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This paper reports on the design of an attitude scale to be used in studies investigating relationships between principals and members of school councils in Victoria. The scale, which is composed of twenty‐four items, measures attitudes toward principal domination of council. The Likert method of scale construction was used. Item analysis demonstrated that all items discriminated between high and low scorers (Edwards t≥3.17). Internal consistency, estimated by using Kuder Richardson and Cronback's Alpha, yielded a coefficient of .80705. The corrected split‐half reliability based on the responses of 297 principals and council members was .72835. Test‐retest reliability was .69314.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the processes and relationships between school councils and school leadership teams in the local governance of 18 independent, faith-based schools in New South Wales, Australia.

A three-phase, mixed-method research design was used incorporating development of a conceptual framework for local school governance drawn from current literature, face-to face interviews with chairs of school councils and principals, and a subsequent survey of school council members and within-school leadership teams.

Noting a lack of research into the practices and processes of school council operations and their interface with school leadership, the study identified five key areas that were seen to be foundational to the effectiveness of local governance.

The study contributes an Australian perspective to an international need to better understand local governance arrangements in school leadership and management.

At a practical level, the study provides valuable insights to principals, and to those aspiring to the role, on the nature of the relationship between the school council and school leadership teams.

The study responds to a marked increase internationally in local governance arrangements for schools by way of school councils or boards.

A review of literature reveals that, somewhat surprisingly, there has been relatively little research undertaken in this key area of leading and managing schools.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the key determinants of effective school-based management (SBM) for improved teaching−learning environments and student achievements, while identifying the major reasons as to why poor implementation of SBM is associated with lower student achievements.

Both dimensions of quantitative and qualitative research were applied for the purpose of this study with active participation of 334 school stakeholders, including principals, teachers, parents, and school council members. In addition to the survey, 33 Interviews and FGDs were conducted with the participation of 61 key informants. These were followed by an examination of school documents, including students’ national examination results.

This study concludes that SBM drives the emergence of decision-making authority of principals, the presence of participatory school decision-making, and high involvement of school council for better teaching and learning environments. In turn, effective implementation of SBM policy is associated with healthier teaching−learning environment and better student academic achievements. However, less effective implementation of SBM is due to lack of proper understanding of the school stakeholders that resulted in lower academic achievement.

Adequate provisions of training on the part of school council members and school principals are required for significant results of SBM policy and programs for improved teaching–learning environment and increased student achievements. The training focuses on, among others: school leadership, school development planning and changing roles of school leaders under SBM reform.

This study builds on global and Indonesian developments of the decentralized education through SBM model. This study is highly significant in addressing the current debates in existing literature about whether or not SBM has resulted in school improvements and higher student achievements. Practically, this study provides adequate insight to educational leaders, policy makers and international donor agencies in demonstrating why SBM is effective in particular school settings as well as why SBM policy and programs are not effectively implemented in other schools that resulted in lower student achievements.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of the public finance initiative (PFI) in a £2 billion investment to build new schools in Scotland in order to understand how the PFI negotiation process is evolving as the public and private sectors' experiences of PFI grows.

Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with officials from three different Scottish councils. Further insight was gained from attendance at a Scottish conference where presentations were made on the PFI process in building schools.

Council officials' handling of PFI processes has improved over time with more assistance being available to aid project organisers. However, the process continues to be very lengthy with significant sums being spent on professional advice. The balance sheet treatment of PFI transactions remains a crucial consideration.

This paper assesses recent developments in PFI schools' building projects in Scotland and provides some insight into areas where previously reported difficulties have been resolved and where problems continue to exist.

Participation is a core value for health promoting schools. Student participation at schools is often implemented in various forms of councils. The aims of this article are to summarise the effects of student participation in student councils, to show who benefits most and to discuss characteristics that make student councils effective.

The article is based on a recently conducted systematic literature review. Nearly one third of all included cases were dealing with student participation in the form of student councils. The authors conducted a qualitative analysis of the diverse effects and characteristics of student councils.

Effects of student participation in student councils can be categorised into personal effects on students, effects on interactions and on the school as an organisation. Students actually participating in councils, i.e. the student representatives, benefit most in terms of personal effects (e.g. increasing life skills, self‐esteem, developing democratic skills) and in terms of improvements in peer relationships or student‐adult relationships. All students benefit from improvements in the physical or social environment of the school. The characteristics that potentially make student councils successful concern the council composition, election procedures of representatives, positions and procedures and frequency and timing of council meetings, communication between council and the student body or other actors, the decision‐making power of the council, supportive school context and training of councillors and staff.

