efficiency (EDE) model to benchmark the Indian states.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses an input‐process‐output conceptual framework to identify the dimensions of educational development. This paper employs Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to compare relative efficiency of 28 states and seven Union territories in India and benchmark them. In order to strengthen the discriminatory power of DEA, cross‐efficiency model was used. Factor analysis was performed to determine the inter‐relationships between variables. The efficiency impacting variables were identified using multiple regression analysis.

Findings

This paper benchmarked Indian states on educational development based on their performance. Gross enrolment ratio, students' academic performance and infrastructural investments were identified as the three key variables impacting states' EDE. This paper has shown that the educational administrators can use the EDE model to identify the best practices from efficient states. Insights into utilization of input resources to enhance educational development and consequent improvement of state efficiencies are presented. Four components have been identified to analyze the states' educational development progress – namely, financial adequacy, school resource strength, educational quality and educational access.

Practical implications

Contributions of this paper pertain to evolving a decision support model for national education policy planners, besides providing analytic support to the administrators of the states to benchmark and emulate the efficient educational programs.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the few published studies concerning the evaluation of educational development programs launched in the Indian schools and providing a cross‐comparison of the Indian states for the purposes of performance benchmarking as well as exploring the influencing factors.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 26 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2021

Peter F. Wanke, Jorge J.J. Antunes, Vitor Y. Miano, Cassio L.P. do Couto and Franklin G. Mixon

This study extends the educational institutions' performance and efficiency literature by examining Brazil's Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology (FIEST), which…

Abstract

Purpose

This study extends the educational institutions' performance and efficiency literature by examining Brazil's Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology (FIEST), which consists of educational units throughout the country that span several levels of education.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors build and analyze a covariance matrix consisting of both a group of efficiency measures and a group of performance indicators used by Brazil's Ministry of Education (BME). The values in the covariance matrix are maximized through application of the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), in which the weights of each variable are optimized in order to capture the direction of the relationship between the two sets of efficiency measures.

Findings

Although the authors find that the collective efficiency of the educational units analyzed did not change during the period of study, the analysis reveals that government indicators of performance do not exhibit a strong relationship to the ideal solution efficiency measures used in this study.

Originality/value

This study extends the educational institution efficiency literature by examining Brazil's FIEST, which consists of 40 educational units throughout the country that spans several levels of education, from upper high school vocational courses to higher degrees.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 71 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 1 December 2008

Laura C. Engel

In recent years, there have been major changes in educational governance and the organization and management of primary and secondary education. This is particularly the case as…

Abstract

In recent years, there have been major changes in educational governance and the organization and management of primary and secondary education. This is particularly the case as indicated by debates and deliberations over notions of “good governance” and “public management,” accountability, transparency, effectiveness of public services, performance, and the generation of benchmarks and cross-national comparative data. Among these trends is the debate over educational decentralization, which in the past several decades has become a mode of governance strongly advocated by international policy organizations, such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural (UNESCO).

Details

Power, Voice and the Public Good: Schooling and Education in Global Societies
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-185-5

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 April 2017

Peter Serdyukov

The purpose of this paper is to present an analytical review of the educational innovation field in the USA. It outlines classification of innovations, discusses the hurdles to…

328729

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an analytical review of the educational innovation field in the USA. It outlines classification of innovations, discusses the hurdles to innovation, and offers ways to increase the scale and rate of innovation-based transformations in the education system.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a literature survey and author research.

Findings

US education badly needs effective innovations of scale that can help produce the needed high-quality learning outcomes across the system. The primary focus of educational innovations should be on teaching and learning theory and practice, as well as on the learner, parents, community, society, and its culture. Technology applications need a solid theoretical foundation based on purposeful, systemic research, and a sound pedagogy. One of the critical areas of research and innovation can be cost and time efficiency of the learning.

Practical implications

Several practical recommendations stem out of this paper: how to create a base for large-scale innovations and their implementation; how to increase effectiveness of technology innovations in education, particularly online learning; how to raise time and cost efficiency of education.

Social implications

Innovations in education are regarded, along with the education system, within the context of a societal supersystem demonstrating their interrelations and interdependencies at all levels. Raising the quality and scale of innovations in education will positively affect education itself and benefit the whole society.

Originality/value

Originality is in the systemic approach to education and educational innovations, in offering a comprehensive classification of innovations; in exposing the hurdles to innovations, in new arguments about effectiveness of technology applications, and in time efficiency of education.

Details

Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2397-7604

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2004

David A. Gamson

Examines the history of educational administration in the USA during the Progressive era (1890‐1940). Using Callahan's Education and the Cult of Efficiency as a starting point…

1142

Abstract

Examines the history of educational administration in the USA during the Progressive era (1890‐1940). Using Callahan's Education and the Cult of Efficiency as a starting point, examines school district‐based administrative practices that offered viable alternatives to the business‐oriented, “scientific management” reforms that tended to dominate much of the educational dialogue and innovation of the early twentieth century. Offers cases studies of three superintendents who creatively resisted the ideology of efficiency or who skillfully utilized administrative structures to buttress instructional reforms. Using archival records and other historical sources, first examines Superintendent A.C. Barker in Oakland, California between 1913 and 1918 and Superintendent Charles Chadsey in Denver, Colorado during the years 1907‐1912. Then analyzes the tenure of Jesse Newlon during his superintendency in Denver from 1920 to 1927. Using the conception of “authentic leadership” and the frameworks of the ethics of care, critique, and professionalism, argues that these administrators demonstrated how leaders grounded in notions of scholarly skepticism, democratic engagement, and the compassionate care of children were sometimes able to avoid the excesses of the ideology of “efficiency”.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 42 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 August 2016

David Andres Munoz

The purpose of this paper is to assess the research efficiency of the Chilean higher education institutions (HEIs). As it has been argued in the literature, universities in Chile…

1051

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the research efficiency of the Chilean higher education institutions (HEIs). As it has been argued in the literature, universities in Chile are far from being considered research-oriented institutions. Current governmental reforms have put pressures on the efficient use of public resources, especially, public expenditures in higher education. In response, the proposed data-driven approach can be used to inform educational managers and policy makers about research efficiency. Therefore, a better allocation of the scarce educational resources can be achieved.

