Linking Resources to Learning

Abstract

This article investigates contemporary resourcing issues for schools, and in particular explores the concept of linking resources to learning. The article is based on a study of school funding in a local education authority, which captured headteachers’ perceptions of the funding issues for their schools, and analysed published financial data. This material is used to identify a number of practical and conceptual difficulties to linking resources to learning. Delegation of financial decision-making has resulted in a general shift of funding towards staffing and away from other categories of spending, but delegation has made it harder to obtain impartial analyses of the effectiveness of resource deployment decisions. The interest of headteachers and others in ‘needs led’ models of school funding raises a number of conceptual difficulties. The article concludes that linking resources to learning requires a shift in emphasis away from the language of apportionment and towards the language of outcomes.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Caldwell, B. (2000) ‘Local Management and Learning Outcomes: Mapping the Links in Three Generations of International Research’, in M. Coleman and L. Anderson (eds) Managing Finance and Resources in Education, pp. 24–30. London: Paul Chapman.

Campbell, C. (2001) ‘School Based Management: An Evaluation of Policy and Practice in Scotland’, International Studies in Educational Administration 29(1): 2–18.

Coleman, M. and Anderson, L. , eds (2000) Managing Finance and Resources in Education.London: Paul Chapman.

Department for Education and Employment (2001) Schools: Building on Success,Cm 5050. London: HMSO.

Department for Education and Skills (2001) Schools: Achieving Success,Cm 5230. London: HMSO.

Kerry, T. (2000) Surviving the Future: Changing Education in a Changing World, Working Paper, 40. Lincoln: University of Lincolnshire and Humberside Faculty of Business and Management.

Levacic, R. (2000) ‘Linking Resources to Learning Outcomes’, in M. Coleman and L. Anderson (eds) Managing Finance and Resources in Education, pp. 3–23. London: Paul Chapman.

McAleese, K. (2000) ‘Budgeting in Schools’, in M. Coleman and L. Anderson (eds) ManagingFinance and Resources in Education, pp. 132–147. London: Paul Chapman.

Marsh, A. (2000) ‘Resourcing the Continuum of Special Educational Needs in Two Local Education Authorities’, Educational Management & Administration 28(1): 77–88.

10.

O’Sullivan, F. , Thody, A. and Wood, E. (2000) ‘The Role of the Bursar’, in M. Coleman and L. Anderson (eds) Managing Finance and Resources in Education, pp. 148–167. London: Paul Chapman.

11.

Ridley, K. (2001) ‘The Mirage of School Autonomy’, Education Today 51(1): 36–40.

12.

Sharp, S. (2000) ‘Allocating Resources for Learning Support: A Case Study’, EducationalManagement & Administration 28(2): 211–222.

13.

Smyth, J. , ed. (1993) A Socially Critical View of the Self-Managing School.London: Falmer.

14.

Thomas, H. and Martin, J. (1996) Managing Resources for School Improvement.London: Routledge.

15.

West, A. , Pennell, H. , West, R. and Travers, T. (2000) ‘Financing School-Based Education in England: Principles and Problems’, in M. Coleman and L. Anderson (eds) Managing Finance and Resources in Education, pp. 59–80. London: Paul Chapman.