This is the first systematic synthesis of research conducted on effects of student participation in student councils. The article discusses the potential of student councils for strengthening the whole‐school approach to health promotion.

Presents a study which investigated how school councils operate in the Australian state of Victoria and how parent councillors participate in the affairs of the school council. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey on 172 schools, as well as visits to schools and attendance at school council meetings. Proposes a theoretical model linking personal, institutional and community‐related factors to the successful operation of the school council. Uses data collected in the survey to test and confirm the model by using structural modelling analysis. Concludes that most of the parent councillors are relatively highly educated and the working class is under‐represented in school councils. Finds several factors to be positively associated with successful operation of school councils: the readiness of and mutual acceptance between parents and teachers; commitment of principal; parents’ satisfaction with their participation; and parents’ contribution and donations to the school.

Reports on a research project undertaken in 1992‐93, involving 66 state schools which aimed to ascertain the overall effectiveness of school‐based management in the Australian state of Victoria. Discusses the evolution of democratic devolution and reviews previous research.

The overall aim of this article is to discuss the conditions and character of collective protest in schools. When do pupils as a collective gain the ability to express critical views on the policies of schools, and what is that criticism about? Using Sweden as an example, I discuss this question by studying the collective organisation of pupils from the 1920s to the 1980s.

The article discusses and compares two phases of pupils' collective organisation in Sweden: one dominated by pupil councils, one by national organisations. The article discusses how pupil councils at individual schools arose in the wake of the 1928 grammar school charter, and illustrates its influence using a case study of a grammar school in Stockholm. Furthermore, the article investigates how national organisations, first formed in 1952, expressed their concerns about national school policies.

The first phase (ca. 1928–1951) was dominated by the idea of discipline, and the main task of pupil councils was to help teachers in maintaining discipline. The second phase (ca. 1952–1989) was instead characterised by a heightened focus on protests and democracy. From then on, the main idea was that pupil councils and national pupil organisations should change the school, making it more suited to the needs of the pupils.

There is much research on university students and student uprisings. However, much of the previous research on the student voice is related to the upheavals of the long 1968. By concentrating its efforts on a limited time period when protest was more obvious, previous research has arguably not been able to discuss transformations over time.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the process of implementation of school‐based management (SBM) has worked within the public school systems in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Victoria in Australia. The period covered was 1976‐2006.

The approach adopted was the mixed methodology which included empirical surveys, interviews with stakeholders and documentary analyses including Parliamentary acts, statutes, school board or council constitutions, research reports, parliamentary and official reports.

The findings suggest that both systems had a strong commitment to the proper implementation of SBM towards the improvement of school outcomes and student achievements. Whenever problems arose stakeholders were keen to sort them out and move forward by covering the gaps to avoid the repetition of similar problems. Both systems have succeeded in strengthening their own model of SBM and are satisfied with the achievements through SBM.

In the context of school systems in the ACT and Victoria, all relevant stakeholder groups and political parties were committed to the implementation of SBM and schools have been able to build a high degree of trust and confidence between the internal and external constituencies in a gradual process. But, it may not be the case in other contexts.

The paper's value is in attempting a comparative study of SBM within two different school systems in Australia since the mid‐1970s, highlighting the distinct approaches taken for the introduction and implementation of the concept including constrains and impediments confronted in some cases.

In the late 1960s the Victorian vocational education sector was in crisis. The federal Martin Report into tertiary education excised many of the sector’s university‐level courses and relocated them into new Colleges of Advanced Education (CAEs), leaving many ‘middle‐level’ and technician vocational courses in limbo. Junior technical schools also offered apprenticeship and middle‐level courses, further confusing where courses were, or should be situated, suggesting an overall ‘gap’ in program provision. This challenge came when the Technical Schools Division (TSD), the smallest of Victoria’s three division structure (primary, secondary and technical) continued its struggle to maintain sectoral identity through courting acceptance from private industry and the public sector for its credentialed programmes. With significant others, TSD Director Jack Kepert, followed by Director Ted Jackson, responded by designing policy to reshape the TSD’s structure and functions and its reporting relationships within a new technical college and junior technical school system. Jackson’s policy statement, The future role of technical schools and colleges (1970) facilitated these changes. The paper narrates the events constituting this period of policy innovation and evaluates their contribution to the creation of a more seamless