Design/methodology/approach

Data envelopment analysis is used to assess the research efficiency of a set of Chilean universities. Four models are proposed based on different parameters to cover various drivers of the research productivity.

Findings

The paper provides evidence that only a few universities in Chile are efficient in regards to research. Moreover, interesting results in terms of the differences in efficiency between traditional universities and private universities were found. Universities with a mixed-funding structure (private traditional) are more efficient than both public and purely private universities. Additionally, universities that receive direct funds from the government are on average 3.3 times more efficient than private universities. According to the models, only one private university appeared at the top 10 based on the research efficiency ranking.

Practical implications

Current pressures in the funding structures of the higher education system have led to an increased awareness in the utilization of resources. The results provided in this study are useful for guiding a better allocation of public resources and providing insights about efficient funding structures.

Originality/value

An understanding of the current status of research efficiency and the identification of the best performers allows educational managers to improve their resource allocation processes.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 March 2019

Joseph Deutsch, Audrey Dumas and Jacques Silber

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the determinants of scholastic performance using an efficiency analysis perspective.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the determinants of scholastic performance using an efficiency analysis perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors apply data envelopment analysis (DEA) at the pupil level using the 2009 PISA survey in Azerbaijan. Before applying DEA with multiple outputs, this paper integrates the maximum amount of available information on inputs via the use of correspondence analysis.

Findings

The results show that scholastic efficiency depends positively on the externalities due to the resources of the school and to a peer effect. The analysis of the determinants of these externalities shows how they influence scholastic performance and has some policy implications.

Practical implications

Education policies should promote the resource externality, because its effect is more homogeneous among pupils. The mechanisms generating school externalities should be taken into consideration by educational authorities, when allocating resources to school and should give some guidelines about how to use these resources and how to manage a school in order to promote peer effects externalities.

Originality/value

The authors distinguish various sources of efficiency: that of the pupil and that due to school externalities operating via resources and peer effects. The authors relate the efficiency due to school externalities to individual, family and school characteristics.

Article
Publication date: 12 March 2020

Manuel Salas-Velasco

The purpose of this paper is to measure the efficiency performance of public sector-funded schools in Spain.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to measure the efficiency performance of public sector-funded schools in Spain.

Design/methodology/approach

Using school-level data from Program for International Student Assessment 2012, cross-sectional models were estimated using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Technical efficiencies of public sector-funded schools (public schools and centros concertados), and their determinants were estimated using a one-step maximum likelihood procedure. SFA models include both a stochastic error term and a term that can be characterized as inefficiency; the non-negative technical inefficiency effects are assumed to be a function of school characteristics.

Findings

The results show that greater school autonomy and school responsibility for resource allocation are associated with efficiency improvement. Subsidized private schools (called centros concertados) were more efficient than public schools. The former are free of bureaucratic constraints that encumber public schools, and they are able to control many more decisions at the school level (e.g. they select their own teachers).

Originality/value

This paper shows the value of school autonomy for educational performance. The author defines school autonomy as the operational empowerment of the principals and teachers. Therefore, the government could grant greater autonomy to public schools (school-based management), since school autonomy is a driver of efficiency. Further, teachers’ morale is also an environmental driver of efficiency. Schools tend to be more efficient when teachers work with enthusiasm or value academic achievement. And this is more likely to occur in private schools, even though teachers are hired (they are not civil servants) and have a lower salary than public school teachers. The lack of motivation of many teachers in public schools may be in the absence of incentives – there is no possibility of promotion and everyone is guaranteed a wage increase every three years –and in the bureaucratization of the public school system.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 34 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 January 2009

Yongmei Hu, Zhi Zhang and Wenyan Liang

Under the new policy framework, the China Government will substantially increase education resources investment. As a result, financial under‐provision of schools will not be the…

1757

Abstract

Purpose

Under the new policy framework, the China Government will substantially increase education resources investment. As a result, financial under‐provision of schools will not be the main problem in the near future. However, school efficiency will emerge as the new factor in attracting the attention of the government and the public in China, which is also one of the important fields of Education Economics research.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to evaluate a sample of 58 primary schools in six districts in Beijing, hoping to find the solutions to school efficiency improvement as a result of under‐adequate investment.

Findings

In the years to come, the central government of China will continue to enhance transferring payment from the exchequer. The education input will be assured accordingly. However, if schools run under low efficiency, the education resources will not be well used and sustainability of elementary education will not be assured.

Originality/value

In light of the research purpose and the limited data, there has been no in‐depth discussion of the impact of, for example, families' social status, district development disparity, social cultural influence and history context. Obviously, considering more factors which may affect school efficiency will help to find the best solution for the public education sector of government.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

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